Cuba: Battle of the 10,000,000 (1971) - full transcript
The battle for the 10 million ton sugar crop and the already legendary autocritique of Fidel Castro.
Present in these studios
with president Dorticos
members of the politburo
of the party's central committee
of the revolutionary government
of mass organisations
press delegates
and other guests.
Before you
Commander Fidel Castro.
On previous occasions
we informed of...
When on the 9th February 1970
Fidel Castro speaks to the television
to inform Cubans of the
current state of the zafra
the sugar cane harvest
He is worried.
All is well in the western provinces
but problems have emerged in the east.
After all, they're aiming
for an extraordinary amount.
Ten million tons
not a pound less.
Fidel fixed this norm
much like an athlete fixes their aims
at the height of the world record.
No half successes.
It's either the record
or a failure.
Why sugar cane?
Because after unfortunate experiences
the Cuban leaders concluded the only
resource that is immediately exportable
and indefinitely renewable in Cuba
was sugar.
Why ten millions?
Because it's the figure that will
allow Cuba's economy to take off.
Its foreign debt to Socialist countries
and the technology it needs
can only be bought in strong currencies.
Why this year?
Because the World Sugar Treaty
And the bilateral deal with the USSR
demand planning
and that plan was
set at ten million tons
for 1970.
But Cuba expected
to achieve it gradually.
They did not reach their target.
The 1969 harvest was 4.5 million.
Less than half.
Therefore, where a
reasonable progression
and everyday efficiency have failed
voluntarism appears as a response.
All energies are mobilised
The entire population will participate.
And it is this, Fidel adds,
without hurting any other sectors.
He calls it 'the simultaneous battle.'
There's concern,
but not pessimism.
To start with,
it's not in his nature.
And also because he has
widespread popular backing
and this could help him
amend the situation.
His reply to the last question
of the journalist
we're lagging behind.
We have a tight deadline.
A million tons every 17 days
is serious.
But as far as reaching the tenth million
it's not a problem.
No problems.
THE BATTLE OF THE TEN MILLION
CUBAN DOCUMENTS COLLECTED
BY CHRIS AND VALERIE MAYOUX
This year Cuba is not
particularly fashionable.
Europeans like us
love to see communities rising up.
only as long as they're
full-blown martyrs
or absolute victors.
When they no longer wave
a passionate manifest
or perform a militant theatre
when the struggle plays out
on the drab decor of everyday life
of everyday hardships
with all their unpleasantness
we turn away from them.
Like aging actresses
who marry ever younger men
we marry ever younger causes.
We search for a younger face
for our dreams.
- Bye. - See you later.
There's another attitude
that appears just as frequently
well established through 50 years
of liberal-minded tourists
to refuse to see reality.
When a reality that becomes irksome
ceases to exist.
One variant is to confidentially admit
that yes of course it exists.
But to discuss it would
only benefit the enemy.
By showing everyday images of Cuba
OUT OF STOCK
endless lines,
supply shortages
its NO HAY, or 'we've run out'
a ubiquitous mantra
If we say that Cuba is going through
hardships and problems,
That there is discontent, annoyances.
are we putting weapons
in the hands of the enemy?
A first attempt to answer this question
These images come from a Cuban film.
Take-Off at 18:00hs
by Santiago Alvarez
And these words were spoken
as you will hear, by Fidel Castro.
If this poverty of everyday life
betrays certain miscalculations
insufficient attention paid
to people's real needs,
It also reveals a choice that
needs to be understood.
To prioritise infrastructural products
over commodities.
Rationing is also a choice
that machines have made.
along with technology, investment
which will in turn
transform everyday life.
In the end, Cuba remains
a country at war.
We can't forget that
when making a balance.
A besieged city is not
a lovers' court.
Under an embargo that has it
cut off from its own continent.
Threatened by an enemy whose shores
lie 144km away from its own.
Cuba is embroiled in a double combat.
To build, and defend
what is being built.
A modern army is an imposed need
An education and health policy
modern agriculture,
are its chosen needs.
And a new concept
the feeling of not being alone
in this combat.
Solidarity with other poor countries.
Especially those in Latin America.
The last Sunday in May
an earthquake devastates
a region in Peru.
50,000 dead.
They call for blood donors.
Over 100,000 Cubans
come to give theirs
along with Fidel Castro.
Peru is a 'pueblo hermano'
a community in fraternity with them
American fraternity
But also a fraternity
of underdevelopment.
# Oh, Alert
# Alert, peoples of the world
# see the pain sowed
# the hardships of war
# in a corner of the world
# let's forget for one second
# the claws of Uncle Sam
# reach all the way to Vietnam
# with homicidal tendencies
# who don't care about human life
# or about those who fall
# stop that knife-wielding hand
# kills the dreams of children
# and the ideals of this land
# than to bear the horrid stain
# of rifles, of heroism
# let's make of Socialism
# a strong and triumphant treaty
# the universal flag of Marxism-Leninism
The aid to Peru has a political meaning
Its new government
it has taken up
the fight against US imperialism
Revolutionary analysis is shared
by many South Americans
The USA is enemy nr 1
Their foreign aid is a form of pillage
It's they who block any possibility
of actual progress in Latin America.
Cubans have quite a
bit to say about this.
About the Bay of Pigs' mercenaries
and the young diplomat
who visited in 1955
to congratulate Batista for
keeping a stable government
and a flourishing economy.
His name was Richard Nixon.
It's this solidarity in the face of
a two-headed enemy:
underdevelopment,
and American imperialism,
which explains the constant
flights between Cuba and Peru
The choice is simple.
Choosing one's enemies
is always simple.
Unlike choosing one's friends.
Obviously if there's no menace greater
to the Cuban revolution than the USA.
There is no greater help
than that of the USSR.
Is this the end of Cuban originality...,
or Cuban heresy,
Is it the alignment
of the most gifted country
never to become a satellite
On the 22nd of April,
for Lenin's centenary,
Fidel Castro responds
...is to say, that the existence
of the Soviet state
is objectively
one of the most
extraordinary privileges
of the revolutionary movement.
