What is Fidelism?

Fidelism Defined

Deo Adjuvante, Non Timendum

“With God as My Helper, I Have Nothing to Fear”

Fidelism Honoured

FIDELISM

By Dr. Kevin J. Turnquest-Alcena

Nassau, NP, The Bahamas

Fidelism, an enduring ideological phenomenon, was born nearly a century ago, completely transforming the geopolitics of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.  It irrevocably altered Cuba’s trajectory: over 3,000 institutions originate from this legacy and stand today as monuments of resilience, progress, and visionary leadership.

Fidelism demands reverence, admiration, and a salutation gilded in gold, echoing across time like a clarion call to solidarity.  This is not merely political doctrine; it is a metaphysical brotherhood and an unbreakable solidarity, unparalleled anywhere else in the world.  It springs from love for humanity, fused with sterling wisdom and geopolitical sagacity, giving birth to an enduring ideology that strides alongside us even now.

Cuba evokes fascination, a nation shaped, as myth tells it, in the Yucatán Mountains of Mexico, a mystical crucible giving rise to an unmistakable creation: a pillar forged of Teflon-like strength, impervious to erosion, resonating with perpetual excellence.  The spirit of Fidelism persists in perpetual motion, immortal in ethos.

On August 13, 1926, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba.  On November 25, 2016, he departed this world, yet his presence remains undiminished.  On his birthday, the Commander in Chief salutes comrades past and present, his strategic insight forever priming us to defeat any adversary.  In the spiritual realm, he salutes those who stood with him, for true brotherhood transcends death itself.

Voices of Praise and Solidarity

From Africa came unwavering praise.  As Nelson Mandela profoundly expressed in 1991:

“What other country has such a history of selfless behavior as Cuba has shown for the people of Africa?… What country has ever needed help from Cuba and has not received it?”

This sentiment was echoed by Thomas Sankara, who saw Cuba and Fidelism as sources of inspiration, sending hundreds of Burkinabé youth to Cuba for education and professional training.

Fidel Castro himself declared:

“A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.”

Marcus Garvey reminded us:

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

On brotherhood, we recall the timeless words of Henry van Dyke:

“A brother is a friend given by Nature.”

This is the essence of Fidelism, brotherhood not born of blood, but of shared struggle, sacrifice, and purpose.

Culminating Invocation

You must recognize that the enemy will relentlessly peddle propaganda against the great nation of Cuba, but the unwavering spirit of Fidel, grounded in stoic endurance, will never allow them to strangle or derail the indomitable Cuban spirit of success.  There is a mystical order guarding Cuba’s destiny, one forged in history, faith, and sacrifice.

We thank Fidelism for educating the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia; for training our engineers, teachers, and doctors; for advancing computer science, fostering global strategic partnerships, and leading in biological research.  Cuban brigades came to our aid during COVID, faithful even under the criminally cruel embargo.

Fidelism is not simply a movement; it is a living phenomenon.  Cuba can never be defeated, for the spiritual world protects her, and the blood of her people forever acknowledges the country’s sacrifices for the betterment of humankind.

Fidelism will never be defeated.  Solidarity will never perish.

Happy Birthday, Papi, your spirit still breathes among us.

09 August, 2025

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There would never be a coup d'état in the United States of America - USA

'Why will there never be a coup d'état in the United States?'  Because there is no U.S. embassy in Washington”, says an old popular joke.

By Raúl Antonio Capote and Delfin Xiqués

U.S. embassies, with a long tradition in coups d'état and political subversion - Paraguay 1954, Guatemala 1954, Dominican Republic 1963, Brazil 1964, Argentina 1976, Bolivia 1971, Uruguay 1973, Chile 1973-, became the base of operations for destabilization in the continent.

The military occupation, the imposition of the Platt Amendment in Cuba and the multiple armed interventions of the United States in the internal affairs of the Island, during the first decades of the 20th century, symbolized the advent of the neocolonial Republic.

Then we had Yankee embassy in which more than ambassadors, proconsuls invested with more authority than a Spanish Captain General, bossed presidents, parliamentarians and military.

That lasted until January 1959, when the Revolution triumphed.  There were no direct bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries between 1961 and 2015, after President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke off relations with the largest of the Antilles.

