The Casa de las Américas (or “House of the Americas”) was founded by Haydée Santamaría, four months after the victory of the Cuban Re...
The Casa de las Américas (or “House of the Americas”) was founded by Haydée Santamaría, four months after the victory of the Cuban Revolution. Originally, the organisation was founded as a publishing house and information centre. Its political purpose was to develop and extend socio-cultural relations between Latin America nations and Cuba. Today, it has grown to be the most influencial cultural organisation in Cuba and, arguably, in Latin America. It is headed by Roberto Fernández Retamar.
In the April and May of 2015, Rock Around the Blockade sent a solidarity brigade to Cuba, to study the Revolution. The comrades were able to visit the Casa de las Américas & to discuss Gerado Hernández Bencomo from public relations. Above, RED is proud to present video footage of the event – including a tour around the building & the beginning of discussion. Below, we print the introduction to the meeting, delivered by James R. Bell, editor of RED and a regular contributor.
More information about the brigade will be available from the Revolutionary Communist Group and Rock Around the Blockade in the coming period. RED will also continue to publish articles on Cuban culture and art.
Introduction to the Meeting, by James R. Bell
We are representatives from the Revolutionary Communist Group, a Marxist-Leninist organisation in Britain. We would like to offer our warmest greetings, our solidarity & our respect for your Revolution. We are comrades in the same fight, pitted against a monolithic enemy: Imperialism.
The 1st point I will make is abstract. It is about the difference between British & Cuban culture. Last week, we met with the Hermanos Saiz Association. They told us about their work around rap music, how they have worked to gain recognition for this genre. To me, this is very important. In the same way that your beautiful Havana mixes the city with nature, Cuban art & culture is working toward integration. In Cuba, there is a living popular culture.
By contrast, British culture & art is fragmented. It is “post-modren”.
Britain is the oldest Imperialist nation. As you know, a fundamental characteristic of Imperialism is the appearance of monopoly. In publishing, this can be expressed simply. The Oxford University Press has a higher revenue than the China Publishing Group – the publishing organ of the Chinese state!
I would also like to note the role that Britain has played historically, as a colonial power. Through force, it has played a central role in shaping the culture & art of colonised nations. It has secured for itself a lucrative overseas market. Over 40% of the British publishing industry’s revenue from physical books is from export sales. In 2012, British publishers exported 269.5m books, for a profit of over £1.2bn. This export plays an ideological role too, promoting Britain’s ideological domination as an Imperialist power.
In Britain, around 231,000 people are employed in the publishing industry. These workers are exploited. Because we do not have much time, I will only talk about 1 role: the writer.
A proffessional writer, in Britain, is defined as some1 who spends over 50% of their time writing. The median wage for writers was £11,000 in 2013 – below minimum wage. Since the economic crisis of 2008, this has been constantly declining: between 2000 & 2013, there was an average a drop of 28%.
A median wage is, however, a distortion. Writers make their money based on how well. Dissonance is inevitable & vast. A writer can expect to receive a maximum of 10% on any paperback book sold. The publisher keeps the remaining 90%. Writing is a profession for the rich; in 2013 only 11.5% of writers earned their incomes solely from writing. The working-class are excluded.
Access to literature, art, music is unaffordable for working-class people; whether this is because they are over-worked or simply because they cannot financially afford to gain access is ultimately irrelevant. Our museums & galleries are palaces of colonial theft. Presently, it costs £16.50 to see certain exhibitions at the British Museum. Creative spaces are not a space for critical discourse.
Cuba is a cultural inspiration for the whole world. Your principles of democracy & internationalism are integrated into your art. We share in this vision, the vision of comrade Haydee Santamaria. Less