What do I mean by this?
I mean...
that we can disagree
on different issues
that certain revolutionary movements
can see and respond to things
in a certain way
while others will proceed differently.
What I don't mean is...
that all parties need to think alike.
Let's not get thing mixed up.
The issues are so wide-ranging
and complex
that there will always be infinitely
different points of view.
To say anything else
would be an idealism.
What we are referring to
is of the plague
of pseudo-revolutionaries
writers pay rolled by Imperialism
who criticize the Soviet Union
and can't seem to forgive them
their existence.
Question posed to Cubans
on the eve of Lenin's centenary.
If Lenin was alive today
here, among you,
what would you say to him?
- Who?
- Lenin?
The founder of Socialism in Russia?
To Lenin?
That would be something else,
wouldn't it?
I'd greet him first of all.
Then I'd invite him to the ballet.
Then I'd listen to him.
I'd ask about his life
I'd be happy to chat with him.
Me? I don't know about such things.
I'd be moved.
I don't know.
What I'd be interested in,
is to hear him talk with Fidel.
I'd ask him about Vietnam.
I would help him with
anything he didn't know how to do.
To tie a hook for instance.
to fix a line.
Tell him where you can catch good fish.
It's among these people that the Battle
of the Ten Million is being fought.
On the eve of its starting day
No one will really know whether
Fidel considered they could lose it.
Or if whether they win or lose,
in the face of underdevelopment...
any battle is already a victory.
The Year of Ten Million
Not a Pound Less
14 July 1969
Central Gutierrez in Oriente
There are 30,000 macheteros
largest agronomer fair of the world.
Working Comrades of Oriente
and of the country
Comrades, macheteros,
Today begins the
harvest of the Ten Million
Fidel announces the
kick off of this zafra
and will not end until the last
of ten million sacks has been filled.
...it's important to highlight...
that this zafra starts today
and won't stop
until we've loaded the last sack
of the ten million
This zafra will last a whole year.
It will mobilise Cubans
in their hundred thousands.
Labourers, employees, civil servants
across all ranks of this cycle
from the blow of a machete
to the trip to the centrals
The first dilemma
concerns automation
in Khrushchev times they'd considered
Russian machinery to cut the cane
Cuban technicians
came up with two models.
In fact these machines do exist.
but they've been absent
on the cane front.
Manufacturing and maintenance problems
problems establishing what kind
of terrain they are appropriate for
Problems.
Fidel said in 1968
The day that this country
has no men still using a machete
the revolution will have realised
its most humane task
transform a task
worthy of beasts into a human one.
On the 23 of Dec
the first million is achieved,
though with some delay.
Alarming news is reaching Oriente.
The mobilisation had centred
around manual cane-cutting,
yet problems arose
where they were least expected:
on the industrial front.
The old factories had no problems.
Their throughput had always
exceeded the speed of regular zafras.
These ten million,
require more shredding.
A shortage of specialised workers
leads to the growth of old centrals
instead of constructing new ones.
It's in these transformed factories
that problems pile up.
delays in upscaling...
Difficulties in delivery,
inadequate transport,
poor loading practices,
machine defects that paralyse
each step after cane-cutting.
And finally, these disquieting news
that the enlarged centrals
besides having poor shredding rates
also extract less sugar from the cane.
Yields are becoming a problem
Seasonal rains on Havana and Camaguey,
are not making things easier.
Fidel Castro airs a speech for Feb 9th.
At length, with maps and graphics
he explains the situation
and insists on improving yields.
Because cut cane and shredded cane
aren't exactly the same cane.
The sugar content varies
from the time the cane is cut
to the time it is shredded.
Besides this delay, shredding quality
also makes a difference.
Many factors add up to the final figure.
They can turn a ton of cane
as calculated on paper
into quite a bit less
on the ground.
This phenomenon is not known
or understood well enough
puts the entire battle at risk.
If we neglect the importance
of all this, says Fidel,
we risk wasting all our cane
hoping to make ten million
but obtaining 30 or 40 tons less.
But we said here
we'd make ten million tons
not a pound less.
So that is the question.
As a reminder.
It would be an awful embarrassment
not to hit the ten million mark.
And yet the yields keep dropping.
The only way to know what is going on
how much is coming out of the fields
and of the factories
is obviously to compare figures.
But to compare means transporting
tons of sugar cane between factories
in a country where
transport is always a problem
in the midst of a battle
where every minute counts.
What's important is what will be done.
From February on this sugarcane route
from factory to factory
with all the coordination required.
And the first outcomes seem encouraging.
In just days, Camaguey's output
increases by 1%.
While waiting for the 5th million
the halfway mark,
we can still expect the second half
is still doable.
But throughout the month of March
the yields seem to drop steadily.
They consider resorting
to their cane reserves
to compensate for the lower yields
by increasing the shredding speed.
And there's a new blow.
Sugar cane seems to be depleted.
The planning had been too optimistic.
The slogans haven't changes.
We're going ahead.
In Cuba, like in Vietnam,
we'll get the ten million.
But it's mathematically certain
that the battle is lost.
WE WILL FULFILL OUR PART WITH HONOUR
THE GIANT ZAFRA OF 10 MILLION TONS
UNTIL THE VICTORY ALWAYS.
And now another enemy
will rear its ugly head.
Who are these horrid people?
what are they doing here?
I'll talk to one of those mercenaries.
Believe me, gentlemen, I felt revolted.
An ideological vacuum.
These captured mercenaries
The anti-Castro organisation Alpha 66
decides to avenge them.
And near the Bahamas, they take the crew
of two fishing ships hostage
who belonged to the coop in Caibarien.
This act of piracy is taken
seriously by the Cubans
especially as their fishing fleet
was created by the revolution.
Cuba had never had one before.
Fishing is the lifeline
for 20 million people.
That's why the fate of these fishermen
had to be protected by all means.