U.S. Ambassadors to Cuba

Herbert G. Squiers: May 20, 1902 - December 2, 1905

- He was a fervent annexationist.  He participated on behalf of his country in the signing of the first treaty on the Isle of Pines; he was such an interferenceist that he forced the U.S. State Department in 1905 to remove him from his post.

William E. Gonzales: June 21, 1913-December 18, 1919

- On August 9 he ratified the approval of the government of General Mario García Menocal, who by then succeeded that of General José Miguel Gómez, making use of the Platt Amendment.

Boaz W. Long: June 30, 1919 - June 17, 1921

- During his mission in Cuba, Enoch H. Crowder is appointed with the rank of “personal envoy” of U.S. President Warren G. Harding.  The “envoy” supervised Cuban state activities and acted as the highest authority, even above the President of the Republic.

Enoch H. Crowder: February 10, 1923 - May 28, 1927

- On March 5, 1923, he presented his credentials as the first ambassador of his country in the Caribbean nation, when the Northern Legation on the Island became an Embassy.

Harry F. Guggenheim: October 10, 1929 - April 2, 1933

- He was ambassador during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, which he supported on behalf of his government.

Sumner Welles: April 24, 1933 - December 13, 1933

- Sent to Cuba as “mediator” between the dictator Gerardo Machado and the popular forces.  His presence was declared unwelcome by the Hundred Days Government, due to his interfering attitude.

Jefferson Caffery: February 23, 1934- March 9, 1937

- He continued the same line of his predecessor and began to conspire with elements opposed to the revolutionary government to overthrow it.

Robert Butler: May 22, 1948- February 10, 1951

- On March 11, 1949, U.S. Marines, who had arrived in Havana's port, outraged the statue of José Martí.  The ambassador's apology showed the Government's contempt for him; he did not even know the name of Cuba's National Hero.

Arthur Gardner: May 28, 1953 - June 16, 1957

- He was a staunch supporter of Fulgencio Batista.  The CIA station in Havana had at that time more than two dozen operational officers in its embassy.  During his work, the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (BRAC) was created on the island.

Earl E. Smith: June 3, 1957 - January 19, 1959

- Openly supported the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.  After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Smith resigned on January 10, 1959 and was replaced by Phillip W. Bonsal.

Heads of the U.S. Interests Section (USINT)

The U.S. Interests Section (USINT) operated from September 1, 1977 to July 20, 2015, and became the headquarters of the counterrevolution in Cuba.

Lyle Franklin Lane: 1977-1979

- He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the first Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

Curtis W. Kamman: 1985-1987

- On January 29, 1987, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz warned Curtis W. Kamman about the espionage activities carried out from USINT.  In the summer of that year more than one hundred CIA officers, among those stationed at SINA, were unmasked.

Joseph Sullivan: 1993-1996

- Maintained close ties with “opposition” groups, among them the “dissidents” of Concilio Cubano.

Vicki Huddleston: 1999-2002

- In 2000, USINT sought to manipulate an event of great international prestige such as the 7th edition of the Havana Biennial.  Parallel to the event's activities, officials of the Interests Section developed their own plan: an aggressive operation of influence and recruitment.

James Cason: 2002-2005

- Following instructions from the White House, he used diplomatic immunity to organize meetings in his official residence with leaders of counterrevolutionary organizations.  He supported “opposition” organizations with all kinds of resources, which was denounced in 2003 by Cuban television.

Michael E. Parmly: 2005-2008

- He gave continuity to the work of his predecessor.  Notes exchanged between Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello and Cuban-Americans living in Florida implicated Parmly with Cuban-born terrorist Santiago Álvarez Fernández-Magriñá.

Jonathan D. Farrar:  2008-2010

- In 2010 the Wikileaks site declassified a cable from Farrar in which he acknowledged that he was in contact “with most of the official dissident movement in Havana,” whose members, he claimed, frequently visit USINT.

John Caulfield: 2011 - 2014

- On June 19, 2012, USINT culminated an Introduction to Journalism course through which about 26 counterrevolutionaries obtained their diplomas, issued by Florida International University.

All of the following served as Chargé d'Affaires a.i. at the U.S. Embassy.

Mara Tekach: July 20, 2018-July 21, 2020

- On November 20, 2019, Tekach was charged with working closely with Cuban counterrevolutionary José Daniel Ferrer.  He focused his work on the purpose of recruiting mercenaries, identified areas of the economy against which to target coercive measures, and actively engaged in defamation and open incitement to violence.

