Reds! Official Fanfiction Thread (Part Two)
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Quotes About Peaceful Coexistence (By Bookmark1995)
Bookmark1995
Banned
Quotes About Peaceful Coexistence
Czechoslovakia Part 2
-Chant by Liberation protestors at a disarmament conference in Dublin, 1974
The people of England and France are not mindless drones seeking our help. For while we have chosen community life and comradeship to enrich are lives, they have chosen -not been bullied, as some would believe- materialistic gain to enrich theirs. We cannot act as kings, imposing our will upon the people's of Europe. We must allow the people of Blue Europe to make their own choices.
-Barbara Jordan, Chairwoman of SEU-Houston, at a peace convention in Austin, 1979
Disarmament is just a tool for the sewers [1] to put more money in the hands of their comrades, the London and Bombay billionaires. Capitalism kills more people every year than a nuclear war would. Destroying the blues is thus the lesser evil.
-Radio show host Rush Limbaugh, 1996
You mean, you are content to let our working comrades languish under the machinery of capitalism.
If a nuclear war broke out there would be no one languishing-because we'd all be dead.
-High school debate over the issue of Red-Blue relations, 2007
Paul Wellstone: I would say that jingoist threats are not the answer for the continued existence of capitalism-
John Warner: Your right, Comrade Wellstone, we need less threats and more action.
Paul Wellstone: (annoyed) That's not what I meant. I believe that only through cultural exchange and the disbursement of our culture-
John Warner (firmly): Morty Mouse and Columbia wasn't what beat the Nazis. Guns and soldiers did.
-Debate over Foreign Policy on Get the Facts, A PBS Debate Show, March 10, 1999.
[1] A slur that can be used against members of the SEU.
Czechoslovakia Part 2
-Chant by Liberation protestors at a disarmament conference in Dublin, 1974
The people of England and France are not mindless drones seeking our help. For while we have chosen community life and comradeship to enrich are lives, they have chosen -not been bullied, as some would believe- materialistic gain to enrich theirs. We cannot act as kings, imposing our will upon the people's of Europe. We must allow the people of Blue Europe to make their own choices.
-Barbara Jordan, Chairwoman of SEU-Houston, at a peace convention in Austin, 1979
Disarmament is just a tool for the sewers [1] to put more money in the hands of their comrades, the London and Bombay billionaires. Capitalism kills more people every year than a nuclear war would. Destroying the blues is thus the lesser evil.
-Radio show host Rush Limbaugh, 1996
You mean, you are content to let our working comrades languish under the machinery of capitalism.
If a nuclear war broke out there would be no one languishing-because we'd all be dead.
-High school debate over the issue of Red-Blue relations, 2007
Paul Wellstone: I would say that jingoist threats are not the answer for the continued existence of capitalism-
John Warner: Your right, Comrade Wellstone, we need less threats and more action.
Paul Wellstone: (annoyed) That's not what I meant. I believe that only through cultural exchange and the disbursement of our culture-
John Warner (firmly): Morty Mouse and Columbia wasn't what beat the Nazis. Guns and soldiers did.
-Debate over Foreign Policy on Get the Facts, A PBS Debate Show, March 10, 1999.
[1] A slur that can be used against members of the SEU.
Last edited:
Bookmark1995
Banned
I just read about Posadism on Wikipedia. It sounds like a mixture of Marx and millenarianism.
A Short History of the Modern Political Makeup of the United States of America, now indefinitely in exile on a small island ninety miles from the Florida Keys. - Part II(By Caesar_33)
A Short History of the Modern Political Makeup of the United States of America, now indefinitely in exile on a small island ninety miles from the Florida Keys. - Part II
MacArthur, the face of American fascism, had managed to make a 180 degree turnaround, now denouncing the "murderous dictatorship" in Brazil, and informing the UASR and its Latin American allies that they would be willing to assist in efforts to destroy it. However, such offers came at an obvious cost. As the FLC was waging its campaign of national liberation across the Cuban countryside, only the intervention of the mostly white Cuban army had prevented a full-scale revolution. Supply shipments to the FLC had dropped significantly with Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, and with Americuba's declaration of war, the UASR had ended all shipments entirely, and privately asked the FLC to end its bombing campaign. The FLC remained committed to its people's war, and hoped that with pressure from military deployment that the Cuban government would finally collapse.
In contrast, the Cuban people's once fervent support for the FLC began to dry up. Cuba was now fighting against an evil fascist dictatorship, and instead of assisting, the FLC was bombing train stations and kidnapping local governors. Native Cubans took to the factories and enlisted in the army, not out of a patriotism for the Americuban state, but out of a hatred of Brazil. After a month and a half of reduced activity, the FLC had been greatly weakened. Without shipments from the UASR, and many Cubans forced to work in the factories the FLC found its ability to fight greatly depleted. In an emergency session in late April of 1942, the FLC announced a suspension of all armed insurgency until the war was over. Retreating to the mountains and rural areas, the FLC bided its time for the next war.
MacArthur, of course, did not simply wait until the war was over only to be overthrown. The FBI prepared for an attack on FLC bases in the Sierra Maestra, the Cuban mountain range, to neutralize FLC positions. With Americuban troops holding the line in the Guianas, there was little risk of war from the UASR, and the hope was that the operation would be so sudden that the FLC would not be able to strike back, with its leader buried in rubble. As the operation was slated for July 1942, the Section 9 spies in the FBI reported back to the UASR. A successful operation could seriously damage the FLC, and possibly end hopes of Cuban independence. Quickly , the files were transferred to the FLC, and they were told to prepare for the onslaught. Section 9 spies remained silent about the operation, hoping that the Cuban government would be unable to flush out the FLC.
However, a much worse attack suddenly hit the nation. On June 28th, a bridge collapsed in Havana, with responsibility claimed by the Brazilian government. The operation is put on hold as a manhunt begins for Brazilians in Cuba. After several months of searching, every Brazilian in Cuba is screened, only for one spiteful Brazilian to detonate a bomb in Santiago de Cuba, killing thirty. As military necessities and the search for Brazilian spies becomes more extreme, the operation is put on hold. However, the FLC is also aware of the operation, and is arming itself for the inevitable battle.
Soon, MacArthur begins to deploy his forces on many fronts, in Europe, Africa and Asia. The underground threat of the FLC is much less exciting than the possibility of a triumphant Cuba. Ignoring the pleads of his FBI officers, MacArthur diverts resources intended for the attack to military fronts across the world. The FLC responds to this development positively.
MacArthur, now committing most of the U.S Army to Venezuela, is now concerned with post-war affairs. However, with the surrender of Venezuela to Cuban forces, MacArthur begins to quietly bring back military forces to Cuba. Reactivating the operation, he sets it for late 1943. Soon, the FLC is informed, and begins to prepare as Cuban military troops move towards the Venezuelan coast to be shipped back to Cuba. The UASR must come up with another plan. In order to prevent the exodus of Cuban troops, the WFRA causes a skirmish along the Colombian-Venezuelan border, between a Venezuelan division and a WFRA brigade. The skirmish quickly draws out, and soon the WRFA is pushing into western Venezuela as the Cuban troops attempt to organize a new government. In a state of panic, MacArthur orders the Cuban troops to defend the collapsing Venezuelan lines. After a few battles between Cuban and American soldiers, the conflict is settled, but in order to maintain pressure on Cuba the WRFA will cause a few more skirmishes over the next few months. The "Venezuelan Border War" is one of the few conflicts of WW2 not considered to be between the Axis and the Allies/Comintern.
By late 1943, the Comintern and Allies are forcing back Brazil and its allies on all fronts. Operation Regisurp is beginning to gather steam among the Brazilian military, and American military analysts are hoping that the war can be won in six months. The Cuban government decides to withdraw troops when the war is won; lest Venezuela fall to the communists, falling right into the FLC's hands. As Cuban troops push into the Guianas and are nearing the Brazilian border, the Brazilians have been forced out of Argentina and the Bolivians out of Chile. The Brazilian government is weakening from the inside, as Saldago is being driven into insanity. Soon, the military is deserting the Integralist cause and Dom Henrique is finding more and more supporters in the Brazilian government. As the Brazilian Army is being forced back in Paraguay and Uruguay, the Brazilian Navy has been sitting at the ocean floor, a small submarine containing Dom Henrique docks in Sao Paulo, and a plan to kill Saldago is set in motion.
On the thirteenth of March, 1944, as the dictator Saldago is being stabbed to death by his trusted aid on live TV, the Frente de Liberacion del gente de Cuba launches a massive offensive from every corner of Cuba against the traitor MacArthur and his fascist government, flying the flag of Cuba as fire erupts across Havana.
"Cuba Libre!" they shout. "Muerte de MacArthur!"
MacArthur, the face of American fascism, had managed to make a 180 degree turnaround, now denouncing the "murderous dictatorship" in Brazil, and informing the UASR and its Latin American allies that they would be willing to assist in efforts to destroy it. However, such offers came at an obvious cost. As the FLC was waging its campaign of national liberation across the Cuban countryside, only the intervention of the mostly white Cuban army had prevented a full-scale revolution. Supply shipments to the FLC had dropped significantly with Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, and with Americuba's declaration of war, the UASR had ended all shipments entirely, and privately asked the FLC to end its bombing campaign. The FLC remained committed to its people's war, and hoped that with pressure from military deployment that the Cuban government would finally collapse.
In contrast, the Cuban people's once fervent support for the FLC began to dry up. Cuba was now fighting against an evil fascist dictatorship, and instead of assisting, the FLC was bombing train stations and kidnapping local governors. Native Cubans took to the factories and enlisted in the army, not out of a patriotism for the Americuban state, but out of a hatred of Brazil. After a month and a half of reduced activity, the FLC had been greatly weakened. Without shipments from the UASR, and many Cubans forced to work in the factories the FLC found its ability to fight greatly depleted. In an emergency session in late April of 1942, the FLC announced a suspension of all armed insurgency until the war was over. Retreating to the mountains and rural areas, the FLC bided its time for the next war.
MacArthur, of course, did not simply wait until the war was over only to be overthrown. The FBI prepared for an attack on FLC bases in the Sierra Maestra, the Cuban mountain range, to neutralize FLC positions. With Americuban troops holding the line in the Guianas, there was little risk of war from the UASR, and the hope was that the operation would be so sudden that the FLC would not be able to strike back, with its leader buried in rubble. As the operation was slated for July 1942, the Section 9 spies in the FBI reported back to the UASR. A successful operation could seriously damage the FLC, and possibly end hopes of Cuban independence. Quickly , the files were transferred to the FLC, and they were told to prepare for the onslaught. Section 9 spies remained silent about the operation, hoping that the Cuban government would be unable to flush out the FLC.
However, a much worse attack suddenly hit the nation. On June 28th, a bridge collapsed in Havana, with responsibility claimed by the Brazilian government. The operation is put on hold as a manhunt begins for Brazilians in Cuba. After several months of searching, every Brazilian in Cuba is screened, only for one spiteful Brazilian to detonate a bomb in Santiago de Cuba, killing thirty. As military necessities and the search for Brazilian spies becomes more extreme, the operation is put on hold. However, the FLC is also aware of the operation, and is arming itself for the inevitable battle.
Soon, MacArthur begins to deploy his forces on many fronts, in Europe, Africa and Asia. The underground threat of the FLC is much less exciting than the possibility of a triumphant Cuba. Ignoring the pleads of his FBI officers, MacArthur diverts resources intended for the attack to military fronts across the world. The FLC responds to this development positively.
