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Che Guevara Archive
Cadres for the New Party
Unlike previous revolutions of this century, the Cuban Revolution
had to build its party after coming to power. Here, Guevara discusses
the problems of selecting the cadre, i.e., that core of trained, active
and responsible members that will educate the new recruits and that
will embody the party's stability and continuity. The excerpts are
from Guevara's article, 'The Cadre, Backbone of the Revolution', in
the September, 1962, issue of Cuba Socialista.
It is not necessary to dwell upon the characteristics of our revolution;
upon its original form, with its dashes of spontaneity which marked
the transition from a revolution of national liberation to a socialist
revolution; one full of rapidly passing stages, led by the same people
who participated in the initial epic of the attack on the Moncada
Barracks; a revolution which proceeded through the landing from the
Granma and culminated in the declaration of the socialist character
of the Cuban Revolution. New sympathisers, cadres, organisations joined
the feeble structure to such an extent that they imparted to our revolution
its present mass character, which has now placed its stamp upon our
revolution.
When it became clear that a new social class had definitely taken
power in Cuba, the great limitations which the exercise of state power
would encounter because of the existing conditions in the state became
evident: the lack of cadres to cope with the enormous tasks which
had to be carried out in the state apparatus, in political organisation,
and on the entire economic front.
 Immediately
after the taking of power, administrative assignments were made "by
rule of thumb"; there were no major problems — there were
none because as yet the old structure had not been shattered. The
apparatus functioned in its old, slow, lifeless, broken-down way,
but it had an organisation and with it sufficient co-ordination to
maintain itself through inertia, disdaining the political changes
which came about as a prelude to the change in the economic structure.
The 26th of July Movement, deeply impaired by the internal struggles
between its right and left wings, was unable to dedicate itself to
constructive tasks; and the Partido Socialista Popular (Popular Socialist
Party), because it had undergone fierce attacks, and because for years
it was an illegal party, had not been able to develop intermediate
cadres to cope with the newly arising responsibilities.
When the first state interventions took place in the economy, the
task of finding cadres was not very complicated, and it was possible
to select them from among many people who had the minimum basis for
assuming positions of leadership. But with the acceleration of the
process which took place after the nationalisation of the North American
enterprises and later of the large Cuban enterprises, a veritable
hunger for administrative technicians manifested itself. At the same
time, an urgent need was felt for production technicians because of
the exodus of many who were attracted by better positions offered
by the imperialist companies in other parts of the Americas or in
the United States itself. The political apparatus had to make an intense
effort, while engaged in the tasks of building, to pay ideological
attention to the masses who joined the revolution eager to learn.
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We all performed our roles as well as we could, but it was not without
pain and anxieties. Many errors were committed by the administrative
section of the Executive; enormous mistakes were made by the new administrators
of enterprises who had overwhelming responsibilities on their hands,
and we committed great and costly errors in the political apparatus
also, an apparatus which little by little began to fall into the hands
of a contented and carefree bureaucracy, totally separated from the
masses, which became recognised as a springboard for promotions and
for bureaucratic posts of major or minor importance.
The main cause of our errors was our lack of a feeling for reality
at a given moment; but the tool that we lacked, that which blunted
our ability to perceive and which was converting the party into a
bureaucratic entity and was endangering administration and production,
was the lack of developed cadres at the intermediate level. It became
evident that the policy of finding cadres was synonymous with the
policy of going to the masses, to establish contact anew with the
masses, a contact which had been closely maintained by the revolution
in the first stages of its existence. But it had to be established
through some type of mechanism which would afford the most beneficial
results, both in feeling the pulse of the masses and in the transmission
of political orientation, which in many cases was only being given
through the personal intervention of Prime Minister Fidel Castro or
other leaders of the revolution.
From this vantage point, we can ask ourselves what a cadre type is.
We should say that a cadre person is an individual who has achieved
sufficient political development to be able to interpret the extensive
directives emanating from the central power, make them his, and convey
them as orientation to the masses, a person who at the same time also
perceives the signs manifested by the masses of their own desires
and their innermost motivations.
He is an individual of ideological and administrative discipline,
who knows and practices democratic centralism and who knows how to
evaluate the existing contradictions in this method and to utilise
fully its many facets; who knows how to practice the principle of
collective discussion and to make decisions on his own and take responsibility
in production; whose loyalty is tested, and whose physical and moral
courage has developed along with his ideological development in such
a way that he is always willing to confront any conflict and to give
his life for the good of the revolution. Also, he is an individual
capable of self-analysis, which enables him to make the necessary
decisions and to exercise creative initiative in such a manner that
it won't conflict with discipline.
Therefore the cadre person is creative, a leader of high standing,
a technician with a good political level, who by reasoning dialectically
can advance his sector of production, or develop the masses from his
position of political leadership.
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This exemplary human being, apparently cloaked in difficult-to-achieve
virtues, is nonetheless present among the people of Cuba, and we find
him daily. The essential thing is to grasp all the opportunities that
there are for developing him to the maximum, for educating him, for
drawing from each personality the greatest usefulness and converting
it into the greatest advantage for the nation.
The development of a cadre individual is achieved in performing everyday
tasks; but the tasks must be undertaken in a systematic manner, in
special schools where competent professors — examples in their
turn to the student body — will encourage the most rapid ideological
advancement.
