Celia Sanchez: Cuban revolutionary heroine

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SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 2014 9 Nancy Stout, “Celia Sanchez, Heroine of the Cuban Revolution. Monthly Review Press, New York, December 2013, 441 pp.

Celia Sanchez was one of the few wom­ en leaders of the Cuban Revolution. Little has been written about Cuba’s female leaders. Celia had a close relationship with Fidel Castro, who understood that Celia’s great political and revolutionary strength lay in her organizational capac­ ity, as well as her sacrifice and commit­ ment.

Award-winning author Alice Walker states in the foreword that Celia Sanchez was the extraordinary expression of a life that can give humanity a very good name. The author talked to many people who knew Celia, both family and friends, to get an overall account of what she was like and her accomplishments.

Born on May 9, 1920, she had seven siblings. Her mother died when Celia was six. She suffered anxiety from this loss. Her father was a country doctor, who Celia helped in his clinic. Everyday she would talk to his patients, to find out why they came. He was consulted about family matters, heard confessions, and sometimes acted as a marriage broker. He did not expect all patients to pay. Ce­ lia did that work for 15 years. She man­ aged his accounts and soon organized his life completely. He was a political activist who wanted a better future for all Cu­ bans. He also had a taste for history and a library of many books.

Celia liked outdoor activities, deepsea fishing, picnics, and flowers. Every Christmas she bought toys in bulk to give to children of poor parents. This helped to provide a cover for her revolutionary activities.

Celia’s lover, Salvador Sadurni, died on June 9, 1937, when she was 16. After that she was inoculated against love.

Celia was key in setting up a network of people to plan the return of Fidel and his men to Cuba from exile in Mexico. She was also assigned to get Fidel’s men out of the region after they had landed. She talked to local farmers, most of whom were against Batista; they were given ba­ sic military training. She was instructed to select people who did not know each other.

Since Celia had played a key role in the landing of the Granma boat on Cuba’s shore, dictator Fulgencio Batista ordered her capture—dead or alive. Her escape was aided by the fact that she was the granddaughter of Juan Sanchez Barro, one of the richest men in Cuba. As a re­ sult, upper-class people offered to hide her.

Celia founded an induction center to help assemble, train, and house the new recruits to the Rebel Army. She also found an inconspicuous way to get them food. She was preparing to go into the mountains with the guerrillas when rebel leader Frank Pais got arrested. She had to take over Frank’s work. Still Celia was the first woman inducted into the rebel army. She considered her time in the Sierra Maestra to be the best time of her life.

Celia and Fidel worked in rebel activi­ ties long before they ever met. Later, they became inseparable until the day of her death. They had a thriving revolutionary partnership, both devoting their lives to freeing the Cuban people. She was re­ sponsible for making sure that the rebels had enough food. She set up a telephone system so that Fidel could communi­ cate to the front from his headquarters, and set up a chain of couriers. Celia also kept records of almost everything those around her did during the revolution.

After the revolution, she helped develop production of Cuban cigars, especially the Cohiba, and established hotels all around the island. She founded the famous Cop­ pelia ice cream park, the convention cen­ ter, and the Lenin Park. She established an official residence for all five members of the rebel junta, Fidel, Che, Camilo and Raul as well as herself. She began work­ ing on her archives. In 1969 she concen­ trated in giving Cubans footwear. She worked to protect gays and lesbians.

Celia Sanchez died from lung cancer on Jan. 11, 1980. Fidel cried at her funeral. All people interested in changing the world should read this book as it shows how one woman did it. n

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News and views from SA Canada website: http://socialistaction.ca government will tightly pack its goodies for the rich, together with an array of anti-social and undemocratic measures. That’s where the rubber hits the road. So, what should the labour-based NDP do about it? The Official Opposition NDP should show where the deficit and debt originated: in the government bail-out of the big banks and giant auto firms, in tax cuts for the corpo­ rate elite, and in military spending ($3.1 Billion of which