MacArthur, now committing most of the U.S Army to Venezuela, is now concerned with post-war affairs. However, with the surrender of Venezuela to Cuban forces, MacArthur begins to quietly bring back military forces to Cuba. Reactivating the operation, he sets it for late 1943. Soon, the FLC is informed, and begins to prepare as Cuban military troops move towards the Venezuelan coast to be shipped back to Cuba. The UASR must come up with another plan. In order to prevent the exodus of Cuban troops, the WFRA causes a skirmish along the Colombian-Venezuelan border, between a Venezuelan division and a WFRA brigade. The skirmish quickly draws out, and soon the WRFA is pushing into western Venezuela as the Cuban troops attempt to organize a new government. In a state of panic, MacArthur orders the Cuban troops to defend the collapsing Venezuelan lines. After a few battles between Cuban and American soldiers, the conflict is settled, but in order to maintain pressure on Cuba the WRFA will cause a few more skirmishes over the next few months. The "Venezuelan Border War" is one of the few conflicts of WW2 not considered to be between the Axis and the Allies/Comintern.
By late 1943, the Comintern and Allies are forcing back Brazil and its allies on all fronts. Operation Regisurp is beginning to gather steam among the Brazilian military, and American military analysts are hoping that the war can be won in six months. The Cuban government decides to withdraw troops when the war is won; lest Venezuela fall to the communists, falling right into the FLC's hands. As Cuban troops push into the Guianas and are nearing the Brazilian border, the Brazilians have been forced out of Argentina and the Bolivians out of Chile. The Brazilian government is weakening from the inside, as Saldago is being driven into insanity. Soon, the military is deserting the Integralist cause and Dom Henrique is finding more and more supporters in the Brazilian government. As the Brazilian Army is being forced back in Paraguay and Uruguay, the Brazilian Navy has been sitting at the ocean floor, a small submarine containing Dom Henrique docks in Sao Paulo, and a plan to kill Saldago is set in motion.
On the thirteenth of March, 1944, as the dictator Saldago is being stabbed to death by his trusted aid on live TV, the Frente de Liberacion del gente de Cuba launches a massive offensive from every corner of Cuba against the traitor MacArthur and his fascist government, flying the flag of Cuba as fire erupts across Havana.
"Cuba Libre!" they shout. "Muerte de MacArthur!"
@Caesar_33 you are the Caesar on discord right? this is a very good work in my opinion. I can imagine Cubamerica out of this and @Bookmark1995 's works.
I love the trope of OTL anti-communist hawks being TTL anti-capitalist hawks.
Bookmark1995
Banned
That was my point. Populists will rally around what is popular, no matter how nonsensical those ideas may be.
A Short History of the Modern Political Makeup of the United States of America, now indefinitely in exile on a small island ninety miles from the Florida Keys. - Part III(By Caesar_33)
A Short History of the Modern Political Makeup of the United States of America, now indefinitely in exile on a small island ninety miles from the Florida Keys. - Part III
(last update i swear)
As the forces of the FLC clashed with the U.S army in Havana, operational planners for the FLC hoped that within the week MacArthur would be dead and the island in the hands of the FLC. The Cuban government was kept completely in the dark, and MacArthur refused to believe reports of the battles until he looked out of the window in his office and saw Havana on fire. Most of Havana descended into riots. Native Cubans and white immigrants fought, as the official white-majority U.S army and FLC irregulars fought along with them. Secretary of State Robert F. Kennedy privately asked MacArthur to flee to Britain, believing that the U.S Army would soon be defeated on the field. MacArthur refused. The issue of speculation over his refusal has been brought under various interpretations, by various political factions. The modern FLC line is that he did so because he was afraid of leaving and being killed on the streets, most nationalist/white-dominated parties claim that he simply had faith in the U.S Army, and far-right factions claim that he remained as the guiding light to "inspire the defenders of liberty in America." For whatever reason, MacArthur stayed in Havana, and whether because of him, or in spite of him, the U.S Army prevailed.
After a week of urban combat, FLC guerrillas melted away into the countryside. The white-majority city of Havana turned against the FLC invaders, and the material advantage of U.S Army forces turned the tide. However, despite the hopes of the victorious Americans, the war would not end with the Battle of Havana. Beginning on March 14th, a "Cuban Civil War" would rage for another nine years. Conducted primarily out of the Sierra Madre, the FLC conducted a guerrilla war against the governing U.S forces. Although they never came as close as they did in Havana, the FLC would end up occupying large swathes of the countryside, and controlling irregular units in every major Cuban city. With the Cuban government receiving support from the Franco-British Union and various other AFS nations, and the FLC receiving support from the Comintern, it is generally considered a Cold War proxy conflict, and since it began in 1944, the very first. The civil war would plague MacArthur until his early death in 1953, plagued by constant stress and paranoia over the hundreds of assassination attempts that he survived, although not without injury (he would lose function in his left leg in a bomb attack in 1951 and was forced to reside in a wheelchair for the last two years of his life).
By his death, a clique had assembled in the highest ranks of the National Salvation Front that believed that the continuation of the war would inevitably result in the collapse of the American government. Despite being the intended successor of MacArthur, Majority Senate Leader Charles Coughlin was outmaneuvered by "reformist" Secretary of State Robert F. Kennedy. Upon ascending to the Presidency, he made public his interest in negotiating a ceasefire with the FLC. The FLC, after having lost USSR support due to the 1954 Comintern split, and now under pressure from the UASR which wished to cut off weapons imports to the FLC so they could focus on the ongoing War in the Horn. Under pressure from most of its allies, the FLC was willing to attend the negotiating table - but would demand almost everything. Their demands included bilingualism, recognition of the rights of native Cubans, the dismissal of Charles Coughlin, and the holding of free and fair elections during which the FLC would be allowed to compete. The Council expected the government to refuse - after all, as a scion of MacArthur, how could Kennedy tear down the legacy of MacArthur's white rule in a single meeting. To their shock, Kennedy agreed. Kennedy fundamentally believed that the only way to actually keep the United States alive was to modernize it and to prevent its majority underclass from turning into revolutionaries. To him, harsh measures against the FLC had only strengthened it. Most of the FLC's demands Kennedy already intended on doing, and the removal of Coughlin gave an excellent chance to kick out a political rival. On the 14th of March, 1953, the 9th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Havana, peace was finally signed between the FLC and the government.
Kennedy's liberal-nationalist ideology soon displaced "National Restorationism" as the dominating ideology of Americuba. The Cuban government followed the agreement to a letter, enforcing equal status for native Cubans across the country and holding free elections in mid-1955. However, Kennedy of all people was aware that truly free elections would inevitably result in an FLC victory, as Cubans outnumbered whites three to one. Instead, he would have to depress the FLC turnout. Usage of poll taxes or exclusion of certain Cuban voters would inevitably destroy the agreement. Instead, he decided to facilitate a split in the FLC. FBI spies that had worked their way in the organization since the agreement attempted to sow a divide between those who wanted to proceed with revolutionary war and those who wanted to attempt to seize power through democratic measures. The peace agreement was widely appreciated by the FLC, but as time went on dissenting voices emerged that warned against abandoning war entirely. Seizing on this divide, the FBI informants inspired a significant portion of the organization to walk out and boycott the agreement. Although they did not go so far as to reignite the war, they refused to compete in the election, saying that any victory would inevitably mean a countercoup identical to the one twenty years prior.
Kennedy emphasized his pro-Cuban record, distancing himself from Coughlin and MacArthur and painting the FLC as a proxy army of the UASR, attempting to make inroads with non-communist Cubans, while emphasizing white turnout. The FLC, with no official leader, was plagued by infighting between its majority and minority factions. As the election neared, Kennedy briefed the FBI on what to do in the case of an FLC victory, not unlike his predecessor's plans for Thomas. In the end, the election came out with 2.2 million for the National Salvation Front and 2.1 million for the FLC. The NSF received 1.5 million white votes and 0.7 million Cuban votes, while the FCL received 2.0 million Cuban votes, and less than 100,000 white votes. Turnout for the white population neared 80%, while the Cuban population only managed around 35%. The Senate, now a unicameral legislature with two seats for every state, resulting in a total of 32, was split 18-14 for the NSF. Two months later, a presidential election was held, where the FLC neglected to nominate a candidate based on Kennedy's popularity with the Cuban community. Most states were split, but Havana, still recovering from the battle ten years prior, voted heavily NSF while the Sierra Madre turned out for the FLC. The FLC reeled from the surprising defeat, and attempted to re-emphasize turnout. However, the Senate reformed policies appropriating the Senate seats based on population, and the Cuban economy developed a native Cuban petty bourgeoisie that voted heavily NSF. In the 1960 general election, the FLC was dealt a significant blow, taking only 19 seats out of the 71 contested, with the "minoría" faction taking nine, appealing to hardline Cuban communists who believed the FLC had made too many concessions to the bourgeoisie. Kennedy would rule unopposed for another 26 years, dying in 1979. Upon his death, the NSF was split between the Partido Nacional/National Party(PN), dissident MacArthur loyalists who wished to reorient the party after twenty years of political dominance, and Partido del Progresso/Progress Party(PP), Kennedy-esque reformists who wished to continue those policies. A third splinter faction has since been formed, as the "America Forever" party, run by eccentric billionaire Donald Trump, after he lost a primary race to Rafael Cruz in the Partido Nacional.
With the split between the PN and PP, it became clear that the era of eternal NSF governments was over. To prevent the FLC from taking power, the right would have to make inroads with native Cubans, and the native Cuban vote largely coalesced around the FLC and FLCC. To keep their government, the PP filled the seats formerly occupied by new PN members with a minor Catholic party, Democracia Christiana. Although DC was largely economically to the left of PP and socially to the right, the two parties allied to keep the communists and anglo nationalists out. Subsequently, as PN drifted to the center and became more accepting of Cubans, they rebounded in the 1993 general elections and subsequently allied to DC. Since then, the PN has become DC's natural governing part. Since then, the PN-DC coalition "Por Dios y Pais" has remained solid, governing since 1993 besides a two year PP majority government between 2005-2007.
The FLC has never healed the split formed between the minority and majority currents. The main FLC exists as a broad tent, officially non-ideological but in practice dominated by the PCC, the Partido Comunista de Cuba, although minor non-communist nationalist segments exist. The minority faction, now called the Frente de Liberation Comunista de Cuba, the Front of Communist Liberation of Cuba (FLCC) is ideologically communist, and the favorite party of the Comintern, although most in the Comintern advocate for reconciliation with the FLC.
Cuba is currently residing under a minority government provided by the 2014 general elections, where the Partido del Progresso managed to decisively defeat the National Party, bringing it from 58 seats to only 21. A number of scandals caused by President Rafael Cruz, including an incident where he liked explicit content on social media, as well as a generally poor economic policy and a worsening of relations with the UASR have caused a significant decrease in popularity for the PN and Cruz. In the 2014 presidential election, Rafael advanced to the second round two points behind FLC candidate Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, only to win in the second round by a single point. He has since governed along with a Progress Party minority government and a controversial confidence-and-supply agreement from the FLC, ostensibly to undermine Cruz, in a term marked by infighting between the President and the Senate. Although he has been renominated for president by the PN over controversial candidate Donald Trump, Trump's formation of a far-right spoiler party has hammered the last nail in the coffin for Rafael's hopes of winning a third term as President.
The FLC, as a result of its confidence-and-supply agreement with the PP, is now facing significant voter defection to the FLCC, which hopes to pick off a few marginal FLC seats come 2019. The Partido Nacional has not become any more popular since the establishment of a shaky government, and is now looking to be out-competed by the "America Forever" party, whose chairman has controversially associated native Cubans with "large, stinky rats." Rafael has seemed to have moved on from the PN, deferring to support from the PP in his 2014 Presidential race, and some have speculated that the PN might be dying, siphoning to the PP and America Forever. With its anglo wing defecting to America Forever, all that is left is its middle class Cuban base. Either way, Rafael is polling ten points behind FLC candidate Parrilla, and is facing a strong challenge from the right in the form of Donald Trump, who has blamed Rafael's father in the bombing that wounded MacArthur in 1951. However, the FLC is also facing significant competition from its left in the form of the FLCC. The DC candidate of Mel Martinez has attempted to exploit the FLC divide to push his way into second place, and become the first DC president in Cuban history. The 2019 election is looking to be one of high stakes, with the most crowded race in Cuban history.