In a regime that is beginning to build socialism, you could not imagine
a cadre that does not have a high political development, but when
we consider political development we must not only take into account
apprenticeship to Marxist theory; we must also demand responsibility
of the individual for his acts, a discipline which restrains any passing
weaknesses, and which will not conflict with a big dose of initiative;
and constant preoccupation with all the problems of the revolution.
In order to develop him, we must begin by establishing the principles
of selectivity among the masses; it is there that we must find the
budding personalities, tested by sacrifice or just beginning to demonstrate
their stirrings, and assign them to special schools; or when these
are not available, give them greater responsibility so that they are
tested in practical work.
In this way, we have been finding a multitude of new cadres who have
developed during these years; but their development has not been an
even one, since the young compañeros have had to face the reality
of revolutionary creation without the adequate orientation of a party.
Some have succeeded fully, but there were others who could not completely
make it and were left midway, or were simply lost in the bureaucratic
labyrinth, or in the temptations that power brings.
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To assure the triumph and the total consolidation of the revolution,
we have to develop different types of cadres: the political cadre
who will be the base of our mass organisations, and who will orient
them through the action of the Partido Unido de la Revolución
Socialista (United Party of the Socialist Revolution; PURS). We are
already beginning to establish these bases with the national and provincial
Schools of Revolutionary Instruction and with studies and study groups
at all levels. We also need military cadres; to achieve that, we can
utilise the selection the war made among our young combatants, since
there are still many living, who are without great theoretical knowledge
but were tested under fire-tested under the most difficult conditions
of the struggle, with a fully proven loyalty toward the revolutionary
regime with whose birth and development they have been so intimately
connected since the first guerrilla fights of the Sierra. We should
also develop economic cadres who will dedicate themselves specifically
to the difficult tasks of planning and the tasks of the organisation
of the socialist state in these moments of creation.
 It
is necessary to work with the professionals, urging the youth to follow
one of the more important technical careers in an effort to give science
that tone of ideological enthusiasm which will guarantee accelerated
development. And, it is imperative to create an administrative team,
which will know how to take advantage of the specific technical knowledge
of others and to co-ordinate and guide the enterprises and other organisations
of the state to bring them into step with the powerful rhythm of the
revolution.
The common denominator for all is political clarity. This does not
consist of unthinking support to the postulates of the revolution,
but a reasoned support; it requires a great capacity for sacrifice
and a capacity for dialectical analysis which will enhance the making
of continuous contributions on all levels to the rich theory and practice
of the revolution. These compañeros should be selected from
the masses solely by application of the principle that the best will
come to the fore and that the best should be given the greatest opportunities
for development.
In all these situations, the function of the cadre, in spite of its
being on different fronts, is the same. The cadre is the major part
of the ideological motor which is the United Party of the Revolution.
It is something that we could call the dynamic screw of this motor;
a screw that in regard to the functional part will assure its correct
functioning; dynamic to the extent that the cadre is not simply an
upward or downward transmitter of slogans or demands, but a creator
which will aid in the development of the masses and in the information
of the leaders, serving as a point of contact with them. The cadre
has the important mission of seeing to it that the great spirit of
the revolution is not dissipated, that it will not become dormant
nor let up its rhythm. It is a sensitive position; it transmits what
comes from the masses and infuses in the masses the orientation of
the party.
Therefore, the development of cadres is now a task which cannot be
postponed. The development of the cadres has been undertaken with
great eagerness by the revolutionary government with its programs
of scholarships based on selective principles; with its programs of
study for workers, offering various opportunities for technological
development; with the development of the special technical schools;
with the development of the secondary schools and the universities,
opening new careers; with the development finally of our slogans of
study, work and revolutionary vigilance for our entire country, fundamentally
based on the Union of Young Communists from which all types of cadres
should emerge, even the leading cadres in the future of the revolution.
Intimately tied to the concept of cadre is the capacity for sacrifice,
for demonstrating through personal example the truths and watchwords
of the revolution. The cadres, as political leaders, should gain the
respect of the workers by their actions. It is absolutely imperative
that they count on the respect and affection of their compañeros,
whom they should guide along the vanguard paths.
Overall, there are no better cadres than those elected by the masses
in the assemblies that select the exemplary workers, those that will
be brought into the PURS along with the old members of the ORI (Organización
Revolucionaria Integrada-Integrated Revolutionary Organisation) who
pass the required selective tests. At the beginning they will constitute
a small party, but with enormous influence among the workers; later
it will grow when the advance of socialist consciousness begins converting
the work and total devotion to the cause of the people into a necessity.
With the intermediate leaders of this category, the difficult tasks
that we have before us will be accomplished with fewer errors. After
a period of confusion and poor methods, we have arrived at a just
policy which will never be abandoned. With the ever-renewing drive
of the working class, nourishing from its inexhaustible fountain the
ranks of the future United Party of the Socialist Revolution, and
with the leadership of our Party, we fully undertake the task of the
forming of cadres which will guarantee the swift development of our
revolution. We must be successful in the effort.
The Cadre, Backbone of the Revolution, September, 1962, Cuba Socialista
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