Cuba: Talking about Revolution: Conversations with Juan Antonio Blanco (New Ed. 1996)

Despite the time elapsed since this book was published, with all the changes that occurred in Cuba during these years, Medea Benjamin's conversations with Juan Antonio Blanco remain extremely topical, even in the discussion of present-day Cuba. Juan Antonio Blanco, very possibly Cuba's best historian, has always been someone passionately 'inside' the Cuban Revolution: in fact, for many years he has been struggling and fighting in order to keep 'inside' that Revolution, endeavouring to push and squeeze his own thoughts and views into the boiling pot of the Revolution's changing view of itself. Even today, from his self-imposed semi-exiled in Canada, Blanco remains a faithful revolutionary servant, attempting to change what may be wrong with the Revolution, rather than ever dissenting from it. That makes him a 'dissident' inside the system, let's say a potential Gorbachev or Havel. As we read this fantastic book, and even more so as we read it backwards, we discover more of Juan Antonio Blanco's thoughts, concerns, criticisms, passions, concerns, views for the future. We read what he said and criticized of the Revolution at the time, we read his predictions, and thus we find to what extent his ideas were or were not incorporated into the new revolutionary thinking, to what extent his concerns were listened to and implemented. Overall, we can assess to what extent Blanco may really maintain his claim to have remained 'inside' the Revolution. But of course, this is not only a book about the great mind of Juan Antonio Blanco. Author Medea Benjamin provokes Blanco on a lot of points, giving rise to passionate conversations on so many aspects of Cuba's life, from the most theoretic issues of thought, to practical matters of the everyday life of Cuba's citizens. An impressive amount of topics and issues are covered, ranging from philosophy to health system, from economic crisis to nutrition and international relations. All these are discussed in a way that make it easy to read for everyone - for the scholar of Cuba and the student alike, as well as anyone interested in Cuba, without requiring any academic knowledge. The prose is excellent, and the contents very well edited. Overall, it is one of the books that should not be missing from anyone's Cuba library.

Medea Benjamin's interviews with Juan Antonio Blanco are a fair and nuanced portrayal of the struggles of the island's people during the economic crisis brought about by the collapse of the USSR. The book is a must read for those visiting or revisiting Cuba. If there is a "dissident" on the island with a sense of both the country's human suffering and potential, it is clearly Blanco.Overall, very well done.