Party List:
Partido Nacional/National Party
Founded: 1979/1933(claimed)
Ideology: American Nationalism, Social Conservatism, Economic Nationalism
Political position: Centre-right (In Cuba), Right-wing (International)
International Affiliation: International Democratic Union
Official Color: Black
Youth Wing: Young Americans
Party Newspaper: Bill of Rights
Party of Government?: No, in opposition, but controls the Presidency. Has 15 out of 131 seats in the Senate. Lost six defectors to America Forever.
Description: Founded by MacArthur loyalists, it has since moderated into the "status quo" party of Cuba, advocating for liberal economics and traditional social values.
Capital Punishment: In favor, supports for crimes of treason and murder.
Civil Defense: The PN supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, and supports patriotic values in the Boy Scouts, as well as teaching children how use weaponry preceding their stay in the army.
Cultural Stance: Generally a supporter of "traditional values," it is not slow to drop culturally conservative policies should they jeopardize the party's electoral potential. In the words of Donald Trump, "MacArthur would have been ashamed to see what "his party" is doing! And by God, you'll be ashamed to see what you're like in fifty years, I guarantee it!"
Defense: The PN dropped its viewpoint that the U.S Army should prepare for an invasion of America, but it still argues for a well-funded army that is supported by its allies in Brazil and the Franco-British Union.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of all drugs, but allowed the legalization of marijuana in 1965. Supports rehab for anyone who uses illegal drugs.
Economy: Favors a capitalist economy with a strong safety-net that emphasizes ties with small businesses, with Cuban petit-bourgeoisie becoming the party's main electoral base, although they have recently jumped ship to the PP. Generally considered to be to the left of PP and right of DC on economics.
Education: Supports an educational status quo, but is very supportive of patriotic values, like the recitement of the national anthem as well as the teaching of "patriotic values" in school. In 2013, they attempted to pass a ban on displaying the Cuban flag in schools, but was defeated by the opposition of DC and every opposition party.
Environment: Generally unsupportive, alleging that such measures negatively effect the economy. Generally seen as a main talking point of the PN, FLC, and FLCC.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling nations in the Blue Sphere, and has links to right-wing guerrilla groups, but shirks more oppressive governments like in Rhodesia and West Germany.
Foreign Alliances: Supports strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela. Supported Venezuelan-Cuban unification in the 50s. Also supports membership in the AFS and strong economic ties with Westen Europe.
Immigration: Supports immigration with South American blue nations, but has strict immigration controls for Americans, who are not even allowed to tour the country due to the ongoing blockade.
Law Enforcement: Relatively strict. Supports armed police and has attempted to silence those who spoke out against police brutality from the white-majority police force.
Nuclear Armament: The PN has rejected plans of developing a nuclear arsenal of their own and offers to station Franco-British missiles in the region. However, they oppose disarmament, fearful of conventional war with the Comintern and an invasion of Cuba.
Social Welfare: Supports a strong safety net and good working standards, but generally opposes Universal Basic Income and higher wages from mostly Indian and African foreign workers.
Organized Labor: Lukewarm on organized labor, supports pro-capitalist unions against socialist ones.
Religion: Maintains a traditional balance between its Anglo Protestant and Cuban Catholic bases, but with the departure of its Anglo base it remains to be seen whether or not it will move towards Catholicism.
Taxation: Supports a tax rate of 60% for anyone with over a billion dollars, and 12% for the poorest. It also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Supports teaching native citizens American patriotism. Opposes instances of Cuban Patriotism. Recognizes that old American symbology is not always applicable to Cuba.
Partido del Progresso/Party of Progress
Founded: 1980/1933(claimed)
Ideology: Social Liberalism, Economic Liberalism, Third Way, Ecologism, Cuban Nationalism
Political position: Synthesis of Left and Right (self-proclaimed) Center-left (Cuba), Center-right (International)
International Affiliation: Liberal International
Official Color: Green
Youth Wing: Young Progressives
Party Newspaper: None (officially)
Party of Government?: Yes, Minority Government. Has 44 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by socially liberal American exiles, it has transformed to be a modern socially progressive, economically liberal party that attempts to support native Cubans, business, and the environment all at once.
Capital Punishment: Officially opposed, but has made no effort to actually abolish it.
Civil Defense: The PP supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, but criticizes the "overly militaristic" nature of the Boy Scouts.
Cultural Stance: Officially socially progressive, it has supported gay rights and feminist movements, but only when they managed to gain steam and significantly later than the FLC and FLCC.
Defense: Has called the current military "bloated, and inefficient" and accuses the PN of still trying to build a military to reconquer America, but it still argues for a well-funded army that is supported by its allies in Brazil and the Franco-British Union.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of all drugs, but supported the legalization of marijuana in 1965. Supports rehab for anyone who uses illegal drugs.
Economy: Favors a liberal economy, with legalization of gambling, alcohol, and many recreational drugs to bring in revenue. Also supports a safety net but is seen as more economically liberal than the PN, generally gathering support among the youth and blue-collar whites.
Education: Supports an educational status quo,and is critical of traditional "patriotic values" taught in school. Supports the display of the Cuban flag with the American one.
Environment: Supportive of environmental measures, like extra taxes for companies that produce extra pollution and private consumption of solar panels.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling nations in the Blue Sphere, but disavows right-wing terrorism and has called for a boycott of Rhodesian products.
Foreign Alliances: Supports strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela. Gave lukewarm support to Venezuelan-Cuban unification in the 50s. Also supports membership in the AFS and strong economic ties with Westen Europe.
Immigration: Supports immigration with South American blue nations, but has strict immigration controls for Americans, who are not even allowed to tour the country due to the ongoing blockade.
Law Enforcement: Relatively strict. Supports armed police but criticizes violence in the police support, but has not done much to change the current system.
Nuclear Armament: The PP has rejected plans of developing a nuclear arsenal of their own and offers to station Franco-British missiles in the region. However, they oppose disarmament, fearful of conventional war with the Comintern and an invasion of Cuba.
Social Welfare: Supports a strong safety net, but strongly opposes Universal Basic Income and higher wages from mostly Indian and African foreign workers.
Organized Labor: Strongly opposed to unions, and the main backer for a number of "right-to-work laws" and accuses unions of driving down wages.
Religion: As the party is majority Cuban, it is generally Catholic dominated but officially secular.
Taxation: Supports a tax rate of 60% for anyone with over a billion dollars, and 12% for the poorest. It also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for a synthesis of Cuban and American patriotism. Says that modern Cuba isn't America any longer and never will be.
Demócrata Cristiano/Christian Democracy
Founded: 1954
Ideology: Christian Democracy
Political position: Center
International Affiliation: Christian Democrat International
Official Color: Blue
Youth Wing: Juventud Demócrata Cristiano
Party Newspaper: Demócrata Cristiano Noticias
Party of Government? No, part of the "Por Dios y Pais" opposition. 19 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by religious, poor Cuban Catholics, the party competes with the FLC and FLCC for the Cuban electorate and is allied with the PN. After the PN's landslide defeat in 2014, the party has attempted to reorient itself, realizing that another PN-DC government is unlikely to obtain a majority. Current possible coalition partners are the FLC and PP, although both parties are historically rivals of DC and an alliance with either would mean breaking the fifty year old coalition with PN.
Capital Punishment: Opposed to it on religious grounds.
Civil Defense: One of the major points of tension between it and the PN, it has reached an agreement for a more egalitarian and Cuban-focused military.
Cultural Stance: Generally conservative, opposes gay rights and abortion.
Defense: Agrees with the PN that Cuba needs an army, but disagrees with current doctrine it argues is a holdover from the eras when "MacArthur believed he could conquer America."
Drug Policy: Opposed the 1965 legalization of marijuana, opposes the liberalization of drug policy.
Economy: Supports a state-interventionist welfare state while distancing itself from socialism.
Education: Supports a more Cuban nationalist perspective and an honest take on the MacArthur regime. Supports public schooling and private Catholic education.
Environment: Although it has never been a significant campaigning point, the DC has focused more and more on environmentalism in recent years.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling AFS nations.
Foreign Alliances: Strongly supportive of current AFS membership.
Immigration: Multiracial and pro-labor, supports immigrants. Virtually the only party with support from the foreign worker community besides the FLC and FLCC.
Law Enforcement: Has opposed police brutality from generally white police forces. Backed the FLC in a police reform proposal that ultimately failed.
Nuclear Armament: Opposes developing or harboring nuclear weapons.
Social Welfare: A major piece of DC campaigning, supports a womb-to-tomb welfare state.
Organized Labor: Supportive of anti-communist trade unions and pro-labor. Leads the Unión de Trabajadores Católicos Cubanos (Union of Catholic Cuban Laborers), Cuba's second largest trade union and the main rival of the communist CTC.
Religion: Heavily Catholic, emphasizes ties with the Catholic Church and local Catholic organizations.
Taxation: Driving force for tax reform within a capitalist reform, lowering taxes for poor Cubans and wealthy Cubans/whites.
Trade: Protectionist, but more willing to foster ties with the TCI than PN.
Significant Party Factions: Officially a unitary party, the party does range between its left wing which is more nationalist, economically left wing, and wants to ally with the FLC and a right wing that is more socially conservative and prefers an alliance with the PP. There is a small minority of the party that believes in a transition to a socialist economy, while remaining socially conservative.
Opinion on the United States: More Cuban nationalist than the PN, supports a transition on what it means to be the "United States" to being full on Cuban nationalist.
Frente de Liberacion de Cuba/Cuban Liberation Front
Founded: 1934
Ideology: None besides Cuban Independence (self-proclaimed) Communism, Social Democracy, Cuban Nationalism (factions)
Political position: None (self-proclaimed), far-left (Cuba), centre-left (International)
International Affiliation: None (PCC affiliated with Comintern)
Official Color: Gray(has opposed efforts to change color to red, arguing that the party does not have an explicitly socialist ideology)
Youth Wing: Juventud Cubano
Party Newspaper: Cuba Libre
Party of Government?: No, Confidence-and-Supply with PP. Has 31 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by guerrillas formed by native Cubans after the American Civil War, its left-wing faction has since split and it now is an officially apolitical party, only supporting Cuban independence.
Capital Punishment: Strictly opposed.
Civil Defense: Opposes mandatory enrollment, arguing that native Cubans should not be forced to enlist in an "occupying army"
Cultural Stance: Officially nonpartisan, but almost every faction of the party is supportive of gay rights, feminist, and transgender movements.
Defense: Opposes the current military, arguing for an abolition of the U.S Army and the formation of a Cuban military.
Drug Policy: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for legalizing all drugs, and only advocating rehab for addictions or usage of hard drugs.
Economy: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for a slow transition to socialism with the help of the UASR.
Education: Calls the current education system "propaganda" and opposes the national anthem, or display of the American flag, calling them the relics of a dead nation.
Environment: Officially nonpartisan, but almost every faction is heavily environmentalist and says that current PP bills are too soft.
Foreign Aid: Officially nonpartisan, but most factions support foreign aid for all struggling countries, no matter the affiliation.
Foreign Alliances: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC supports integration into the Comintern and reconciliation with the UASR.
Immigration: Officially nonpartisan, but every faction supports reestablishing ties with the UASR and opening up immigration.
Law Enforcement: Calls current police agencies "white supremacist" and advocates for an in-depth inspection of their operating tactics, and the establishment of a minimum 40% margin of native Cubans in the police.
Nuclear Armament: Opposes all attempts to develop or station nuclear weapons in the country, and the PCC supports disarmament.
Social Welfare: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for the elimination of predatory debt structures and the eventual elimination of work.
Organized Labor: Supports Cuban nationalist unions, whether socialist or not. The PCC supports socialist unions and direct action against the government.
Religion: Membership is a mix of Trinitarian, Atheist, and Catholic. Maintains a secular stance.
Taxation: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC supports a maximum tax rate for the super-wealthy while eventually adopting a UASR-like social tax system.
Trade: Opposes oil ties with Venezuela, and advocates for a decrease of reliance on the AFS. PCC supports stronger trade relations with the Comintern.
