"Revolutionary Justice" dispensed to Huber Matos

[Tim]

http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/castro_year1/huber.matos.yr1fc.html

"True history is not written by the egoism, the ambition, or the passions of men, but by facts analysed in the light of truth. A revolution such as ours cannot condemn anyone for his thoughts. To do so would represent a denial of the same revolution. Marti has told us that the first duty of each man is to think for himself, and I have exercised that right in the the ranks of the revolution. No one told me, when we were in the Sierra Maestra, that after we had triumphed we would we should have to keep silent or to say yes to everyone."

- Major Huber Matos at his trial for "treason" (read "resigning" or "disagreeing with Fidel Castro"), December 1959

"No matter what they did to me, I could not give in. You can't break a human being who knows that he or she is right. No sacrifice made in the defense of human rights can be interpreted as a loss".

- At his release from the Isle of Pines prison, October 1979

http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/castro_year1/huber.matos.yr1fc.html

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

:lol:

What a load of shit.

[Karl Marx's Camel]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2005, 11:57 AM
:lol:

What a load of shit.
Perhaps you should keep it to constructive criticism.

[Tim]

No, it's OK. This complete dismissal without consideration is typical of many of the posters of this website when confronted with less palatable aspects of Castro / Guevera and their revolution.

Try these as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huber_Matos

http://www.hispanocubana.org/revistahc/pag...stas/huber.html (http://www.hispanocubana.org/revistahc/paginas/revista8910/REVISTA16/entrevistas/huber.html)

[Severian]

He wasn't condemned for his "thoughts", but for organizing a military mutiny. I'm not aware of any country where that is legal.

None of those sources is remotely concerned with facts; most are right-wing sites and the Wikipedia article, in this case, mostly just repeats Matos' account of events with a truly touching childlike faith.

Eh. Dismissal was probably a more appropriate response than wasting the time to rebut accusations which so completely lack merit or serious support.

[Karl Marx's Camel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huber_Matos

I hope you are aware that everyone can edit that page. Anyone can add that he dressed up as a clown at age 12, if they want to, provided they are literate.

[Tim]

I am aware of that, but will point out that you have three wikipedia links as signatures yourself. This would suggest some kind of endorsement.

I'm not disputing that he was arrested and charged with organising a military mutiny. Every account I have come across, however, suggests that the trial was a farce. Huber Matos rotted in prison for a crime no greater than standing up to the Maximum Leader. Standing up to? No. In his letter he speaks of nothing worse than resigning, returning to teaching and standing for election (hehe). There was no way Castro would tolerate an educated, ambitious man threatening his dictatorship. For the most part Castro surrounded himself with peasants and intellectual inferiors - yes men. Huber Matos was made an example of.

I will keep an open mind, however. If anyone can find articles or book references to suggest that Huber Matos received a fair trial and deserved twenty years in the same prison that Fidel Castro served 22 months for his assault on the Moncada, please post them here.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 2 2005, 06:59 PM
Every account I have come across, however, suggests that the trial was a farce.
That's not surprising, considering what kind of "accounts" you choose to read.


In his letter he speaks of nothing worse than resigning, returning to teaching and standing for election (hehe).

And if Matos said it, it must be true. What was I just saying about touching childlike faith?


There was no way Castro would tolerate an educated, ambitious man threatening his dictatorship. For the most part Castro surrounded himself with peasants and intellectual inferiors - yes men.

This is nonsense. In contrast to the indiscriminate Stalinist purges in Russia and China, or the French Revolution "eating its own children", Cuba has been led by a core team of very capable revolutionaries for 40 years, with minimal internal conflict.

(Oh, and your "peasants and intellectual inferiors - yes men" reflects a typical sense of class prejudice. The lower classes assumed to be stupid and incapable of thinking for themselves.)

The exceptions: Camilo Cienfuegos, killed in a plane crash - after suppressing Matos' attempted mutiny - and Che Guevara, murdered by the Bolivian military regime and the CIA.

Of course, the same people spreading this nonsense about Matos....also claimed Fidel had imprisoned Che over supposed political differences, until Che surfaced in Bolivia! Some also claim Camilo's plane crash was no accident...guess Fidel wanted to punish him for dealing with Matos? Bizarro world.

OK, there was also the expulsion of Anibal Escalante, organization secretary of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, for factional scheming - but that hardly helps Huber Matos and company, because he had been the main leader of the Popular Socialist Party, the "Communists" they claimed were taking over the revolution!

(In fact, the core leadership I mentioned earlier all came out of the July 26th Movement, not the PSP. So much for the "Communist" infiltration Matos claimed to be worried about.)

Here's part of the transcript of Matos' trial (http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1959/19591214)

If nothing else, it should serve to refute any suggestion that Matos wasn't allowed to speak in his defense and respond to prosecution witnesses - he's interrupting Castro repeatedly there.