To neglect this is to admit
that this country
hasn't the right to defend itself.
and that is intolerable.
Anyone can understand this.
Anyone. Even a bourgeois diplomat
should be able to understand.
Even the dumbest idiot.
This country is muscular and firm
in its refusal to be scared.
If we show any hesitation
or recoil in the face of imperialism
it would be the way it is
among voracious fish in the sea.
I was chatting with comrades
from the Ministry of Interior
Anyone who's done any fishing
knows how barracudas behave.
They appear, and if you start
swimming away from them
I'll tell you about one
of the first times I went diving.
I had just discovered the ocean bed
I was delighted, and I found myself
alone, quite far from the boat,
when a barracuda started
swimming around me in circles
showing me its teeth.
I immediately retreated
towards the boat.
It was a very cautious move.
But the barracuda got
more aggressive all the time.
So I felt embarrassed.
for being there
retreating from a barracuda.
I turned around and swam towards it.
It rushed out of there right away.
...it ran away at once.
Since then...
we'd already... learned that lesson
from our struggle against Imperialism
It's only after the revolution
that a fisherman showed
me the sea.
Before that, like many of our comrades
I'd never done
any underwater fishing whatsoever.
Mind you, I'm not trying
to do advertising for that sport
much less about myself.
I'm just recounting my experience.
And many animals are like that.
They only now they're predators
when their prey runs off.
...they get all puffed up for the chase.
Imperialism is to us like a shark
a sawfish, a vulture...
It's all those beasts
...put together.
If our little country,
facing up to Imperialism
had displayed signs of fear or doubt
they would have swallowed us up.
So what happened to these fishermen?
What theories did they dream up?
Naturally, it came from the US.
From Washington.
The Washington theory
is that the demonstrations which are
being held before the American embassy
are a logical outcome
of the zafra affair.
This is a 'reuter' from Washington.
Here's a cable from Washington.
Now there's a reuter from Havana.
The Swiss ambassador,
representing US interests
Discusses what would happen
if Swiss boats confronted Cuban boats
When you represent the USA, says Fidel,
One shouldn't think of
living without worries.
The former embassy of the USA in Havana
looked like a besieged fortress today.
encircled by a true army
of 20,000 Cubans
trying to overcome the resistance
of its defenders.
This 'siege of Jerusalem'
or Jericho,
without the trumpets.
As for the resistance
they could meet down there
there were no real young trumpets.
The few early demonstrators
grew to 100,000
when it emerged that the fishermen had
been found on an islet of the Bahamas.
Seeing the turn of events
their aggressors had left.
We need to wait for a new check.
# in search of the fishermen
The 11 fishermen are about to return
to the kind of mass welcome party
that other people reserve
for their rockstars
or their victorious football players.
Poet Pablo Milanes himself declares
that the people
have won the match 11 - nil.
A formidable popular demonstration...
They say they freed the fishermen
They lie.
It's not the mercenaries who freed them.
They freed themselves.
They just abandoned
them where they were.
And they hurried back
to their spot in Miami.
It's one of the many low blows.
They've lied and slandered in the past
We were going to end the demo
by invading their embassy...
We were about to do this, or that...
and the last thing they dreamed up...
that we'd organised
all these mobilisations
to trigger an incident
because of the
difficulties with the zafra.
And it's true that we have troubles.
But are we going to blame it
on someone else?
On the imperialists? No.
Not even on the mercenaries
who moored here to disturb the zafra.
Not even on those wretched CIA agents
who kidnapped the fishermen.
No. If someone has
to take on the blame, it's us.
And if you want me to describe
the situation clearly
we simply won't make the ten million.
Quite simply.
I won't beat about the bush.
The ten-million slogan
has been replaced by Fidel
with a new one.
To transform misfortunes
into a victory
For this last phase of the battle
we were in Oriente,
an island inside the island.
Out on the horizon,
the central pours out its fumes.
The macheteros in Colorado
leave for work at 5 a.m.
on a bowl of coffee
and a piece of dry bread.
They hold out until noon
under the tropical sun.
They eat rice and vegetables
drink tepid water that tastes of fuel,
and then in the afternoon
they sleep.
Fresh water is a treat.
A bouquet of flowers, a party.
Some have lived like this for 11 months.
When Fidel speaks again
on the 26th of February
It's mainly to them.
This... thing I brought here.
is not a speech.
This is not a speech,
not by any stretch of the word.
It's a top secret report
about the economic situation.
It's not a speech, but economic secrets.
It's one of these
things that get written
...written and discussed in secret
so that the enemy doesn't find out.
And so, here we have them.
Not because we particularly
want the enemy to know.
But who cares about the enemy?
And if the enemy benefits
from anything we say here
and this turns out to be
an embarrassment for us
Blessed be this embarrassment.
Bless this pain...
if we can turn
this embarrassment into a strength.
If we can turn it into work.
Turn it into dignity...
If we can turn this shame
into a moral factor.
So in the end what we have here...
And now here are the secrets.
It's a painful result for the Cubans.
With 8.5 million tons
a record amount
the battle of the 10 million
has nonetheless been lost.
And so has the simultaneous battle.
The massive effort to produce sugar
has thrown the other
sectors out of balance
milk production has dropped by 25%
tyre production by 50%
soap by 32%
Fidel provides all the figures
But his speech
contains a dilemma
What you will hear
has probably never been said
by any head of state in history.
Certainly not in this tone.
It's plain to see...
The enemy has used and abused
the argument...
according to which
the zafra of the ten million
would lead to this kind of problems.
Our duty was...
to do the impossible to avoid it,
but in truth
...we were unable to do so.
Our enemies say...
...we have difficulties.
And on this point they're right.
They say we have problems.
And in truth...
...they are right, our enemies.
They say there is discontent.
And in truth, they are right.
...our enemies.
They say there is irritation
And in truth,
they are right, our enemies.
As you can see, we are not afraid
to admit it...
...when our enemies are right.
