An Island of Antifascism: Cubans and the Transnational Struggle against Caribbean Basin Dictatorships, 1944–58

This paper examines how Cubans summoned anti-fascism while challenging dictatorial regimes throughout the Caribbean Basin from the mid-1940s into the late 1950s. In contrast to scholarship that focuses upon the Auténtico party’s domestic policies, this paper reveals how numerous Cubans participated in a transnational movement that sought to overthrow Dominican despot Rafael Trujillo, Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, Honduran dictator Tiburcio Carías, and the Venezuelan military junta from 1944 into 1952. Throughout, Auténticos turned Cuba into a haven for the region’s anti-fascist exiles, provided crucial resources, and collaborated in bombastic ventures and expeditions.

Following Fulgencio Batista’s 1952 military coup, Auténticos tapped into this near-decade-long transnational networking to support their own opposition against their own dictator. Departing from the scholarly focus on Fidel Castro, this paper finds that numerous Cuban exiles traveled the Caribbean Basin to lobby for allies, collect resources, and organize plots against Batista’s regime. Thanks to never-before-utilized Cuban military and intelligence reports with newly-declassified Dominican, Mexican, and British files and exiles’ personal collections, this paper recovers the overlooked contributions of an entire regional ‘front’ of Cubans who worked with Caribbean Basin exiles and leaders, U.S. organizations, and Costa Rican and Venezuelan presidents to challenge Batista while contributing to and challenging Castro’s own movement.