Significant Party Factions: PCC, hegemonic Communist party, accounts for 80% of members. Partido del gente de Cuba/Party of the Cuban People (PCP), nationalist "apolitical" party, generally left wing, accounts for 12% of party membership.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for the abolition of the United States of America and its replacement with a republic. The PCC supports a socialist republic.
Position on FLCC: Accuses them of sectarianism and functioning as spoilers, as well as being too reliant on the Comintern. Supports some cooperation, but dislikes the FLCC's openly communist ideology.
Frente de Liberation Comunista de Cuba/Front of Communist Liberation of Cuba
Founded: 1954
Ideology: Communism, DeLeonism-Syndicalism, Left Communism (factions), Council Communism (factions)
Political position: Extreme-left (Cuba), Far-left (International)
International Affiliation: Comintern
Official Color: Red
Youth Wing: Young Communists
Party Newspaper: Cuba Comunista
Party of Government?: No. Holds 16 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Formed by left-wing FLC members who split from the FLC in 1954 over the issue of electoralism vs. war, which secretly facilitated by the FBI, who have hidden their involvement for seventy years. It is an openly communist party, advocating for the structuring of society along the lines of the UASR.
Capital Punishment: Strictly opposed.
Civil Defense: Opposes conscription, as well as the U.S Army and Boy Scouts.
Cultural Stance: Usually the first supporters of emerging cultural movements. Advocates for American cultural mores, and is even more libertine than the PCC.
Defense: Opposes the current military, arguing for an abolition of the U.S Army and the formation of a Cuban military.
Drug Policy: Advocates for the legalization of all drugs and an inclusive program to solve drug addiction.
Economy: Advocates for the abolition of private property and the adoption of a socialist economy.
Education: Calls the current education system "propaganda" and opposes the national anthem, or display of the American flag, calling them the relics of a dead nation. Supports teaching of communist social movements in school, and condemnations of nationalism.
Environment: Strongest advocates for ecology. Calls PP bills "completely useless" and has voted against all of them.
Foreign Aid: Advocates for assistance to developing Comintern nations, but also hopes to receive foreign aid from the Comintern.
Foreign Alliances: Advocates for an immediate exit from the AFS and integration into the Comintern.
Immigration: Supports open borders with the UASR and the Latin Confederation.
Law Enforcement: Advocates for the abolition of police.
Nuclear Armament: Strongest supporters of unilateral disarmament.
Social Welfare: Advocates for the elimination of predatory debt structures and the eventual elimination of work.
Organized Labor: Is affiliated with many Cuban socialist unions. Supports squatting, factory occupations, and strikes. Argues that unions are the main force in an industrial revolution. Affiliated with the largest Cuban trade union, the communist Confederación de Trabajadores de Cuba (Confederation of Cuban Workers).
Religion: Party membership is generally Trinitarian or Atheist, although there are a minority of nationalist/communist FLC-voting Cubans who are Catholic but do not toe the pope's line on communism.
Taxation: Supports seizing the wealth of the super-wealthy while eventually adopting a UASR-like social tax system.
Trade: Supports free trade with the Comintern.
Significant Party Factions: Various caucuses for different communist ideologies. "Syndicalist" is the most popular caucus. Other caucuses include "Marxist-Leninist-Molotovist," "Zapatismo," "Anarcho-Syndicalist" and "Militarized Ultra-Internationalist"
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for the abolition of the United States of America and its replacement with a socialist republic. Supports the eventual disestablishment of the state all-together.
Position on FLC: Accuses them of being revisionists, and cowardly for not openly advocating for socialism. Would support an electoral alliance, if possible.
America Forever
Founded: 2017
Ideology: American Nationalism, Lazzes-faire Economic Policy, White Supremacy (alleged)
Political position: "Sensible Right" (self-described) far-right (Cuba) extreme-right (International)
International Affiliation: None
Official Color: Red, White,and Blue, baby
Youth Wing: America Forever - Youth Wing
Party Newspaper: None
Party of Government?: No, in opposition. Has six seats in the Senate, all defectors from PN. Has yet to contest an election.
Description: Founded by gambling mogul and billionaire Donald J. Trump after he was barely defeated by Rafael Cruz in the PN primaries, it has garnered defections from the weakening PN and is beginning to outpoll it for the 2019 election.
Capital Punishment: In favor, supports for crimes of treason and murder.
Civil Defense: America Forever supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, and supports patriotic values in the Boy Scouts, as well as teaching children how use weaponry preceding their stay in the army. Criticizes the integration of Cuban and American boy scout groups.
Cultural Stance: Heavily reactionary. Opposes gay rights, feminist movements, and transgender rights.
Defense: Does not advocate for a reconquest of America, but alleges that the current military is far too weak to withstand an American invasion. Advocates for a twofold expansion of the army and the construction of an aircraft carrier to be named MacArthur.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of any drugs, except alcohol.
Economy: Favors a lazzes-faire economic policy.
Education: Supports an educational status quo, but is very supportive of patriotic values, like the recitement of the national anthem as well as the teaching of "patriotic values" in school. Donald Trump supported the ban of the Cuban flag in schools, and would re-institute it if possible.
Environment: Calls global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Comintern to weaken capitalist economies.
Foreign Aid: Does not support any foreign aid.
Foreign Alliances: Strongly supports membership in the AFS. Supports Rhodesia and West Germany.
Immigration: Opposes immigration with Latin America, accusing Brazil of having flooded the nation full of "dirty people who no hablo ingles! no speaka the english!" Advocates for expelling undocumented immigrants and foreign workers.
Law Enforcement: Very strict. Supports armed police and accuses advocates for police brutality of being spies for Section 9 and crisis actors.
Nuclear Armament: Would support FBU missiles in Cuba if it meant protection from the UASR. Strictly opposes disarmament.
Social Welfare: Opposes all safety nets, calling it a way for Cubans to mooch off of Americans' hard work.
Organized Labor: Opposes all forms of organized labor, saying that "when it comes to unions, you get two choices, either communists who hate you for being white or communists who pretend not to be communist!"
Religion: Almost entirely Anglo, the party is fiercely protestant, mostly emphasizing ties with Europe over ties with Latin America.
Taxation: Says current tax rates are too high on the rich. Also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates against the teaching of Cuban History. Advocates for building "American Patriotism" and expelling children from schools who show Cuban nationalism.
(last update i swear)
As the forces of the FLC clashed with the U.S army in Havana, operational planners for the FLC hoped that within the week MacArthur would be dead and the island in the hands of the FLC. The Cuban government was kept completely in the dark, and MacArthur refused to believe reports of the battles until he looked out of the window in his office and saw Havana on fire. Most of Havana descended into riots. Native Cubans and white immigrants fought, as the official white-majority U.S army and FLC irregulars fought along with them. Secretary of State Robert F. Kennedy privately asked MacArthur to flee to Britain, believing that the U.S Army would soon be defeated on the field. MacArthur refused. The issue of speculation over his refusal has been brought under various interpretations, by various political factions. The modern FLC line is that he did so because he was afraid of leaving and being killed on the streets, most nationalist/white-dominated parties claim that he simply had faith in the U.S Army, and far-right factions claim that he remained as the guiding light to "inspire the defenders of liberty in America." For whatever reason, MacArthur stayed in Havana, and whether because of him, or in spite of him, the U.S Army prevailed.
After a week of urban combat, FLC guerrillas melted away into the countryside. The white-majority city of Havana turned against the FLC invaders, and the material advantage of U.S Army forces turned the tide. However, despite the hopes of the victorious Americans, the war would not end with the Battle of Havana. Beginning on March 14th, a "Cuban Civil War" would rage for another nine years. Conducted primarily out of the Sierra Madre, the FLC conducted a guerrilla war against the governing U.S forces. Although they never came as close as they did in Havana, the FLC would end up occupying large swathes of the countryside, and controlling irregular units in every major Cuban city. With the Cuban government receiving support from the Franco-British Union and various other AFS nations, and the FLC receiving support from the Comintern, it is generally considered a Cold War proxy conflict, and since it began in 1944, the very first. The civil war would plague MacArthur until his early death in 1953, plagued by constant stress and paranoia over the hundreds of assassination attempts that he survived, although not without injury (he would lose function in his left leg in a bomb attack in 1951 and was forced to reside in a wheelchair for the last two years of his life).
By his death, a clique had assembled in the highest ranks of the National Salvation Front that believed that the continuation of the war would inevitably result in the collapse of the American government. Despite being the intended successor of MacArthur, Majority Senate Leader Charles Coughlin was outmaneuvered by "reformist" Secretary of State Robert F. Kennedy. Upon ascending to the Presidency, he made public his interest in negotiating a ceasefire with the FLC. The FLC, after having lost USSR support due to the 1954 Comintern split, and now under pressure from the UASR which wished to cut off weapons imports to the FLC so they could focus on the ongoing War in the Horn. Under pressure from most of its allies, the FLC was willing to attend the negotiating table - but would demand almost everything. Their demands included bilingualism, recognition of the rights of native Cubans, the dismissal of Charles Coughlin, and the holding of free and fair elections during which the FLC would be allowed to compete. The Council expected the government to refuse - after all, as a scion of MacArthur, how could Kennedy tear down the legacy of MacArthur's white rule in a single meeting. To their shock, Kennedy agreed. Kennedy fundamentally believed that the only way to actually keep the United States alive was to modernize it and to prevent its majority underclass from turning into revolutionaries. To him, harsh measures against the FLC had only strengthened it. Most of the FLC's demands Kennedy already intended on doing, and the removal of Coughlin gave an excellent chance to kick out a political rival. On the 14th of March, 1953, the 9th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Havana, peace was finally signed between the FLC and the government.
Kennedy's liberal-nationalist ideology soon displaced "National Restorationism" as the dominating ideology of Americuba. The Cuban government followed the agreement to a letter, enforcing equal status for native Cubans across the country and holding free elections in mid-1955. However, Kennedy of all people was aware that truly free elections would inevitably result in an FLC victory, as Cubans outnumbered whites three to one. Instead, he would have to depress the FLC turnout. Usage of poll taxes or exclusion of certain Cuban voters would inevitably destroy the agreement. Instead, he decided to facilitate a split in the FLC. FBI spies that had worked their way in the organization since the agreement attempted to sow a divide between those who wanted to proceed with revolutionary war and those who wanted to attempt to seize power through democratic measures. The peace agreement was widely appreciated by the FLC, but as time went on dissenting voices emerged that warned against abandoning war entirely. Seizing on this divide, the FBI informants inspired a significant portion of the organization to walk out and boycott the agreement. Although they did not go so far as to reignite the war, they refused to compete in the election, saying that any victory would inevitably mean a countercoup identical to the one twenty years prior.
Kennedy emphasized his pro-Cuban record, distancing himself from Coughlin and MacArthur and painting the FLC as a proxy army of the UASR, attempting to make inroads with non-communist Cubans, while emphasizing white turnout. The FLC, with no official leader, was plagued by infighting between its majority and minority factions. As the election neared, Kennedy briefed the FBI on what to do in the case of an FLC victory, not unlike his predecessor's plans for Thomas. In the end, the election came out with 2.2 million for the National Salvation Front and 2.1 million for the FLC. The NSF received 1.5 million white votes and 0.7 million Cuban votes, while the FCL received 2.0 million Cuban votes, and less than 100,000 white votes. Turnout for the white population neared 80%, while the Cuban population only managed around 35%. The Senate, now a unicameral legislature with two seats for every state, resulting in a total of 32, was split 18-14 for the NSF. Two months later, a presidential election was held, where the FLC neglected to nominate a candidate based on Kennedy's popularity with the Cuban community. Most states were split, but Havana, still recovering from the battle ten years prior, voted heavily NSF while the Sierra Madre turned out for the FLC. The FLC reeled from the surprising defeat, and attempted to re-emphasize turnout. However, the Senate reformed policies appropriating the Senate seats based on population, and the Cuban economy developed a native Cuban petty bourgeoisie that voted heavily NSF. In the 1960 general election, the FLC was dealt a significant blow, taking only 19 seats out of the 71 contested, with the "minoría" faction taking nine, appealing to hardline Cuban communists who believed the FLC had made too many concessions to the bourgeoisie. Kennedy would rule unopposed for another 26 years, dying in 1979. Upon his death, the NSF was split between the Partido Nacional/National Party(PN), dissident MacArthur loyalists who wished to reorient the party after twenty years of political dominance, and Partido del Progresso/Progress Party(PP), Kennedy-esque reformists who wished to continue those policies. A third splinter faction has since been formed, as the "America Forever" party, run by eccentric billionaire Donald Trump, after he lost a primary race to Rafael Cruz in the Partido Nacional.
