Antonio Guiteras

Antonio Guiteras y Holmes (22 November 1906 in Philadelphia, United States – 8 May 1935 in Matanzas, Cuba) was a leading politician in Cuba during the 1930s.

A proponent of revolutionary socialism, he participated in the radical government installed after the overthrow of the autocratic right wing Cuban President Gerardo Machado y Morales in 1933. In 1931, Guiteras established the Unión Revolucionaria.

Guiteras' political beliefs were nurtured in the volatile political climate of the 1920s. He first became widely known as a student leader and associate of Julio Antonio Mella, a young Communist revolutionary. He believed that the liberation of the people would be achieved through violent confrontation with the established authorities, but simultaneously held firm to the ideal of democracy. Antonio Guiteras was named Minister of the Interior under President Dr. Ramón Grau San Martín. Many reforms were introduced, including a minimum wage, minimum labour regulations, academic freedom, and nationalisation of important sectors of the economy. After the "government of 100 days," Guiteras became even more radical and founded Joven Cuba, a proletarian political organisation inspired by anti-capitalism and the nationalism of José Martí.

In his account "Cuba: A New History", the leftist historian Richard Gott summarizes Guiteras' beliefs and methods:

Guiteras was assassinated, along with his Venezuelan comrade Carlos Aponte, in Matanzas province in 1935.

References

* Gott, Richard. "Cuba: A New History". Yale University Press, 2004. (ISBN 0-300-10411-1)
* Rosales García, Juana. " [http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs181.html Revolution and anti-imperialism in Antonio Guiteras] ." Originally published in Cuba Socialista [http://www.cubasocialista.cu/texto/cs0166.htm] . Translated from the Spanish by Ana Portela.