We'll start by pointing out...
...in the first place,
among all these problems
the responsibility we all carry
and mine specifically.
I won't pretend, by any means...
...to call anyone out
without assuming my own responsibility
and the same goes for...
...all the leaders of the revolution.
It is very unfortunate...
that this kind of self-criticism
can't easily go hand in hand
with adequate solutions.
It might be better to say...
to the people,
go find another one.
Or even...
go and find others.
It might be better
...but in fact, on our side
it would also be...
a hypocrisy
I believe that the learning process
we, the leaders, have experienced
was too high a price to pay.
And sadly...
...our problem
is not to replace the leaders...
...of the revolution
This is something the people can do
when they want,
at the time of their choosing...
and this very moment
if that's what they want.
What's the part...
...that impressed you most
in Fidel's speech?
What he said about workers'
role in management.
about giving workers
much more participation
in labour management issues.
So what is it... .. we found in
the spirit of the Santiago workers?
Being as we were, aware
of all their difficulties?
Firstly their preoccupation
with production issues.
With an incredible passion for their
factory and its production process.
...tremendous.
In ragged clothes...
with holes in their shoes...
These workers in rags and torn shoes.
Demanded all sorts of things:
machinery, precision tools,
They were more worried about that...
...than the other problems.
With supplies in such a poor state...
...they worried more
about the factory's yields
than about their unmet individual needs.
And that is very moving.
This is for us...
a true lesson,
real living proof that...
the proletariat,
the industrial proletariat,
the truly revolutionary class.
The class that might...
...have the most
revolutionary potential of all.
What a practical lesson...
...lesson in Marxism-Leninism.
We who are taking our first steps
on the revolutionary road
not from a factory,
which would have benefitted us all most.
But through an intellectual itinerary
of a theory-fuelled spirit...
...based on thought.
And wouldn't it have been convenient...
for all of us
to know our factories better.
To make them our starting point.
...of the factories.
Because it is there...
...that one finds an authentically
revolutionary spirit
as described by...
...Marx and Lenin
And that is the spirit
of the immense majority.
Who cares about those few freeriders
who often have only just arrived
to the world of work.
Who cares about absenteeism
sometimes the conditions are so bad
that those who surprise us
are not those who don't show up
but those who do
After an 8-day visit
we explained all this to the people
and said,
Do you know anyone...
who is dependable and
can take on responsibilities.
It's our question to the masses.
because what really is tragic
one of the tragedies of our country,
must not be cause to resign ourselves.
It's the problem of finding executives
who can provide oversight...
with an adequate
level of education and intelligence.
For complex production-related tasks.
Some elements had
been mentioned earlier.
Sure, but it went deeper and
it was expressed more clearly.
We do not believe
that the issue of managing a factory
should be left to a mere administrator.
It's high time
that we introduced
many more criteria
and ensure someone is in charge.
and is accountable to answer questions.
But the factory should be shaped into...
... a collective organism.
Why? Why should an executive be...
ultimately in charge of a factory?
Why not introduce to the governing board
representatives of
the workers' collective
Why not trust them?
Why not trust the formidable
proletarian spirit of these men?
These barefoot, ragged men...
...who keep production going.
What part of Fidel's speech
impressed you the most?
All of it, the whole speech.
Every sentence had a meaning.
It's not a matter of mechanically
accumulating overtime
No. The problem has been clearly stated.
The norm is the standard working day.
Used diligently
Overtime is the exception
and only when it's
justified by force majeure.
When a specific target must be reached.
Not to squeeze an extra hour
into an abstract norm.
Those mechanical methods
are nothing but dirty tricks.
We need to understand for once
and for all that a mechanical attitude
and that we've accumulated nonsense.
Our problem is creating awareness
among our entire people.
How can we optimise the
use of those machines?
For each gramme of prime matter
From every atom of energy
And use our heads to think.
If the big zafra had been a problem
to be solved with more arms
I'd say that what we are dealing now
is one to be solved with more brains.
A problem of intelligence.
The way ahead is hard, indeed.
Harder than it seemed.
Yes, my imperialist gentlemen
Socialism is hard to build.
But Karl Marx himself
conceived of it as the
natural consequence
of a society that was already
technologically developped.
However, today
in the face of industrialised
capitalist powers
countries like ours
have no other way out.
There's no other way
to catch up cultural and technologically
than Socialism.
But what is Socialism?
It's the chance to make optimal use
the human and natural resources
available to the people.
What is Socialism?
It's the disappearance
of the opposition
between the development
of productive forces
and production relations.
Today, the industry, prime matters
natural resources, factories
machines, and all sorts of equipment
belong to the collectivity.
They can and must be in service
of the collectivity.
If we don't make the
most of these machines
of those facilities and resources
it's not because a capitalist
is standing in our way.
It's not because an
imperialist is in the way.
It's not an owner who's in the way.
If we don't make the
most of our possibilities
it's not because
someone isn't letting us
it's because we don't know, don't want
or cannot.
Our enemies rejoice
They have their hopes
set on our difficulties.
And I said they were right.
About this, and that, and such.
About whatever they like.
Except on one point.
To think that the people
have an alternative to the Revolution.
It's to think that the people
when faced with the
difficulties of the revolution
whatever these may be
would be able to choose
the route of counterrevolution.
That's where you've got it all wrong,
my imperialist gentlemen.
That's where you're wrong.
We're not out for praise.
or power
What is power for anyway?
If one doesn't win the
battle against poverty.
against ignorance and all those things.
Power. What is power?
What is this or any other power?
It's the will of the people.
If we have an atom of self-worth in us
this atom will have the value of an idea
the value of a cause
in union with a people.
And we, men
we're made of flesh and blood
fragile beyond belief.
We are nothing, so to speak.
If we are something
it's only in relation to those things.
Once again...
all I have to say...
to our people...
on behalf of our party
and all the leaders
And also...
in accordance
with my own feelings
faced with the people's reaction
its attitude and trust
all I have to say is many thanks.