Timothy Zúñiga-Brown: July 31, 2020 to July 14, 2022

- He worked to create an artificial crisis, trying to portray as political an economic emigration caused, in the first place, by the very blockade measures designed for that purpose.  He was determined, like his predecessors, to provoke an explosion on the island by any means necessary.

Mike Hammer November 14, 2024

- The “Ambassador of the Cuban counterrevolution” carries out an active provocative work with the aim of creating a diplomatic crisis that will lead to his expulsion from Cuba and justify the closing of the embassy.  To that end he consciously violates everything established.

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...celebrating the 54th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution

Celebrating the triumph of Cuba's revolution

By YURI GALA LOPEZ

I'd like to thank you for joining us in celebrating the 54th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution, officially commemorated on January 1st. That day in the year 1959 marked a milestone for my homeland because the victory of the revolutionary forces allowed the Cuban people to attain true independence and sovereignty.

Since then, the Cuban people undertook their project of freedom, solidarity and social justice, facing hostility and aggressions of various kinds. The Cuban Revolution has overcome those obstacles and just started its 55th year of existence and counting.

Year 2012 was a very dynamic one for Cuba in many areas. Cuba held elections for its local government structures at the municipal level, a process which was implemented successfully. On February 3, Cubans will go to the polls to vote for provincial delegates and members of Parliament.

Despite the tensions associated with the global economic and financial crisis and other external challenges, the Cuban economy was expected to close year 2012 with a 3.1 per cent growth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For 2013, Cuba foresees a 3.7 per cent GDP growth.

The gradual updating of Cuba's economic model continued. Last December, Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz pointed out that:

"The updating of the Cuban economic model is advancing at a firm pace and it now begins to address major, broader and more complex issues, based on the premise that everything we do is aimed at the preservation and development of a sustainable and prosperous Socialist society, the only guarantee for the independence and national sovereignty achieved by several generations of fellow countrymen in more than 140 years of struggle."

In 2012 Cuba had to face important natural challenges. In October, Hurricane Sandy caused significant losses for my country, mainly in its Eastern region, where Santiago de Cuba, the country's second largest city, was particularly hit. However, the recovery process of the storm-damaged provinces is underway. International solidarity was shown to us in a myriad of ways, something which we deeply appreciate.

Last year, Cuba managed to preserve important social achievements. For example, my country ended 2012 with an infant mortality rate of 4.6 per 1000 live births, the lowest in the Americas. For the fifth consecutive year, Cuba registered a child mortality rate under five, an expression of the human development index. Moreover, the country reported the second lowest maternal mortality rate in its history.

On the other hand, the new migratory measures recently announced by the Cuban Government show its willingness to continue strengthening the relations between the nation and its emigration.

Cuba continues to enjoy an increasing international recognition maintaining diplomatic relations with over 180 countries. We keep receiving the moral support of many governments and peoples of the world in our denunciation of the five-decade old blockade, while solidarity is growing in the case of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

By the end of this month, Cuba will assume the Pro tempore Presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a step which entails an immense honour and a great responsibility to which my country will devote the greatest efforts and energies.

In spite of our economic challenges and convinced of the importance of globalising solidarity to build a better world, Cuba has continued to provide its modest cooperation to other sister nations of the South. For example, more than 29,000 youth from 115 countries are now studying in Cuba. Out of those, more than 18,000 scholarship holders come from Latin America and the Caribbean countries.

In December 2012, Cubans together with the Caribbean people again celebrated the Caricom-Cuba Day, but this time was special because we also commemorated the 40th anniversary of the joint decision adopted by four countries, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

That brave and historic political decision taken in 1972 by those newly independent countries, in a climate of hostility and enormous pressures, was a breach in the isolation imposed on Cuba and marked the beginning of the close and excellent relations of friendship, solidarity and cooperation that Cuba enjoys today with all CARICOM member States.

The year 2012 was indeed very fruitful for Cuba-Jamaica relations, precisely the year when we celebrated four decades of bilateral diplomacy based on strong friendship, cooperation and solidarity.

More than 200 Jamaicans are studying medicine and other university courses in Cuba under the relevant scholarship programme. In addition to that, over 200 Cubans specialists are part of bilateral cooperation programmes implemented in Jamaica mainly in the fields of health and education.