With the split between the PN and PP, it became clear that the era of eternal NSF governments was over. To prevent the FLC from taking power, the right would have to make inroads with native Cubans, and the native Cuban vote largely coalesced around the FLC and FLCC. To keep their government, the PP filled the seats formerly occupied by new PN members with a minor Catholic party, Democracia Christiana. Although DC was largely economically to the left of PP and socially to the right, the two parties allied to keep the communists and anglo nationalists out. Subsequently, as PN drifted to the center and became more accepting of Cubans, they rebounded in the 1993 general elections and subsequently allied to DC. Since then, the PN has become DC's natural governing part. Since then, the PN-DC coalition "Por Dios y Pais" has remained solid, governing since 1993 besides a two year PP majority government between 2005-2007.
The FLC has never healed the split formed between the minority and majority currents. The main FLC exists as a broad tent, officially non-ideological but in practice dominated by the PCC, the Partido Comunista de Cuba, although minor non-communist nationalist segments exist. The minority faction, now called the Frente de Liberation Comunista de Cuba, the Front of Communist Liberation of Cuba (FLCC) is ideologically communist, and the favorite party of the Comintern, although most in the Comintern advocate for reconciliation with the FLC.
Cuba is currently residing under a minority government provided by the 2014 general elections, where the Partido del Progresso managed to decisively defeat the National Party, bringing it from 58 seats to only 21. A number of scandals caused by President Rafael Cruz, including an incident where he liked explicit content on social media, as well as a generally poor economic policy and a worsening of relations with the UASR have caused a significant decrease in popularity for the PN and Cruz. In the 2014 presidential election, Rafael advanced to the second round two points behind FLC candidate Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, only to win in the second round by a single point. He has since governed along with a Progress Party minority government and a controversial confidence-and-supply agreement from the FLC, ostensibly to undermine Cruz, in a term marked by infighting between the President and the Senate. Although he has been renominated for president by the PN over controversial candidate Donald Trump, Trump's formation of a far-right spoiler party has hammered the last nail in the coffin for Rafael's hopes of winning a third term as President.
The FLC, as a result of its confidence-and-supply agreement with the PP, is now facing significant voter defection to the FLCC, which hopes to pick off a few marginal FLC seats come 2019. The Partido Nacional has not become any more popular since the establishment of a shaky government, and is now looking to be out-competed by the "America Forever" party, whose chairman has controversially associated native Cubans with "large, stinky rats." Rafael has seemed to have moved on from the PN, deferring to support from the PP in his 2014 Presidential race, and some have speculated that the PN might be dying, siphoning to the PP and America Forever. With its anglo wing defecting to America Forever, all that is left is its middle class Cuban base. Either way, Rafael is polling ten points behind FLC candidate Parrilla, and is facing a strong challenge from the right in the form of Donald Trump, who has blamed Rafael's father in the bombing that wounded MacArthur in 1951. However, the FLC is also facing significant competition from its left in the form of the FLCC. The DC candidate of Mel Martinez has attempted to exploit the FLC divide to push his way into second place, and become the first DC president in Cuban history. The 2019 election is looking to be one of high stakes, with the most crowded race in Cuban history.
Party List:
Partido Nacional/National Party
Founded: 1979/1933(claimed)
Ideology: American Nationalism, Social Conservatism, Economic Nationalism
Political position: Centre-right (In Cuba), Right-wing (International)
International Affiliation: International Democratic Union
Official Color: Black
Youth Wing: Young Americans
Party Newspaper: Bill of Rights
Party of Government?: No, in opposition, but controls the Presidency. Has 15 out of 131 seats in the Senate. Lost six defectors to America Forever.
Description: Founded by MacArthur loyalists, it has since moderated into the "status quo" party of Cuba, advocating for liberal economics and traditional social values.
Capital Punishment: In favor, supports for crimes of treason and murder.
Civil Defense: The PN supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, and supports patriotic values in the Boy Scouts, as well as teaching children how use weaponry preceding their stay in the army.
Cultural Stance: Generally a supporter of "traditional values," it is not slow to drop culturally conservative policies should they jeopardize the party's electoral potential. In the words of Donald Trump, "MacArthur would have been ashamed to see what "his party" is doing! And by God, you'll be ashamed to see what you're like in fifty years, I guarantee it!"
Defense: The PN dropped its viewpoint that the U.S Army should prepare for an invasion of America, but it still argues for a well-funded army that is supported by its allies in Brazil and the Franco-British Union.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of all drugs, but allowed the legalization of marijuana in 1965. Supports rehab for anyone who uses illegal drugs.
Economy: Favors a capitalist economy with a strong safety-net that emphasizes ties with small businesses, with Cuban petit-bourgeoisie becoming the party's main electoral base, although they have recently jumped ship to the PP. Generally considered to be to the left of PP and right of DC on economics.
Education: Supports an educational status quo, but is very supportive of patriotic values, like the recitement of the national anthem as well as the teaching of "patriotic values" in school. In 2013, they attempted to pass a ban on displaying the Cuban flag in schools, but was defeated by the opposition of DC and every opposition party.
Environment: Generally unsupportive, alleging that such measures negatively effect the economy. Generally seen as a main talking point of the PN, FLC, and FLCC.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling nations in the Blue Sphere, and has links to right-wing guerrilla groups, but shirks more oppressive governments like in Rhodesia and West Germany.
Foreign Alliances: Supports strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela. Supported Venezuelan-Cuban unification in the 50s. Also supports membership in the AFS and strong economic ties with Westen Europe.
Immigration: Supports immigration with South American blue nations, but has strict immigration controls for Americans, who are not even allowed to tour the country due to the ongoing blockade.
Law Enforcement: Relatively strict. Supports armed police and has attempted to silence those who spoke out against police brutality from the white-majority police force.
Nuclear Armament: The PN has rejected plans of developing a nuclear arsenal of their own and offers to station Franco-British missiles in the region. However, they oppose disarmament, fearful of conventional war with the Comintern and an invasion of Cuba.
Social Welfare: Supports a strong safety net and good working standards, but generally opposes Universal Basic Income and higher wages from mostly Indian and African foreign workers.
Organized Labor: Lukewarm on organized labor, supports pro-capitalist unions against socialist ones.
Religion: Maintains a traditional balance between its Anglo Protestant and Cuban Catholic bases, but with the departure of its Anglo base it remains to be seen whether or not it will move towards Catholicism.
Taxation: Supports a tax rate of 60% for anyone with over a billion dollars, and 12% for the poorest. It also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Supports teaching native citizens American patriotism. Opposes instances of Cuban Patriotism. Recognizes that old American symbology is not always applicable to Cuba.
Partido del Progresso/Party of Progress
Founded: 1980/1933(claimed)
Ideology: Social Liberalism, Economic Liberalism, Third Way, Ecologism, Cuban Nationalism
Political position: Synthesis of Left and Right (self-proclaimed) Center-left (Cuba), Center-right (International)
International Affiliation: Liberal International
Official Color: Green
Youth Wing: Young Progressives
Party Newspaper: None (officially)
Party of Government?: Yes, Minority Government. Has 44 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by socially liberal American exiles, it has transformed to be a modern socially progressive, economically liberal party that attempts to support native Cubans, business, and the environment all at once.
Capital Punishment: Officially opposed, but has made no effort to actually abolish it.
Civil Defense: The PP supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, but criticizes the "overly militaristic" nature of the Boy Scouts.
Cultural Stance: Officially socially progressive, it has supported gay rights and feminist movements, but only when they managed to gain steam and significantly later than the FLC and FLCC.
Defense: Has called the current military "bloated, and inefficient" and accuses the PN of still trying to build a military to reconquer America, but it still argues for a well-funded army that is supported by its allies in Brazil and the Franco-British Union.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of all drugs, but supported the legalization of marijuana in 1965. Supports rehab for anyone who uses illegal drugs.
Economy: Favors a liberal economy, with legalization of gambling, alcohol, and many recreational drugs to bring in revenue. Also supports a safety net but is seen as more economically liberal than the PN, generally gathering support among the youth and blue-collar whites.
Education: Supports an educational status quo,and is critical of traditional "patriotic values" taught in school. Supports the display of the Cuban flag with the American one.
Environment: Supportive of environmental measures, like extra taxes for companies that produce extra pollution and private consumption of solar panels.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling nations in the Blue Sphere, but disavows right-wing terrorism and has called for a boycott of Rhodesian products.
Foreign Alliances: Supports strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela. Gave lukewarm support to Venezuelan-Cuban unification in the 50s. Also supports membership in the AFS and strong economic ties with Westen Europe.
Immigration: Supports immigration with South American blue nations, but has strict immigration controls for Americans, who are not even allowed to tour the country due to the ongoing blockade.
Law Enforcement: Relatively strict. Supports armed police but criticizes violence in the police support, but has not done much to change the current system.
Nuclear Armament: The PP has rejected plans of developing a nuclear arsenal of their own and offers to station Franco-British missiles in the region. However, they oppose disarmament, fearful of conventional war with the Comintern and an invasion of Cuba.
Social Welfare: Supports a strong safety net, but strongly opposes Universal Basic Income and higher wages from mostly Indian and African foreign workers.
Organized Labor: Strongly opposed to unions, and the main backer for a number of "right-to-work laws" and accuses unions of driving down wages.
Religion: As the party is majority Cuban, it is generally Catholic dominated but officially secular.
Taxation: Supports a tax rate of 60% for anyone with over a billion dollars, and 12% for the poorest. It also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for a synthesis of Cuban and American patriotism. Says that modern Cuba isn't America any longer and never will be.
Demócrata Cristiano/Christian Democracy
Founded: 1954
Ideology: Christian Democracy
Political position: Center
International Affiliation: Christian Democrat International
Official Color: Blue
Youth Wing: Juventud Demócrata Cristiano
Party Newspaper: Demócrata Cristiano Noticias
Party of Government? No, part of the "Por Dios y Pais" opposition. 19 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by religious, poor Cuban Catholics, the party competes with the FLC and FLCC for the Cuban electorate and is allied with the PN. After the PN's landslide defeat in 2014, the party has attempted to reorient itself, realizing that another PN-DC government is unlikely to obtain a majority. Current possible coalition partners are the FLC and PP, although both parties are historically rivals of DC and an alliance with either would mean breaking the fifty year old coalition with PN.
Capital Punishment: Opposed to it on religious grounds.
Civil Defense: One of the major points of tension between it and the PN, it has reached an agreement for a more egalitarian and Cuban-focused military.
Cultural Stance: Generally conservative, opposes gay rights and abortion.
Defense: Agrees with the PN that Cuba needs an army, but disagrees with current doctrine it argues is a holdover from the eras when "MacArthur believed he could conquer America."
Drug Policy: Opposed the 1965 legalization of marijuana, opposes the liberalization of drug policy.
Economy: Supports a state-interventionist welfare state while distancing itself from socialism.
Education: Supports a more Cuban nationalist perspective and an honest take on the MacArthur regime. Supports public schooling and private Catholic education.
Environment: Although it has never been a significant campaigning point, the DC has focused more and more on environmentalism in recent years.
Foreign Aid: Supports foreign aid for struggling AFS nations.
Foreign Alliances: Strongly supportive of current AFS membership.