Fatherland or death.
We shall prevail.
subs by Adua
with president Dorticos
members of the politburo
of the party's central committee
of the revolutionary government
of mass organisations
press delegates
and other guests.
Before you
Commander Fidel Castro.
On previous occasions
we informed of...
When on the 9th February 1970
Fidel Castro speaks to the television
to inform Cubans of the
current state of the zafra
the sugar cane harvest
He is worried.
All is well in the western provinces
but problems have emerged in the east.
After all, they're aiming
for an extraordinary amount.
Ten million tons
not a pound less.
Fidel fixed this norm
much like an athlete fixes their aims
at the height of the world record.
No half successes.
It's either the record
or a failure.
Why sugar cane?
Because after unfortunate experiences
the Cuban leaders concluded the only
resource that is immediately exportable
and indefinitely renewable in Cuba
was sugar.
Why ten millions?
Because it's the figure that will
allow Cuba's economy to take off.
Its foreign debt to Socialist countries
and the technology it needs
can only be bought in strong currencies.
Why this year?
Because the World Sugar Treaty
And the bilateral deal with the USSR
demand planning
and that plan was
set at ten million tons
for 1970.
But Cuba expected
to achieve it gradually.
They did not reach their target.
The 1969 harvest was 4.5 million.
Less than half.
Therefore, where a
reasonable progression
and everyday efficiency have failed
voluntarism appears as a response.
All energies are mobilised
The entire population will participate.
And it is this, Fidel adds,
without hurting any other sectors.
He calls it 'the simultaneous battle.'
There's concern,
but not pessimism.
To start with,
it's not in his nature.
And also because he has
widespread popular backing
and this could help him
amend the situation.
His reply to the last question
of the journalist
we're lagging behind.
We have a tight deadline.
A million tons every 17 days
is serious.
But as far as reaching the tenth million
it's not a problem.
No problems.
THE BATTLE OF THE TEN MILLION
CUBAN DOCUMENTS COLLECTED
BY CHRIS AND VALERIE MAYOUX
This year Cuba is not
particularly fashionable.
Europeans like us
love to see communities rising up.
only as long as they're
full-blown martyrs
or absolute victors.
When they no longer wave
a passionate manifest
or perform a militant theatre
when the struggle plays out
on the drab decor of everyday life
of everyday hardships
with all their unpleasantness
we turn away from them.
Like aging actresses
who marry ever younger men
we marry ever younger causes.
We search for a younger face
for our dreams.
- Bye. - See you later.
There's another attitude
that appears just as frequently
well established through 50 years
of liberal-minded tourists
to refuse to see reality.
When a reality that becomes irksome
ceases to exist.
One variant is to confidentially admit
that yes of course it exists.
But to discuss it would
only benefit the enemy.
By showing everyday images of Cuba
OUT OF STOCK
endless lines,
supply shortages
its NO HAY, or 'we've run out'
a ubiquitous mantra
If we say that Cuba is going through
hardships and problems,
That there is discontent, annoyances.
are we putting weapons
in the hands of the enemy?
A first attempt to answer this question
These images come from a Cuban film.
Take-Off at 18:00hs
by Santiago Alvarez
And these words were spoken
as you will hear, by Fidel Castro.
If this poverty of everyday life
betrays certain miscalculations
insufficient attention paid
to people's real needs,
It also reveals a choice that
needs to be understood.
To prioritise infrastructural products
over commodities.
Rationing is also a choice
that machines have made.
along with technology, investment
which will in turn
transform everyday life.
In the end, Cuba remains
a country at war.
We can't forget that
when making a balance.
A besieged city is not
a lovers' court.
Under an embargo that has it
cut off from its own continent.
Threatened by an enemy whose shores
lie 144km away from its own.
Cuba is embroiled in a double combat.
To build, and defend
what is being built.
A modern army is an imposed need
An education and health policy
modern agriculture,
are its chosen needs.
And a new concept
the feeling of not being alone
in this combat.
Solidarity with other poor countries.
Especially those in Latin America.
The last Sunday in May
an earthquake devastates
a region in Peru.
50,000 dead.
They call for blood donors.
Over 100,000 Cubans
come to give theirs
along with Fidel Castro.
Peru is a 'pueblo hermano'
a community in fraternity with them
American fraternity
But also a fraternity
of underdevelopment.
# Oh, Alert
# Alert, peoples of the world
# see the pain sowed
# the hardships of war
# in a corner of the world
# let's forget for one second
# the claws of Uncle Sam
# reach all the way to Vietnam
# with homicidal tendencies
# who don't care about human life
# or about those who fall
# stop that knife-wielding hand
# kills the dreams of children
# and the ideals of this land
# than to bear the horrid stain
# of rifles, of heroism
# let's make of Socialism
# a strong and triumphant treaty
# the universal flag of Marxism-Leninism
The aid to Peru has a political meaning
Its new government
it has taken up
the fight against US imperialism
Revolutionary analysis is shared
by many South Americans
The USA is enemy nr 1
Their foreign aid is a form of pillage
It's they who block any possibility
of actual progress in Latin America.
Cubans have quite a
bit to say about this.
About the Bay of Pigs' mercenaries
and the young diplomat
who visited in 1955
to congratulate Batista for
keeping a stable government
and a flourishing economy.
His name was Richard Nixon.
It's this solidarity in the face of
a two-headed enemy:
underdevelopment,
and American imperialism,
which explains the constant
flights between Cuba and Peru
The choice is simple.
Choosing one's enemies
is always simple.
Unlike choosing one's friends.
Obviously if there's no menace greater
to the Cuban revolution than the USA.
There is no greater help
than that of the USSR.
Is this the end of Cuban originality...,
or Cuban heresy,
Is it the alignment
of the most gifted country
never to become a satellite
On the 22nd of April,
for Lenin's centenary,
Fidel Castro responds
...is to say, that the existence
of the Soviet state
is objectively
one of the most
extraordinary privileges
of the revolutionary movement.