Last year, the Cuba-Jamaica Ophthalmology Centre, located in Kingston, performed more than 1,400 surgeries. Since 2005 to date, more than 65,000 Jamaicans have been screened under that programme, while more than 9,000 patients have undergone eye surgery free of charge to them.

Both countries continued to exchange high level delegations during 2012. In January, a Cuban delegation headed by His Excellency Esteban Lazo, vice-president of the Council of State, visited Kingston to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Most Hon Portia Simpson Miller as Prime Minister. In December, Jamaica was visited by a Cuban delegation led by parliamentarian Kenia Serrano, President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.

In the same line, Cuba received the official visit of a delegation headed by the Hon AJ Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. Cuba was also visited by other high-level Jamaican delegations, including those led by the Honourable Ministers of Youth and Culture, Health, Science and Technology, and by the Attorney General.

Both countries continued to support each other in international fora. Last October, at the UN General Assembly, the Government of Jamaica (along with 187 countries) supported again the resolution on the necessity of ending the unjust US blockade against Cuba. That position was also shared by the House of Representatives of Jamaica. Cuba deeply appreciates that solidarity. We also thank those Jamaicans who continue to be involved in friendship groups with Cuba.

I'd like you to join me in a toast to the 54th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and to the further strengthening of the longstanding friendship between the peoples and governments of Jamaica and Cuba.

 

Yuri Gala Lopez is Cuba's Ambassador to Jamaica. The edited speech was delivered at a diplomatic reception on January 16 to mark the 54th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, officially commemorated on January 1.

January 31, 2013

Jamaica Observer

Bahamas Blog International

Cuba: A Black Spring and White Ladies!

By Rebecca Theodore


Lo! The paradox unfolds. The gleam of the golden morn of freedom pierces through the night of gloom and oppression. The old paradigms and systems are decaying, ready to be replaced with new, more evolved ideas and energies. There is a voracious indignation. At last! The Twitter Revolution comes to Cuba.

‘And the vultures circle overhead waiting for the old man to die.’

Cubans yearn for Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. They covet ATT, Coke, Nike, and Levi’s. The young stare in passion at iPhones and Apple computers. Pornography is the entertainment of choice. Evangelists lie in wait with a message of redemption hungry for the harvesting of souls. Old exiled Cubans chat in busy coffee shops on Miami’s boulevards. They long to touch the green, green grass of home and light cigars under the starry nights and reminisce of memories lost, long before a 1959 revolution usurped their world of contentment.

“Enough is enough they say”

The voices of Ladies in White -- "Las Damas de Blanco” -- wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, widows and fatherless brides waiting for their bridegrooms, lament in pain as political prisoners continue to die dehydrating deaths in dark dungeons of shame. Yet, they continue to rebel against a demagogue government. For them Cuba is not a Caribbean paradise, it is the gates of hell. They live in humble homes and buy food with ration books. They lay claim to the “freedom” that exists in Cuba.

Abuse of human rights dissipates the void. Freedom of assembly and expression sparkle the emptiness of reality and cease to derail on the frontline of time. Youthful endeavours are lost in dreams unknown. Beyond the smoking curtains, they no longer want to be like ‘Che Guevara’, for they seek deliverance from the oven of wrath.

It is true that Cuba has a better literacy rate than the United States, better maternity leave for mothers, better equality for women in the workplace and more doctors per capita than the US. These are economic factors that should make Cuba the envy of many countries, but Castro’s method of freedom and human rights inspire another revolution.

Moreover, in a new and technological zeitgeist, where communism is just an antiquated political philosophy, a footnote in history, and an unsuccessful ideological experiment, a technological revolution looms supreme.

In a country where Castro is the currency of real politics, Cubans are no longer afraid. Power is slowly being taken over by social media. Repression and internet censorship are gently peeping through their veils of suffocation. Gross darkness dispels into the light of liberty.

It is clear that ideology has failed.

Hark! The courier -- The Cuban Revolution is now an emblem on a T-shirt. Fidel Castro a man against capitalism and commodities is now a commodity sold for capital on the streets of America. St Castro is now the new patron saint of capitalism. Cuba is now gripped in the claw of ‘Manifest Destiny.’

Hereafter, there will be blood. There will be freedom. There will be a Cuban Spring.

October 12, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International