Immigration: Multiracial and pro-labor, supports immigrants. Virtually the only party with support from the foreign worker community besides the FLC and FLCC.
Law Enforcement: Has opposed police brutality from generally white police forces. Backed the FLC in a police reform proposal that ultimately failed.
Nuclear Armament: Opposes developing or harboring nuclear weapons.
Social Welfare: A major piece of DC campaigning, supports a womb-to-tomb welfare state.
Organized Labor: Supportive of anti-communist trade unions and pro-labor. Leads the Unión de Trabajadores Católicos Cubanos (Union of Catholic Cuban Laborers), Cuba's second largest trade union and the main rival of the communist CTC.
Religion: Heavily Catholic, emphasizes ties with the Catholic Church and local Catholic organizations.
Taxation: Driving force for tax reform within a capitalist reform, lowering taxes for poor Cubans and wealthy Cubans/whites.
Trade: Protectionist, but more willing to foster ties with the TCI than PN.
Significant Party Factions: Officially a unitary party, the party does range between its left wing which is more nationalist, economically left wing, and wants to ally with the FLC and a right wing that is more socially conservative and prefers an alliance with the PP. There is a small minority of the party that believes in a transition to a socialist economy, while remaining socially conservative.
Opinion on the United States: More Cuban nationalist than the PN, supports a transition on what it means to be the "United States" to being full on Cuban nationalist.
Frente de Liberacion de Cuba/Cuban Liberation Front
Founded: 1934
Ideology: None besides Cuban Independence (self-proclaimed) Communism, Social Democracy, Cuban Nationalism (factions)
Political position: None (self-proclaimed), far-left (Cuba), centre-left (International)
International Affiliation: None (PCC affiliated with Comintern)
Official Color: Gray(has opposed efforts to change color to red, arguing that the party does not have an explicitly socialist ideology)
Youth Wing: Juventud Cubano
Party Newspaper: Cuba Libre
Party of Government?: No, Confidence-and-Supply with PP. Has 31 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Founded by guerrillas formed by native Cubans after the American Civil War, its left-wing faction has since split and it now is an officially apolitical party, only supporting Cuban independence.
Capital Punishment: Strictly opposed.
Civil Defense: Opposes mandatory enrollment, arguing that native Cubans should not be forced to enlist in an "occupying army"
Cultural Stance: Officially nonpartisan, but almost every faction of the party is supportive of gay rights, feminist, and transgender movements.
Defense: Opposes the current military, arguing for an abolition of the U.S Army and the formation of a Cuban military.
Drug Policy: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for legalizing all drugs, and only advocating rehab for addictions or usage of hard drugs.
Economy: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for a slow transition to socialism with the help of the UASR.
Education: Calls the current education system "propaganda" and opposes the national anthem, or display of the American flag, calling them the relics of a dead nation.
Environment: Officially nonpartisan, but almost every faction is heavily environmentalist and says that current PP bills are too soft.
Foreign Aid: Officially nonpartisan, but most factions support foreign aid for all struggling countries, no matter the affiliation.
Foreign Alliances: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC supports integration into the Comintern and reconciliation with the UASR.
Immigration: Officially nonpartisan, but every faction supports reestablishing ties with the UASR and opening up immigration.
Law Enforcement: Calls current police agencies "white supremacist" and advocates for an in-depth inspection of their operating tactics, and the establishment of a minimum 40% margin of native Cubans in the police.
Nuclear Armament: Opposes all attempts to develop or station nuclear weapons in the country, and the PCC supports disarmament.
Social Welfare: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC advocates for the elimination of predatory debt structures and the eventual elimination of work.
Organized Labor: Supports Cuban nationalist unions, whether socialist or not. The PCC supports socialist unions and direct action against the government.
Religion: Membership is a mix of Trinitarian, Atheist, and Catholic. Maintains a secular stance.
Taxation: Officially nonpartisan, but the PCC supports a maximum tax rate for the super-wealthy while eventually adopting a UASR-like social tax system.
Trade: Opposes oil ties with Venezuela, and advocates for a decrease of reliance on the AFS. PCC supports stronger trade relations with the Comintern.
Significant Party Factions: PCC, hegemonic Communist party, accounts for 80% of members. Partido del gente de Cuba/Party of the Cuban People (PCP), nationalist "apolitical" party, generally left wing, accounts for 12% of party membership.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for the abolition of the United States of America and its replacement with a republic. The PCC supports a socialist republic.
Position on FLCC: Accuses them of sectarianism and functioning as spoilers, as well as being too reliant on the Comintern. Supports some cooperation, but dislikes the FLCC's openly communist ideology.
Frente de Liberation Comunista de Cuba/Front of Communist Liberation of Cuba
Founded: 1954
Ideology: Communism, DeLeonism-Syndicalism, Left Communism (factions), Council Communism (factions)
Political position: Extreme-left (Cuba), Far-left (International)
International Affiliation: Comintern
Official Color: Red
Youth Wing: Young Communists
Party Newspaper: Cuba Comunista
Party of Government?: No. Holds 16 out of 131 seats in the Senate.
Description: Formed by left-wing FLC members who split from the FLC in 1954 over the issue of electoralism vs. war, which secretly facilitated by the FBI, who have hidden their involvement for seventy years. It is an openly communist party, advocating for the structuring of society along the lines of the UASR.
Capital Punishment: Strictly opposed.
Civil Defense: Opposes conscription, as well as the U.S Army and Boy Scouts.
Cultural Stance: Usually the first supporters of emerging cultural movements. Advocates for American cultural mores, and is even more libertine than the PCC.
Defense: Opposes the current military, arguing for an abolition of the U.S Army and the formation of a Cuban military.
Drug Policy: Advocates for the legalization of all drugs and an inclusive program to solve drug addiction.
Economy: Advocates for the abolition of private property and the adoption of a socialist economy.
Education: Calls the current education system "propaganda" and opposes the national anthem, or display of the American flag, calling them the relics of a dead nation. Supports teaching of communist social movements in school, and condemnations of nationalism.
Environment: Strongest advocates for ecology. Calls PP bills "completely useless" and has voted against all of them.
Foreign Aid: Advocates for assistance to developing Comintern nations, but also hopes to receive foreign aid from the Comintern.
Foreign Alliances: Advocates for an immediate exit from the AFS and integration into the Comintern.
Immigration: Supports open borders with the UASR and the Latin Confederation.
Law Enforcement: Advocates for the abolition of police.
Nuclear Armament: Strongest supporters of unilateral disarmament.
Social Welfare: Advocates for the elimination of predatory debt structures and the eventual elimination of work.
Organized Labor: Is affiliated with many Cuban socialist unions. Supports squatting, factory occupations, and strikes. Argues that unions are the main force in an industrial revolution. Affiliated with the largest Cuban trade union, the communist Confederación de Trabajadores de Cuba (Confederation of Cuban Workers).
Religion: Party membership is generally Trinitarian or Atheist, although there are a minority of nationalist/communist FLC-voting Cubans who are Catholic but do not toe the pope's line on communism.
Taxation: Supports seizing the wealth of the super-wealthy while eventually adopting a UASR-like social tax system.
Trade: Supports free trade with the Comintern.
Significant Party Factions: Various caucuses for different communist ideologies. "Syndicalist" is the most popular caucus. Other caucuses include "Marxist-Leninist-Molotovist," "Zapatismo," "Anarcho-Syndicalist" and "Militarized Ultra-Internationalist"
Opinion on the United States: Advocates for the abolition of the United States of America and its replacement with a socialist republic. Supports the eventual disestablishment of the state all-together.
Position on FLC: Accuses them of being revisionists, and cowardly for not openly advocating for socialism. Would support an electoral alliance, if possible.
America Forever
Founded: 2017
Ideology: American Nationalism, Lazzes-faire Economic Policy, White Supremacy (alleged)
Political position: "Sensible Right" (self-described) far-right (Cuba) extreme-right (International)
International Affiliation: None
Official Color: Red, White,and Blue, baby
Youth Wing: America Forever - Youth Wing
Party Newspaper: None
Party of Government?: No, in opposition. Has six seats in the Senate, all defectors from PN. Has yet to contest an election.
Description: Founded by gambling mogul and billionaire Donald J. Trump after he was barely defeated by Rafael Cruz in the PN primaries, it has garnered defections from the weakening PN and is beginning to outpoll it for the 2019 election.
Capital Punishment: In favor, supports for crimes of treason and murder.
Civil Defense: America Forever supports mandatory enrollment in the U.S Army for three years for all men at the age of eighteen, and supports patriotic values in the Boy Scouts, as well as teaching children how use weaponry preceding their stay in the army. Criticizes the integration of Cuban and American boy scout groups.
Cultural Stance: Heavily reactionary. Opposes gay rights, feminist movements, and transgender rights.
Defense: Does not advocate for a reconquest of America, but alleges that the current military is far too weak to withstand an American invasion. Advocates for a twofold expansion of the army and the construction of an aircraft carrier to be named MacArthur.
Drug Policy: Opposed to legalization of any drugs, except alcohol.
Economy: Favors a lazzes-faire economic policy.
Education: Supports an educational status quo, but is very supportive of patriotic values, like the recitement of the national anthem as well as the teaching of "patriotic values" in school. Donald Trump supported the ban of the Cuban flag in schools, and would re-institute it if possible.
Environment: Calls global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Comintern to weaken capitalist economies.
Foreign Aid: Does not support any foreign aid.
Foreign Alliances: Strongly supports membership in the AFS. Supports Rhodesia and West Germany.
Immigration: Opposes immigration with Latin America, accusing Brazil of having flooded the nation full of "dirty people who no hablo ingles! no speaka the english!" Advocates for expelling undocumented immigrants and foreign workers.
Law Enforcement: Very strict. Supports armed police and accuses advocates for police brutality of being spies for Section 9 and crisis actors.
Nuclear Armament: Would support FBU missiles in Cuba if it meant protection from the UASR. Strictly opposes disarmament.
Social Welfare: Opposes all safety nets, calling it a way for Cubans to mooch off of Americans' hard work.
Organized Labor: Opposes all forms of organized labor, saying that "when it comes to unions, you get two choices, either communists who hate you for being white or communists who pretend not to be communist!"
Religion: Almost entirely Anglo, the party is fiercely protestant, mostly emphasizing ties with Europe over ties with Latin America.
Taxation: Says current tax rates are too high on the rich. Also supports tax reductions for small businesses and married couples.
Trade: Does not support trade with the Comintern, but advocates for very strong ties with Brazil and Venezuela, as well as the rest of the AFS.
Opinion on the United States: Advocates against the teaching of Cuban History. Advocates for building "American Patriotism" and expelling children from schools who show Cuban nationalism.
Last edited:
R&B's New Direction Comics (By Mr.E)
Excerpt from "Nightmares from the Crypt" by Lewis Lovhaug,[1] talesfromthelongbox.syn.uasr
"We've discussed Red and Black Publications, one of the early collectives founded by comics pioneer Maxwell C. Gaines, in several earlier entries. Through the First Cultural Revolution, they had a steady stable of characters, including Red Tornado, the Flash, Green Lantern, and of course, Marston's Wonder Woman, along with other notable titles in the romance and crime genres. However, by the end of the war, most of their superhero titles had been cancelled, with only Wonder Woman remaining as a weekly title.
After several failed attempts at new heroes (including "Moon Girl" and "Blackstone, Master Magician"), Gaines began to lean more towards educational comics. Picture Stories from.... was such an attempt, with topics such as history, Marxism, science, etc. with the express purpose of giving these books in schools or in communes. This venture, while mildly successful, had caused the collective to stagnate creatively, so Gaines kept up more creative enterprises in the form of romance and crime comics.
In 1948, Gaines was severely injured in a boat accident, and the reigns of leadership came under his reluctant son William, despite his desire to become a chemistry teacher (some sources say Gaines senior pressured William to take the position). Bill subsequently took on young artists Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman into the R&B editorship, and distanced themselves from the Picture Stories From....