What do I mean by this?
I mean...
that we can disagree
on different issues
that certain revolutionary movements
can see and respond to things
in a certain way
while others will proceed differently.
What I don't mean is...
that all parties need to think alike.
Let's not get thing mixed up.
The issues are so wide-ranging
and complex
that there will always be infinitely
different points of view.
To say anything else
would be an idealism.
What we are referring to
is of the plague
of pseudo-revolutionaries
writers pay rolled by Imperialism
who criticize the Soviet Union
and can't seem to forgive them
their existence.
Question posed to Cubans
on the eve of Lenin's centenary.
If Lenin was alive today
here, among you,
what would you say to him?
- Who?
- Lenin?
The founder of Socialism in Russia?
To Lenin?
That would be something else,
wouldn't it?
I'd greet him first of all.
Then I'd invite him to the ballet.
Then I'd listen to him.
I'd ask about his life
I'd be happy to chat with him.
Me? I don't know about such things.
I'd be moved.
I don't know.
What I'd be interested in,
is to hear him talk with Fidel.
I'd ask him about Vietnam.
I would help him with
anything he didn't know how to do.
To tie a hook for instance.
to fix a line.
Tell him where you can catch good fish.
It's among these people that the Battle
of the Ten Million is being fought.
On the eve of its starting day
No one will really know whether
Fidel considered they could lose it.
Or if whether they win or lose,
in the face of underdevelopment...
any battle is already a victory.
The Year of Ten Million
Not a Pound Less
14 July 1969
Central Gutierrez in Oriente
There are 30,000 macheteros
largest agronomer fair of the world.
Working Comrades of Oriente
and of the country
Comrades, macheteros,
Today begins the
harvest of the Ten Million
Fidel announces the
kick off of this zafra
and will not end until the last
of ten million sacks has been filled.
...it's important to highlight...
that this zafra starts today
and won't stop
until we've loaded the last sack
of the ten million
This zafra will last a whole year.
It will mobilise Cubans
in their hundred thousands.
Labourers, employees, civil servants
across all ranks of this cycle
from the blow of a machete
to the trip to the centrals
The first dilemma
concerns automation
in Khrushchev times they'd considered
Russian machinery to cut the cane
Cuban technicians
came up with two models.
In fact these machines do exist.
but they've been absent
on the cane front.
Manufacturing and maintenance problems
problems establishing what kind
of terrain they are appropriate for
Problems.
Fidel said in 1968
The day that this country
has no men still using a machete
the revolution will have realised
its most humane task
transform a task
worthy of beasts into a human one.
On the 23 of Dec
the first million is achieved,
though with some delay.
Alarming news is reaching Oriente.
The mobilisation had centred
around manual cane-cutting,
yet problems arose
where they were least expected:
on the industrial front.
The old factories had no problems.
Their throughput had always
exceeded the speed of regular zafras.
These ten million,
require more shredding.
A shortage of specialised workers
leads to the growth of old centrals
instead of constructing new ones.
It's in these transformed factories
that problems pile up.
delays in upscaling...
Difficulties in delivery,
inadequate transport,
poor loading practices,
machine defects that paralyse
each step after cane-cutting.
And finally, these disquieting news
that the enlarged centrals
besides having poor shredding rates
also extract less sugar from the cane.
Yields are becoming a problem
Seasonal rains on Havana and Camaguey,
are not making things easier.
Fidel Castro airs a speech for Feb 9th.
At length, with maps and graphics
he explains the situation
and insists on improving yields.
Because cut cane and shredded cane
aren't exactly the same cane.
The sugar content varies
from the time the cane is cut
to the time it is shredded.
Besides this delay, shredding quality
also makes a difference.
Many factors add up to the final figure.
They can turn a ton of cane
as calculated on paper
into quite a bit less
on the ground.
This phenomenon is not known
or understood well enough
puts the entire battle at risk.
If we neglect the importance
of all this, says Fidel,
we risk wasting all our cane
hoping to make ten million
but obtaining 30 or 40 tons less.
But we said here
we'd make ten million tons
not a pound less.
So that is the question.
As a reminder.
It would be an awful embarrassment
not to hit the ten million mark.
And yet the yields keep dropping.
The only way to know what is going on
how much is coming out of the fields
and of the factories
is obviously to compare figures.
But to compare means transporting
tons of sugar cane between factories
in a country where
transport is always a problem
in the midst of a battle
where every minute counts.
What's important is what will be done.
From February on this sugarcane route
from factory to factory
with all the coordination required.
And the first outcomes seem encouraging.
In just days, Camaguey's output
increases by 1%.
While waiting for the 5th million
the halfway mark,
we can still expect the second half
is still doable.
But throughout the month of March
the yields seem to drop steadily.
They consider resorting
to their cane reserves
to compensate for the lower yields
by increasing the shredding speed.
And there's a new blow.
Sugar cane seems to be depleted.
The planning had been too optimistic.
The slogans haven't changes.
We're going ahead.
In Cuba, like in Vietnam,
we'll get the ten million.
But it's mathematically certain
that the battle is lost.
WE WILL FULFILL OUR PART WITH HONOUR
THE GIANT ZAFRA OF 10 MILLION TONS
UNTIL THE VICTORY ALWAYS.
And now another enemy
will rear its ugly head.
Who are these horrid people?
what are they doing here?
I'll talk to one of those mercenaries.
Believe me, gentlemen, I felt revolted.
An ideological vacuum.
These captured mercenaries
The anti-Castro organisation Alpha 66
decides to avenge them.
And near the Bahamas, they take the crew
of two fishing ships hostage
who belonged to the coop in Caibarien.
This act of piracy is taken
seriously by the Cubans
especially as their fishing fleet
was created by the revolution.
Cuba had never had one before.
Fishing is the lifeline
for 20 million people.
That's why the fate of these fishermen
had to be protected by all means.
To neglect this is to admit
that this country
hasn't the right to defend itself.
and that is intolerable.
