Cuba 1070 - 1966 Tricontinental Conference, Havana, Cuba

The Tricontinental Conference was one of several important gatherings of leadership from the Third World (the Bandung Conference of 1955 being another) aiming to chart a path clear of the spheres of the 2 great superpowers. Named for the continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, this conference was an important incubator for the nascent Non-Aligned Movement. The journal Tricontinental, published by the Cuban based solidarity organization OSPAAL also came out of this event. Probably most remembered, however, is the rousing "Address to the Tricontinental" given by Che Guevara in which he outlined his revolutionary foci theory for the first time. This address is well worth reading, if only for its rhetorical power - the above link is to the English text of the address at the Marxist Archives. To finish this off, excerpts from the conclusion of Che's speech, from which sprang a slogan embraced as a battle cry by liberation movements throughout the world:

"How close we could look into a bright future should two, three or many Vietnams flourish throughout the world with their share of deaths and their immense tragedies, their everyday heroism and their repeated blows against imperialism, impelled to disperse its forces under the sudden attack and the increasing hatred of all peoples of the world!

And if we were all capable of uniting to make our blows stronger and infallible and so increase the effectiveness of all kinds of support given to the struggling people — how great and close would that future be! [....]

Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the great enemy of mankind: the United States of America. Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons and other men be ready to intone the funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine-guns and new battle cries of war and victory."

Hasta la victoria siempre!

(1/3/66)