by Ché Guevara
After the failed April 1961 "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba, U.S.
Pres. J.F. Kennedy attempted a "regime change" by other means. He
proposed a large aid package to Latin America and called it the Alliance for
Progress. According to Kennedy, the Alliance's goal was "…to
complete the revolution of the Americas, to build a hemisphere where all men
can hope for a suitable standard of living and all can live out their lives in
dignity and in freedom."
Nothing could have been further from the truth. The United States was
looking for a way to isolate the revolutionary government of Cuba and provide a
counterbalance to the example of socialism that Cuba provided.
Three speeches delivered by Che Guevara at the founding meeting for the
Alliance for Progress, held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, August 1961, are
reprinted here. Also included is a never before published transcript of a press
conference held in Cuba upon Ché's return. Guevara's speeches
exposed a process that continues to this day, that of offering U.S. financial
aid to Latin America and extracting mega-profits and economic control in
return.
Paperback, 160pp, Ocean Press