Anyone can understand this.
Anyone. Even a bourgeois diplomat
should be able to understand.
Even the dumbest idiot.
This country is muscular and firm
in its refusal to be scared.
If we show any hesitation
or recoil in the face of imperialism
it would be the way it is
among voracious fish in the sea.
I was chatting with comrades
from the Ministry of Interior
Anyone who's done any fishing
knows how barracudas behave.
They appear, and if you start
swimming away from them
I'll tell you about one
of the first times I went diving.
I had just discovered the ocean bed
I was delighted, and I found myself
alone, quite far from the boat,
when a barracuda started
swimming around me in circles
showing me its teeth.
I immediately retreated
towards the boat.
It was a very cautious move.
But the barracuda got
more aggressive all the time.
So I felt embarrassed.
for being there
retreating from a barracuda.
I turned around and swam towards it.
It rushed out of there right away.
...it ran away at once.
Since then...
we'd already... learned that lesson
from our struggle against Imperialism
It's only after the revolution
that a fisherman showed
me the sea.
Before that, like many of our comrades
I'd never done
any underwater fishing whatsoever.
Mind you, I'm not trying
to do advertising for that sport
much less about myself.
I'm just recounting my experience.
And many animals are like that.
They only now they're predators
when their prey runs off.
...they get all puffed up for the chase.
Imperialism is to us like a shark
a sawfish, a vulture...
It's all those beasts
...put together.
If our little country,
facing up to Imperialism
had displayed signs of fear or doubt
they would have swallowed us up.
So what happened to these fishermen?
What theories did they dream up?
Naturally, it came from the US.
From Washington.
The Washington theory
is that the demonstrations which are
being held before the American embassy
are a logical outcome
of the zafra affair.
This is a 'reuter' from Washington.
Here's a cable from Washington.
Now there's a reuter from Havana.
The Swiss ambassador,
representing US interests
Discusses what would happen
if Swiss boats confronted Cuban boats
When you represent the USA, says Fidel,
One shouldn't think of
living without worries.
The former embassy of the USA in Havana
looked like a besieged fortress today.
encircled by a true army
of 20,000 Cubans
trying to overcome the resistance
of its defenders.
This 'siege of Jerusalem'
or Jericho,
without the trumpets.
As for the resistance
they could meet down there
there were no real young trumpets.
The few early demonstrators
grew to 100,000
when it emerged that the fishermen had
been found on an islet of the Bahamas.
Seeing the turn of events
their aggressors had left.
We need to wait for a new check.
# in search of the fishermen
The 11 fishermen are about to return
to the kind of mass welcome party
that other people reserve
for their rockstars
or their victorious football players.
Poet Pablo Milanes himself declares
that the people
have won the match 11 - nil.
A formidable popular demonstration...
They say they freed the fishermen
They lie.
It's not the mercenaries who freed them.
They freed themselves.
They just abandoned
them where they were.
And they hurried back
to their spot in Miami.
It's one of the many low blows.
They've lied and slandered in the past
We were going to end the demo
by invading their embassy...
We were about to do this, or that...
and the last thing they dreamed up...
that we'd organised
all these mobilisations
to trigger an incident
because of the
difficulties with the zafra.
And it's true that we have troubles.
But are we going to blame it
on someone else?
On the imperialists? No.
Not even on the mercenaries
who moored here to disturb the zafra.
Not even on those wretched CIA agents
who kidnapped the fishermen.
No. If someone has
to take on the blame, it's us.
And if you want me to describe
the situation clearly
we simply won't make the ten million.
Quite simply.
I won't beat about the bush.
The ten-million slogan
has been replaced by Fidel
with a new one.
To transform misfortunes
into a victory
For this last phase of the battle
we were in Oriente,
an island inside the island.
Out on the horizon,
the central pours out its fumes.
The macheteros in Colorado
leave for work at 5 a.m.
on a bowl of coffee
and a piece of dry bread.
They hold out until noon
under the tropical sun.
They eat rice and vegetables
drink tepid water that tastes of fuel,
and then in the afternoon
they sleep.
Fresh water is a treat.
A bouquet of flowers, a party.
Some have lived like this for 11 months.
When Fidel speaks again
on the 26th of February
It's mainly to them.
This... thing I brought here.
is not a speech.
This is not a speech,
not by any stretch of the word.
It's a top secret report
about the economic situation.
It's not a speech, but economic secrets.
It's one of these
things that get written
...written and discussed in secret
so that the enemy doesn't find out.
And so, here we have them.
Not because we particularly
want the enemy to know.
But who cares about the enemy?
And if the enemy benefits
from anything we say here
and this turns out to be
an embarrassment for us
Blessed be this embarrassment.
Bless this pain...
if we can turn
this embarrassment into a strength.
If we can turn it into work.
Turn it into dignity...
If we can turn this shame
into a moral factor.
So in the end what we have here...
And now here are the secrets.
It's a painful result for the Cubans.
With 8.5 million tons
a record amount
the battle of the 10 million
has nonetheless been lost.
And so has the simultaneous battle.
The massive effort to produce sugar
has thrown the other
sectors out of balance
milk production has dropped by 25%
tyre production by 50%
soap by 32%
Fidel provides all the figures
But his speech
contains a dilemma
What you will hear
has probably never been said
by any head of state in history.
Certainly not in this tone.
It's plain to see...
The enemy has used and abused
the argument...
according to which
the zafra of the ten million
would lead to this kind of problems.
Our duty was...
to do the impossible to avoid it,
but in truth
...we were unable to do so.
Our enemies say...
...we have difficulties.
And on this point they're right.
They say we have problems.
And in truth...
...they are right, our enemies.
They say there is discontent.
And in truth, they are right.
...our enemies.
They say there is irritation
And in truth,
they are right, our enemies.
As you can see, we are not afraid
to admit it...
...when our enemies are right.
We'll start by pointing out...
...in the first place,
among all these problems
the responsibility we all carry
and mine specifically.