It's also interesting to note that Castro goes out of his way to speak of Matos' earlier services to the revolution - an approach light-years from Stalinism's habit of airbrushing "enemies of the people" out of historical photographs.

One of Matos' subordinate officers, a Major Duque, also testifies in this section of the transcript.

(It focuses on Castro's testimony 'cause this is off an academic database of Castro speeches.)

[Luís Henrique]

"You can't break a human being who knows that he or she is right."
Hm. In 1979, using PC mannerisms typical of the 80s? <_<

Luís Henrique

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2005, 08:28 PM
This complete dismissal without consideration is typical of many of the posters of this website when confronted with less palatable aspects of Castro / Guevera and their revolution.
Tim, have you actually looked at any thread on this forum you didn&#39;t start yourself?

&#39;Cause there are quite a few debating Cuba and what some posters consider "less palatable aspects" of its social system.

The difference is, that most of those criticisms are coming from some kind of left perspective, while you just seem to be repeating stuff put out by Washington and its Cuban puppets.

Why is that? And how come you never post about anything else? What kind of overall political perspective are you coming from?

[Tim]

My political perspective is somewhat left of centre and I am from a country that is quite socialist (certainly more socialist that the US). Although the title of this website would suggest that I should find somewhere else to air my views, I like to gather opinions - both left and right - on a wide range of issues, and this is one of the few websites where I find intelligent conversation that for the most part does not descend into a slinging match.

With regard to Castro and his revolution, I would say that I am certainly sympathetic to what he set out to achieve, but that the world has moved on and he hasn&#39;t (and he hasn&#39;t changed his clothes for 45 years either). I&#39;m more sympathetic to the people of cuba who lack toothpaste and soap (a friend of mine on a Cuban tour reported people begging for soap) than their anachronistic dictator. Let&#39;s face it. Are they any better off than before Castro? People are willing to risk choppy shark infested waters on balsa wood boats just to get out of there. They don&#39;t meet too many coming the other way.

The transcript is interesting, although I wouldn&#39;t say that at any stage Matos is allowed to cross - examine the witness. It certainly proves that Castro loves to waffle. Really, about 20% of what he has to say is pertinent to the matter at hand - does the trial really require a detailed account of his struggle in the Sierra Maesta? I certainly do not think that peasants are too stupid to think for themselves, but I do wonder how qualified they are to preside over a court of law.

Interestingly enough, Quirk does accuse Castro of having Huber Matos airbrushed out of photos of the triumphant revolutionaries.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 02:51 AM
The transcript is interesting, although I wouldn&#39;t say that at any stage Matos is allowed to cross - examine the witness.
It&#39;s not the full transcript, is it?

Ordinarily the prosecution gets to finish direct before the defense gets to do cross-examination, as I understand it. Here, Matos got to interrupt repeatedly. (He chose to represent himself.)


Interestingly enough, Quirk does accuse Castro of having Huber Matos airbrushed out of photos of the triumphant revolutionaries.

But of course he does. There&#39;s nothing they haven&#39;t accused Castro of, except maybe cannibalism. And I&#39;m not sure about that.

[Commie Girl]

Tim....where are you from, if not the U&#036;? Seems like you spout the same propoganda coming from the exile community in Florida, and actually use FIU as a source for your information&#33;&#33; Astonishing&#33;

Yes, I have been to Cuba&#33; And I believe CompanerodeLibertad has also been there on workers brigade.

[Luís Henrique]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 09:20 AM
There&#39;s nothing they haven&#39;t accused Castro of, except maybe cannibalism.
Oh, come on. Everybody knows he has children for breakfast. :lol:

[Luís Henrique]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 09:01 AM
Are they any better off than before Castro?
Let´s see...

What is their infant mortality rate now, as opposed to before? Illiteracy? Life expectation?

They are not only better of than before Castro, they are better off than most Latin American countries now - including those that have much higher GNP per capita.

Luís Henrique

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Eh. Dismissal was probably a more appropriate response than wasting the time to rebut accusations which so completely lack merit or serious support.

Exactly.

Are they better off now?

Are they better off then the rest of third world countries?

See For Yourself (http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/cuba)

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2005, 06:12 PM

Eh. Dismissal was probably a more appropriate response than wasting the time to rebut accusations which so completely lack merit or serious support.

Exactly.
Yeah, I shoulda followed my own advice there.

But I did find that transcript, which is kinda interesting.

[Luís Henrique]

los crímenes cometidos por Hubert Matos, ese frio y despreciable ser humano (http://www.camagueyanos.com/wwwboard/messages/3812.html)

The gusanos have still to decide if they consider Matos a hero or a criminal...

:rolleyes:

Luís Henrique