The deep, historical-roots of Cuban anti-imperialism

Colonialism, imperialism and anti-imperialism have been decisive in shaping Cuban political identity for 150 years. US determination to control Cuba, consistent with the Monroe Doctrine, had a strong economic rationale even before Spain was defeated in the War of Independence in 1898. Debate raged between Cubans who aspired to true independence and an annexationalist minority, who favoured union with the US. The Platt Amendment imposed on Cuba by the US in 1903 ‘reduced the independence and sovereignty of the Cuban republic to a myth’. Between then and the Revolution of 1959 Cuba was effectively first a protectorate and then neo-colony of the US, which dominated the Cuban economy, politics and foreign policy. Tackling the terrible socioeconomic and political effects of Cuba’s subjugation under the Spanish empire and then US imperialism necessitated a radical transformation of the Cuban economy, political institutions and power structures. The transition to socialism inevitably meant confronting US imperialism – and vice versa. Since 1959, US imperialism, with its powerful allies in the right-wing exile community based in Miami, have relentlessly tried to destroy the Revolution and Cuban socialism. The issue of imperialism remains key today, in the post-Fidel, President Trump era

Cuba vs. U.S. imperialism

Cover title.The International Labour and Radical History Pamphlet Collection consists of over 2200 pamphlets representing a broad spectrum of leftist opinion, including communists, socialists, liberal reformers, trade unionists, civil libertarians and antiwar activists. The majority of the pamphlets are in English and were published between 1920-1970 in the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Canada and China. There are also a number of earlier Fabian Society publications. Further information: http://www.library.mun.ca/asc/specialcollections/collections/radica

Cold temperature preference in bacterially infected Drosophila melanogaster improves survival but is remarkably suboptimal

Altering one\u27s temperature preference (e.g. behavioral fever or behavioral chill) is a common immune defense among ectotherms that is likely to be evolutionarily conserved. However, the temperature chosen by an infected host may not be optimal for pathogen defense, causing preference to be inefficient. Here we examined the efficiency of temperature preference in Drosophila melanogaster infected with an LD50 of the gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To this end, we estimated the host\u27s uninfected and infected temperature preferences as well as their optimal survival temperature. We found that flies decreased their preference from 26.3 °C to 25.2 °C when infected, and this preference was stable over 48 h. Furthermore, the decrease in temperature preference was associated with an increased chance of surviving the infection. Nevertheless, the infected temperature preference did not coincide with the optimum temperature for infection survival, which lies at or below 21.4 °C. These data suggest that the behavioral response to P. aeruginosa infection is considerably inefficient, and the mechanisms that may account for this pattern are discussed. Future studies of infected temperature preferences should document its efficiency, as this understudied aspect of behavioral immunity can provide important insight into preference evolution