I won't pretend, by any means...
...to call anyone out
without assuming my own responsibility
and the same goes for...
...all the leaders of the revolution.
It is very unfortunate...
that this kind of self-criticism
can't easily go hand in hand
with adequate solutions.
It might be better to say...
to the people,
go find another one.
Or even...
go and find others.
It might be better
...but in fact, on our side
it would also be...
a hypocrisy
I believe that the learning process
we, the leaders, have experienced
was too high a price to pay.
And sadly...
...our problem
is not to replace the leaders...
...of the revolution
This is something the people can do
when they want,
at the time of their choosing...
and this very moment
if that's what they want.
What's the part...
...that impressed you most
in Fidel's speech?
What he said about workers'
role in management.
about giving workers
much more participation
in labour management issues.
So what is it... .. we found in
the spirit of the Santiago workers?
Being as we were, aware
of all their difficulties?
Firstly their preoccupation
with production issues.
With an incredible passion for their
factory and its production process.
...tremendous.
In ragged clothes...
with holes in their shoes...
These workers in rags and torn shoes.
Demanded all sorts of things:
machinery, precision tools,
They were more worried about that...
...than the other problems.
With supplies in such a poor state...
...they worried more
about the factory's yields
than about their unmet individual needs.
And that is very moving.
This is for us...
a true lesson,
real living proof that...
the proletariat,
the industrial proletariat,
the truly revolutionary class.
The class that might...
...have the most
revolutionary potential of all.
What a practical lesson...
...lesson in Marxism-Leninism.
We who are taking our first steps
on the revolutionary road
not from a factory,
which would have benefitted us all most.
But through an intellectual itinerary
of a theory-fuelled spirit...
...based on thought.
And wouldn't it have been convenient...
for all of us
to know our factories better.
To make them our starting point.
...of the factories.
Because it is there...
...that one finds an authentically
revolutionary spirit
as described by...
...Marx and Lenin
And that is the spirit
of the immense majority.
Who cares about those few freeriders
who often have only just arrived
to the world of work.
Who cares about absenteeism
sometimes the conditions are so bad
that those who surprise us
are not those who don't show up
but those who do
After an 8-day visit
we explained all this to the people
and said,
Do you know anyone...
who is dependable and
can take on responsibilities.
It's our question to the masses.
because what really is tragic
one of the tragedies of our country,
must not be cause to resign ourselves.
It's the problem of finding executives
who can provide oversight...
with an adequate
level of education and intelligence.
For complex production-related tasks.
Some elements had
been mentioned earlier.
Sure, but it went deeper and
it was expressed more clearly.
We do not believe
that the issue of managing a factory
should be left to a mere administrator.
It's high time
that we introduced
many more criteria
and ensure someone is in charge.
and is accountable to answer questions.
But the factory should be shaped into...
... a collective organism.
Why? Why should an executive be...
ultimately in charge of a factory?
Why not introduce to the governing board
representatives of
the workers' collective
Why not trust them?
Why not trust the formidable
proletarian spirit of these men?
These barefoot, ragged men...
...who keep production going.
What part of Fidel's speech
impressed you the most?
All of it, the whole speech.
Every sentence had a meaning.
It's not a matter of mechanically
accumulating overtime
No. The problem has been clearly stated.
The norm is the standard working day.
Used diligently
Overtime is the exception
and only when it's
justified by force majeure.
When a specific target must be reached.
Not to squeeze an extra hour
into an abstract norm.
Those mechanical methods
are nothing but dirty tricks.
We need to understand for once
and for all that a mechanical attitude
and that we've accumulated nonsense.
Our problem is creating awareness
among our entire people.
How can we optimise the
use of those machines?
For each gramme of prime matter
From every atom of energy
And use our heads to think.
If the big zafra had been a problem
to be solved with more arms
I'd say that what we are dealing now
is one to be solved with more brains.
A problem of intelligence.
The way ahead is hard, indeed.
Harder than it seemed.
Yes, my imperialist gentlemen
Socialism is hard to build.
But Karl Marx himself
conceived of it as the
natural consequence
of a society that was already
technologically developped.
However, today
in the face of industrialised
capitalist powers
countries like ours
have no other way out.
There's no other way
to catch up cultural and technologically
than Socialism.
But what is Socialism?
It's the chance to make optimal use
the human and natural resources
available to the people.
What is Socialism?
It's the disappearance
of the opposition
between the development
of productive forces
and production relations.
Today, the industry, prime matters
natural resources, factories
machines, and all sorts of equipment
belong to the collectivity.
They can and must be in service
of the collectivity.
If we don't make the
most of these machines
of those facilities and resources
it's not because a capitalist
is standing in our way.
It's not because an
imperialist is in the way.
It's not an owner who's in the way.
If we don't make the
most of our possibilities
it's not because
someone isn't letting us
it's because we don't know, don't want
or cannot.
Our enemies rejoice
They have their hopes
set on our difficulties.
And I said they were right.
About this, and that, and such.
About whatever they like.
Except on one point.
To think that the people
have an alternative to the Revolution.
It's to think that the people
when faced with the
difficulties of the revolution
whatever these may be
would be able to choose
the route of counterrevolution.
That's where you've got it all wrong,
my imperialist gentlemen.
That's where you're wrong.
We're not out for praise.
or power
What is power for anyway?
If one doesn't win the
battle against poverty.
against ignorance and all those things.
Power. What is power?
What is this or any other power?
It's the will of the people.
If we have an atom of self-worth in us
this atom will have the value of an idea
the value of a cause
in union with a people.
And we, men
we're made of flesh and blood
fragile beyond belief.
We are nothing, so to speak.
If we are something
it's only in relation to those things.
Once again...
all I have to say...
to our people...
on behalf of our party
and all the leaders
And also...
in accordance
with my own feelings
faced with the people's reaction
its attitude and trust
all I have to say is many thanks.
Fatherland or death.
We shall prevail.
subs by Adua