CONTROLLED DISSEM

COUNTRY: Cuba
SUBJECT: Political Philosophy of Manuel Artime Buesa
REPORT NO.: CS DB-3/660,494
DATE DIST.: 9 April 1964
NO. PAGES: 2
REFERENCES:

DATE OF INFO.: 18 March 1964
PLACE & DATE ACQ.: United States, Miami (6 April 1964)
FIELD REPORT NO.:

SOURCE: A Cuban exile observer who was present during the speech.

Headquarters Comment: The following is a résumé of the political philosophy of Manuel Artime Buesa, leader of the Movimiento de Recuperación Revolucionaria (MRR, Movement for Revolutionary Recovery) as prepared by Source. It is based on statements made by Artime in his speech on 18 March 1964 to the Asociación para Recuperación Económica de Cuba (AREC, Association for Economic Recovery of Cuba), on his first publication entitled Comunismo por qué? (Communism or what?), which was written nine months before Castro came to power, and on Artime's book Traición (Betrayal).

1. Artime does not believe in political extremes—neither the left nor the right. He believes that extremes always end by touching one another. If any extreme gains power in Cuba, and in the case of the extreme right by imposing a dictatorship, he will continue to fight with weapons in hand. Artime does not believe in the classification of men by race, by political opinion, by governments, or by money. He examines to being an opportunist in the sense that he is taking maximum advantage of each opportunity, but not in the sense of changing his beliefs in accord with opportunities.

2. The main theme of Comunismo por qué? was that more than a change in government, a change in the conscience of men is needed. It outlined the duties of the patrón (landowner) toward the workers so that the latter may live in dignity and honor. The patrón should feel that the problems of his workers are also his problems. The worker, in turn, has certain obligations to the patrón. In this quid pro quo is what Artime noted as a (Christian) environment and the right to intervene for the common good. In his letter of resignation to Fidel Castro accusing the latter of being a...

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CONTROLLED DISSEM

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