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Vol.64/No.1      January 10, 2000 
 
 
Cuban generals 'describe their reasons for joining revolution'  
Preface by Juan Almeida to 'Making History' 
 
 
Below we reprint the preface by Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque to the new Pathfinder book Making History: Interviews with Four Generals of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces. The preface will be published in the Spanish-language edition of the book by the Cuban publishing house Editora Politica, and incorporated in the second Pathfinder edition in English, both scheduled for publication in January 2000.

Making History contains interviews with generals Néstor López Cuba, Enrique Carreras, José Ramón Fernández, and Harry Villegas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. The introduction by the book's editor, Mary-Alice Waters, was reprinted in the Dec. 6, 1999, issue of the Militant.

A former bricklayer from Havana, Juan Almeida Bosque participated in the assault on the Moncada garrison under the leadership of Fidel Castro on July 26, 1953. That action opened the revolutionary struggle against the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. Almeida, one of the Granma expeditionaries, rose to the rank of commander in the Rebel Army during the revolutionary war that triumphed on Jan. 1, 1959.

He has served as head of the air force and vice minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. Almeida has been a member of the Central Committee and Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba since its founding in 1965. Today, he is the vice-president of the Cuban Council of State and the president of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

This preface is copyright © 2000 by Pathfinder Press, reprinted by permission.  
 
 
BY JUAN ALMEIDA BOSQUE 
The interviews with four generals of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba contained in Making History present us, in simple language, the impressions of these combatants on the topics selected, based on their own experiences.

The four are examples of ordinary individuals from among the Cuban people, different only in their responsibilities and military specialization, as well as their origin and the historic role each has played during these forty years of revolution.

Through their answers and accounts, they identify important moments in our history, describe their reasons for joining the revolution, and tell of aspects of our people's struggle. One can perceive the simple honesty of these men, who deeply love the cause they fight for, who are loyal and fair toward Raúl in responding to questions about his work as minister of the FAR, and who stand firmly with Fidel as guide, educator, and central leader of our revolution.

I salute the effort of the interviewers and anticipate that readers will be grateful for, and moved by, the living recollections of these four generals.  
 
 
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