With the eclipse of superheroes, an increasingly popular genre was horror and crime anthology books. Most of these initial books either focused on counterrevolutionary comeuppance or the terrors of pre-revolutionary capitalism, in the tradition of “Sinclairian horror”.
With the market filled with those sorts of tales, Gaines and Feldstein, figuring something different was needed to distinguish them, decided that more contemporary stories were needed. To test the waters, they published a horror story in one of their crime comics Crime Patrol.
The story was a success, and Crime Patrol became The Crypt of Terror, and eventually just The Crypt. Following suit was The Horror Vault and Tales from the Morgue. Stories featured in this often contained supernatural elements in a distinctly modern setting. Living dead, vampires, vengeful spirits, and ghouls were often depicted, alongside more mundane killers. More importantly, it showed contemporary issues. Sometimes, the villain was a corrupt public official, or a socialist driven to the brink. Capitalists or pre-revolutionary villains were rarely shown. Instead, killers (supernatural or otherwise) were often average people, driven by emotional or psychological reasons. Worst, sometimes, the villain got away with their nefarious schemes.
Another novel idea was for the horror host, a transfer from television, who would narrate the stories. The Crypt Keeper, the Vault Keeper, and the Coroner became synonymous with these books, and some of the most beloved parts of them.
While the modern setting was not their own invention ( other horror comics had already been moving in that direction), R&B’s use of encouraging fan participation and loyalty(from the horror hosts to published fan letters), as well as artwork from legendary artists like Jack Kamen, Wallace Wood and Johhny Craig bringing these lurid images to life helped bring it above their competition. Just as well, it would bring a number of imitators, who would bring in their own anthologies and hosts for their audience.
Of course, they eventually placed new spins on other genres. Kurtzman would bring a sense of cynicism and realism to war comics with Frontline Combat, which situated it above its more-Internationalist contemporaries. Star Squadron , a book we previously discussed, was morphed into a general Science fiction anthology, Weird Science Fantasy, which Gaines and Feldstein would write themselves, and would include work from authors like Ray Bradbury and Otto Binder (using connections from editor Julius Schwartz). While adhering to the general futuristic communist aesthetic of many science fiction of the period, it would deconstruct it to explore whether human behavior would change when humans reach that point in time.
Crime and Suspence Stories would push the envelope even further, with stories tackling contemporary issues of racism, sexism, terrorism, and even public corruption. Bernard Krigstein’s “Master Race” would see a Nazi haunted by the souls of those he had condemned. [2] Another featured a former True Democrat, haunted by his experience in prison, committing suicide at the climax… only to reveal he was framed by an ambitious politician to gain points for “fighting counterrevolutionaries”.
Of course, the shocking amount of gore and violence in these comics, as well as their depictions of crimes, caused a considerable amount of controversy. Daily Worker denounced “corrupting messages which encourage juvenile violence” within comics. Parents and caretakers were concerned about the level of violence in comics, as were international distributors.
The biggest voice against comics was Dr. Fredric Wertham. A German-Jewish psychiatrist trained by Carl Jung, he had come to fame as a leading witness in the trial of serial killer Albert Fish. Specializing in Child Development, in 1939, he published a wide ranging study of the new school system under socialism, which overwhelmingly endorsed the success of the Deweyite system. By the late 40’s, he turned his attention to comics. He saw comics as a danger to child development and social behavior, turning them against society and encouraging violence.
Using certain studies (which were later shown to have been fudged and distorted), he began a series of articles in 1950 that attacked various comics, and implored a sort of system to prevent them from distribution.
This would begin the Comics Scare.R&B and other publishers would push back against Wertham and others calling for the censorship of comics. Wertham and Gaines would face off in a number of public debates (one held before a PBS audience), over comics and their values..
In the meantime, despite endorsements for Wertham from public figures like C. Wright Mills [3], ultimately, attempted bans of comics were struck down as violations of free speech by either the soviets or the courts. Similarly, other researchers were disputing Wertham’s findings that comics were uniquely part of juvenile delinquency. Wertham himself found himself heavily criticized as a “bourgeois-esque censor”, and his work was ironically being used in Cuba and the FBU as a sign of comics being “communistic defilement of the youth”. Wertham would level down, and basically withdraw from his crusade, though still advocating a ratings system. He would also come to battle other figures during the period.
Ultimately, sales would do what Wertham couldn’t. By the late 50’s, the demand for R&B’s “New Direction” had declined with every passing year, with some criticism leveled at the increasing monotomy of the stories. At the same time, Schwartz would bring the Flash and Green Lantern back (ironically in Crime and Suspence and Weird Science respectively), and R&B would later absorb the artists and writers of Red Circle Comics, which would form the modern Marvel Comics Group, and release Fantastic Four, bringing back superheroes.
While the New Direction would disappear in the 1960’s, it would be remembered, with titles like the Crypt and Weird Science having occasional revivals through the decades. The 90’s revival had notable artists like Andre Guitterez, Alan Moore and Kim Newman writing and drawing it. Many artists, including George Romero, George Lucas, and Stephen King would cite R&B books as leading inspirations for their work.
Oh, yeah, remember Harvey Kurtzman? After tiring of war stories, he was given the reigns of a humor comic called Tales to Drive You MAD. His tenure, and how it changed American humor, will be explored next time.
[1] Special thanks to @Nevermore
[2] Real story, from EC’s “Impact” magazine
[3] OTL, he wrote a positive review for “Seduction of the Innocence
---------------
A rewrite, mostly because of new information that would've expanded it.
"We've discussed Red and Black Publications, one of the early collectives founded by comics pioneer Maxwell C. Gaines, in several earlier entries. Through the First Cultural Revolution, they had a steady stable of characters, including Red Tornado, the Flash, Green Lantern, and of course, Marston's Wonder Woman, along with other notable titles in the romance and crime genres. However, by the end of the war, most of their superhero titles had been cancelled, with only Wonder Woman remaining as a weekly title.
After several failed attempts at new heroes (including "Moon Girl" and "Blackstone, Master Magician"), Gaines began to lean more towards educational comics. Picture Stories from.... was such an attempt, with topics such as history, Marxism, science, etc. with the express purpose of giving these books in schools or in communes. This venture, while mildly successful, had caused the collective to stagnate creatively, so Gaines kept up more creative enterprises in the form of romance and crime comics.
In 1948, Gaines was severely injured in a boat accident, and the reigns of leadership came under his reluctant son William, despite his desire to become a chemistry teacher (some sources say Gaines senior pressured William to take the position). Bill subsequently took on young artists Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman into the R&B editorship, and distanced themselves from the Picture Stories From....
With the eclipse of superheroes, an increasingly popular genre was horror and crime anthology books. Most of these initial books either focused on counterrevolutionary comeuppance or the terrors of pre-revolutionary capitalism, in the tradition of “Sinclairian horror”.
With the market filled with those sorts of tales, Gaines and Feldstein, figuring something different was needed to distinguish them, decided that more contemporary stories were needed. To test the waters, they published a horror story in one of their crime comics Crime Patrol.
The story was a success, and Crime Patrol became The Crypt of Terror, and eventually just The Crypt. Following suit was The Horror Vault and Tales from the Morgue. Stories featured in this often contained supernatural elements in a distinctly modern setting. Living dead, vampires, vengeful spirits, and ghouls were often depicted, alongside more mundane killers. More importantly, it showed contemporary issues. Sometimes, the villain was a corrupt public official, or a socialist driven to the brink. Capitalists or pre-revolutionary villains were rarely shown. Instead, killers (supernatural or otherwise) were often average people, driven by emotional or psychological reasons. Worst, sometimes, the villain got away with their nefarious schemes.
Another novel idea was for the horror host, a transfer from television, who would narrate the stories. The Crypt Keeper, the Vault Keeper, and the Coroner became synonymous with these books, and some of the most beloved parts of them.
While the modern setting was not their own invention ( other horror comics had already been moving in that direction), R&B’s use of encouraging fan participation and loyalty(from the horror hosts to published fan letters), as well as artwork from legendary artists like Jack Kamen, Wallace Wood and Johhny Craig bringing these lurid images to life helped bring it above their competition. Just as well, it would bring a number of imitators, who would bring in their own anthologies and hosts for their audience.
Of course, they eventually placed new spins on other genres. Kurtzman would bring a sense of cynicism and realism to war comics with Frontline Combat, which situated it above its more-Internationalist contemporaries. Star Squadron , a book we previously discussed, was morphed into a general Science fiction anthology, Weird Science Fantasy, which Gaines and Feldstein would write themselves, and would include work from authors like Ray Bradbury and Otto Binder (using connections from editor Julius Schwartz). While adhering to the general futuristic communist aesthetic of many science fiction of the period, it would deconstruct it to explore whether human behavior would change when humans reach that point in time.
Crime and Suspence Stories would push the envelope even further, with stories tackling contemporary issues of racism, sexism, terrorism, and even public corruption. Bernard Krigstein’s “Master Race” would see a Nazi haunted by the souls of those he had condemned. [2] Another featured a former True Democrat, haunted by his experience in prison, committing suicide at the climax… only to reveal he was framed by an ambitious politician to gain points for “fighting counterrevolutionaries”.
Of course, the shocking amount of gore and violence in these comics, as well as their depictions of crimes, caused a considerable amount of controversy. Daily Worker denounced “corrupting messages which encourage juvenile violence” within comics. Parents and caretakers were concerned about the level of violence in comics, as were international distributors.
The biggest voice against comics was Dr. Fredric Wertham. A German-Jewish psychiatrist trained by Carl Jung, he had come to fame as a leading witness in the trial of serial killer Albert Fish. Specializing in Child Development, in 1939, he published a wide ranging study of the new school system under socialism, which overwhelmingly endorsed the success of the Deweyite system. By the late 40’s, he turned his attention to comics. He saw comics as a danger to child development and social behavior, turning them against society and encouraging violence.
Using certain studies (which were later shown to have been fudged and distorted), he began a series of articles in 1950 that attacked various comics, and implored a sort of system to prevent them from distribution.
This would begin the Comics Scare.R&B and other publishers would push back against Wertham and others calling for the censorship of comics. Wertham and Gaines would face off in a number of public debates (one held before a PBS audience), over comics and their values..
In the meantime, despite endorsements for Wertham from public figures like C. Wright Mills [3], ultimately, attempted bans of comics were struck down as violations of free speech by either the soviets or the courts. Similarly, other researchers were disputing Wertham’s findings that comics were uniquely part of juvenile delinquency. Wertham himself found himself heavily criticized as a “bourgeois-esque censor”, and his work was ironically being used in Cuba and the FBU as a sign of comics being “communistic defilement of the youth”. Wertham would level down, and basically withdraw from his crusade, though still advocating a ratings system. He would also come to battle other figures during the period.
Ultimately, sales would do what Wertham couldn’t. By the late 50’s, the demand for R&B’s “New Direction” had declined with every passing year, with some criticism leveled at the increasing monotomy of the stories. At the same time, Schwartz would bring the Flash and Green Lantern back (ironically in Crime and Suspence and Weird Science respectively), and R&B would later absorb the artists and writers of Red Circle Comics, which would form the modern Marvel Comics Group, and release Fantastic Four, bringing back superheroes.
While the New Direction would disappear in the 1960’s, it would be remembered, with titles like the Crypt and Weird Science having occasional revivals through the decades. The 90’s revival had notable artists like Andre Guitterez, Alan Moore and Kim Newman writing and drawing it. Many artists, including George Romero, George Lucas, and Stephen King would cite R&B books as leading inspirations for their work.
Oh, yeah, remember Harvey Kurtzman? After tiring of war stories, he was given the reigns of a humor comic called Tales to Drive You MAD. His tenure, and how it changed American humor, will be explored next time.
[1] Special thanks to @Nevermore
[2] Real story, from EC’s “Impact” magazine
[3] OTL, he wrote a positive review for “Seduction of the Innocence
---------------
A rewrite, mostly because of new information that would've expanded it.
