[Editor's note: The following letter is from a friend of SeeingRed and the publisher of Jay's Marxism list.]

(SANTIAGO DE CUBA) 2 January - Last night I observed at close range the speech given by Fidel Castro Ruz on the historic occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship. Fidel spoke from the same balcony of the building on Parque Céspedes where he had appeared dramatically on the night of 1 January 1959 to announce the victory.

Parque Céspedes has a further symbolic significance to the history-conscious Cubans (who are many) -- it's named for the man who first declared Cuban independence from Spain in 1868.

My observation point was the veranda of the Casa Granda Hotel adjacent to the park. With me were new friends from Canada, two of whom were revolutionaries exiled from Iran. The veranda was full of other foreign visitors, including young people from Argentina and Brazil, some proudly sporting their Che Guevara T-shirts. I thought about how Fidel, Che, and the other revolutionaries of 40 years ago were no more than their ages today.

We had to get to the Hotel many hours earlier before the security men closed off the streets. Waiting reminded me somewhat of waiting for a rock concert to start, with Fidel as the ;quotStar;quot. Lights and sound systems were being tested.

Everyone was patient, drinking beer and chatting with their amigos and amigas and making new friends. I met a high school student from England who was teaching English in the western part of the island. He had come a long way on public transportation to hear the speech. He had never met a U.S. Marxist.

At 8 PM the 2000-3000 invited guests began to arrive and take their seats on the square below us. They were extremely diverse, of all ages, colors, and hues. Some were wearing their medals as veterans of the attack on the Moncada Barracks (1953) and the guerilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra (1956-58). Also attending were such international luminaries as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and this year's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, a leftist novelist from Portugal. Many world media were present, including CNN.

At 9 o'clock Fidel appeared on the balcony in front of a giant Cuban flag. The Cuban National Anthem was sung, followed by a multimedia montage presentation on the Cuban Revolution projected on large screens, backed by a live performance of a stirring original composition by virtuoso pianist Frank Fernandez. Fernandez was called back for several bows.

Fidel's speech, which he read in a slow and steady voice, was short for him--under two hours. He talked about the evils of the market system, the present global economic crisis and the pressing need for better alternatives. He also paid homage to his old comrades seated before him. Cuba, he said, would continue its revolution and would continue to make contributions to world humanity.

We could not see Fidel directly from the veranda as our view unfortunately was blocked by several trees. But the whole scene was spectacular, high political theatre indeed, unlike anything I have ever attended before. Fidel concluded with the famous phrases,;quot Patria ó Socialism, Patria ó Muerte, Venceremos.;quot Everyone cheered mightily.

This report of my impressions is being carried back and transmitted by our co- traveler from Pennsylvania. She brought asthma drugs with her to help break the stupid and criminal U.S. blockade from which many people here are truly suffering, particularly like Iraq with respect to certain medicines made only in the U.S. (despite Cuba's sophisticated and egalitarian health delivery system).

E-mail is still difficult from here. More impressions when Judy and I return to the Belly of the Beast in another week. Tomorrow we leave for Baracoa, at Cuba's eastern tip with a view of Cuba's countryside.

Love and revolution,
Jay

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