The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 1)(By Bookmark1995)
Bookmark1995
Banned
Ever since I joined this thread, I wanted to do something with Patty Hearst. I imagined her as either a defector from Cuba, or the member of some pro-Revolution group. But here is what I came up with.
San Francisco Journal
March 10, 2004
Patty Hearst? Kidnapped or Collaborator? Brainwashed or Traitor? The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 1)
In 1973, the disappearance of an American young woman, her birthday, and her reappearance over a year later and short imprisonment would trigger a major dispute in the UASR over the role of psychology in criminal and the ethics of collaboration and survival
A Family Feud
The revolution of 1933 would not create upheaval and change in national politics but at a local level. Many, many well-to-do families, most famously the Kennedy and Ford families, would be shattered in the class war. Among them was the Hearst family. While media mogul and arch reactionary William Randolph Hearst and most of his family would abscond to Cuba with their loot, his youngest son, Randolph Hearst, would remain in the UASR, the battles between management and dockworkers in San Francisco turned Randolph against his father and his class.
After the Revolution, the Red Hearst took control of his father's old paper, the San Francisco Examiner, and turned it into a successful example of worker's management in journalism. To this day, the Examiner remains one of the most important newspapers in the Bay Area. In his paper, regularly denounced his father and the Americuban colonial elite that continued its exploitation.
The elder Hearst, in turn, considered his son to be a traitor, and denounced the traitorous San Franciscans, and build his newspaper empire into a virtual state media of MacArthur. As it would soon turn out, the elder Hearst's anger toward his wayward son would not die with him.
A Typical Life
Patty Hearst, the most famous of Randolph's five daughters, was born in San Francisco on February 20, 1954. Growing up in San Francisco during the Second Cultural Revolution, she was the quintessential young revolutionary.
"She played soldier when she was six," said Martha, a fellow comrade, "and she always worshiped Jane Schaefer, saying she would one day liberate Cuba".
At 16, Hearst joined the militia service, and following in her father's footsteps, she started her own magazine for San Franciscan miltias, called Militia Manual, covering everything from training techniques, militia events, and even fashion modeling. After finishing her militia time she continued to develop Militia Manual with the help of her father. By 1973, her magazine had a circulation of 60,000 in California.
Picture of Hearst published in Militia Manual, 1972.
However, her life would soon be disrupted. On November 3, 1973, while waiting for a flight to Moscow (to report on an International Young Revs meeting) in Sinclair International, Hearst walked away from her comrade, Donald DeFreeze [1] to go to the bathroom. Eight hours later, DeFreeze would report her as having gone missing to airport security.
From there, police would spend months trying to find her. It would only be on birthday that her whereabouts would be known, shocking the entire nation.
(end of part 1)
[1] DeFreeze was OTL one of the people who kidnapped her. ITTL, I think he and his beliefs would be seen as pretty average.
San Francisco Journal
March 10, 2004
Patty Hearst? Kidnapped or Collaborator? Brainwashed or Traitor? The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 1)
In 1973, the disappearance of an American young woman, her birthday, and her reappearance over a year later and short imprisonment would trigger a major dispute in the UASR over the role of psychology in criminal and the ethics of collaboration and survival
A Family Feud
The revolution of 1933 would not create upheaval and change in national politics but at a local level. Many, many well-to-do families, most famously the Kennedy and Ford families, would be shattered in the class war. Among them was the Hearst family. While media mogul and arch reactionary William Randolph Hearst and most of his family would abscond to Cuba with their loot, his youngest son, Randolph Hearst, would remain in the UASR, the battles between management and dockworkers in San Francisco turned Randolph against his father and his class.
After the Revolution, the Red Hearst took control of his father's old paper, the San Francisco Examiner, and turned it into a successful example of worker's management in journalism. To this day, the Examiner remains one of the most important newspapers in the Bay Area. In his paper, regularly denounced his father and the Americuban colonial elite that continued its exploitation.
The elder Hearst, in turn, considered his son to be a traitor, and denounced the traitorous San Franciscans, and build his newspaper empire into a virtual state media of MacArthur. As it would soon turn out, the elder Hearst's anger toward his wayward son would not die with him.
A Typical Life
Patty Hearst, the most famous of Randolph's five daughters, was born in San Francisco on February 20, 1954. Growing up in San Francisco during the Second Cultural Revolution, she was the quintessential young revolutionary.
"She played soldier when she was six," said Martha, a fellow comrade, "and she always worshiped Jane Schaefer, saying she would one day liberate Cuba".
At 16, Hearst joined the militia service, and following in her father's footsteps, she started her own magazine for San Franciscan miltias, called Militia Manual, covering everything from training techniques, militia events, and even fashion modeling. After finishing her militia time she continued to develop Militia Manual with the help of her father. By 1973, her magazine had a circulation of 60,000 in California.
Picture of Hearst published in Militia Manual, 1972.
However, her life would soon be disrupted. On November 3, 1973, while waiting for a flight to Moscow (to report on an International Young Revs meeting) in Sinclair International, Hearst walked away from her comrade, Donald DeFreeze [1] to go to the bathroom. Eight hours later, DeFreeze would report her as having gone missing to airport security.
From there, police would spend months trying to find her. It would only be on birthday that her whereabouts would be known, shocking the entire nation.
(end of part 1)
[1] DeFreeze was OTL one of the people who kidnapped her. ITTL, I think he and his beliefs would be seen as pretty average.
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I think you mean successful example of worker's management
And calling a newspaper a rag is derogatory, you wouldn't call it a rag directly after praising it.
Otherwise, an interesting and well-written post.
I like the little insights into how media works in the UASR, mainly.
The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 2)
Bookmark1995
Banned
San Francisco Journal
March 10, 2004
Patty Hearst? Kidnapped or Collaborator? Brainwashed or Traitor? The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 2)
On February 20, 1974, Anne was enjoying a dinner with her father Randolph, who mourned Patty's disappearance on her birthday, when the phone rang.
"Dad went over to the phone, walking it a bit of a trance," Anne said, "he picked up the phone, listened, and then ordered Mom, who was sitting next to the TV, to turn it on."
What Anne, and the rest of the family saw, shocked them to their core.
A news report showed the Americacuban Hearst Family, broadcast on Cuban television, celebrating what they called a "Reunion Birthday". It showed an extremely lavish celebration, involving luxurious food, a mansion the size of a military base, and hundreds of guests dressed up like nobles and ladies.
"Dad remembered such fancy parties during the days before the Revolution, when his father William would entertain his bourgeois companions," Anne said. "I thought was exaggerating some of it, but it turns it his comments were quite muted."
But what proved most shocking to the Hearst family was the person being celebrated.
"They cut to the atrium of this fancy house," said Anne, "and this old man is walking down the stairs, with this decadently dressed girl on her arm with a blue dressed with more fabric than a hundred curtains, whose hair was tied up with a bun, and whose face was covered up in all this makeup, and looking like she was the queen of the world."
"My dad said 'Willie'," Anne said. "Like the word was poison."
"Willie" was William Hearst Jr, who inherited his father's media empire after the elder Hearst died in 1951. Randolph never forgave his brother for siding with the Whites.
"'Oh my god' my mother squealed with a white face", Anne said," 'Randy, its Patty!" My father dropped the phone in shock, and quietly sat in the chair. I said she was joking, but then I looked closely, and I nearly had a stroke!"
According to the news broadcast, Patty Hearst had been separated from her family lineage, and robbed of her "femininity" by Red decadence, and that she and her family were celebrating the proper return to her birthright."
"They made her sound like some queen who had been robbed of her kingdom," Anne said with some frustration. "Like Snow White. We were stunned. Patty was the most pro-Red in our family. We wondered, why would she do this?"
Then, two months later, Hearst, or Patricia, as she took to calling herself, gave a TV interview in which she blissfully embraced her life as a "proper woman," denounced her mother as a "neglectful whore", and that Red woman should see her as a model for real life.
"I am sorry to say this," Anne said with some regret, "but I really wanted to strangle Patty for acting like a such a snob. My mom broke down and cried, and my father declared her dead. We all felt like she abandoned and betrayed us, and chose the life of a Cuban princess."
Throughout San Francisco and other American cities, many militia students angrily protested the "traitorous bitch," as she was known, and on July 10, 1974, a San Francisco court convicted her in absentia, for treason.
"It wasn't an easy time for us," Anne said with some sadness. "Kids would stare at me in college, and we all got questioned a few times by the government. I think our phone was bugged once or twice."
Patty, for two years, would be featured on numerous magazines in Blue nations, having become a celebrity jet setter and socialite, with visits to places like Monaco and Geneva.
However, in March 10, 1976, the city of Miami was hit with shocking news. Patricia Hearst, had ended up in the waters of South Florida with Cuban refugees, and was being brought to trial. A trial that would shake both justice and the profession of psychology.
March 10, 2004
Patty Hearst? Kidnapped or Collaborator? Brainwashed or Traitor? The Hearst Scandal Revisited. (Part 2)
On February 20, 1974, Anne was enjoying a dinner with her father Randolph, who mourned Patty's disappearance on her birthday, when the phone rang.
"Dad went over to the phone, walking it a bit of a trance," Anne said, "he picked up the phone, listened, and then ordered Mom, who was sitting next to the TV, to turn it on."
What Anne, and the rest of the family saw, shocked them to their core.
A news report showed the Americacuban Hearst Family, broadcast on Cuban television, celebrating what they called a "Reunion Birthday". It showed an extremely lavish celebration, involving luxurious food, a mansion the size of a military base, and hundreds of guests dressed up like nobles and ladies.
"Dad remembered such fancy parties during the days before the Revolution, when his father William would entertain his bourgeois companions," Anne said. "I thought was exaggerating some of it, but it turns it his comments were quite muted."
But what proved most shocking to the Hearst family was the person being celebrated.
"They cut to the atrium of this fancy house," said Anne, "and this old man is walking down the stairs, with this decadently dressed girl on her arm with a blue dressed with more fabric than a hundred curtains, whose hair was tied up with a bun, and whose face was covered up in all this makeup, and looking like she was the queen of the world."
"My dad said 'Willie'," Anne said. "Like the word was poison."
"Willie" was William Hearst Jr, who inherited his father's media empire after the elder Hearst died in 1951. Randolph never forgave his brother for siding with the Whites.
"'Oh my god' my mother squealed with a white face", Anne said," 'Randy, its Patty!" My father dropped the phone in shock, and quietly sat in the chair. I said she was joking, but then I looked closely, and I nearly had a stroke!"
According to the news broadcast, Patty Hearst had been separated from her family lineage, and robbed of her "femininity" by Red decadence, and that she and her family were celebrating the proper return to her birthright."
"They made her sound like some queen who had been robbed of her kingdom," Anne said with some frustration. "Like Snow White. We were stunned. Patty was the most pro-Red in our family. We wondered, why would she do this?"
Then, two months later, Hearst, or Patricia, as she took to calling herself, gave a TV interview in which she blissfully embraced her life as a "proper woman," denounced her mother as a "neglectful whore", and that Red woman should see her as a model for real life.
"I am sorry to say this," Anne said with some regret, "but I really wanted to strangle Patty for acting like a such a snob. My mom broke down and cried, and my father declared her dead. We all felt like she abandoned and betrayed us, and chose the life of a Cuban princess."
Throughout San Francisco and other American cities, many militia students angrily protested the "traitorous bitch," as she was known, and on July 10, 1974, a San Francisco court convicted her in absentia, for treason.
"It wasn't an easy time for us," Anne said with some sadness. "Kids would stare at me in college, and we all got questioned a few times by the government. I think our phone was bugged once or twice."
Patty, for two years, would be featured on numerous magazines in Blue nations, having become a celebrity jet setter and socialite, with visits to places like Monaco and Geneva.
However, in March 10, 1976, the city of Miami was hit with shocking news. Patricia Hearst, had ended up in the waters of South Florida with Cuban refugees, and was being brought to trial. A trial that would shake both justice and the profession of psychology.
Something tells me the Americubans are going to be in deep shit with their FBU allies. Kidnapping someone for propaganda? Openly? Bad PR for them.