José Martí (1853-1895) is commonly accepted by Cubans and foreigners alike as the creator of the Republic of Cuba. No such agreement exists as to the meaning of his social and political thought: Martí has been represented as advocating the most diverse of political, social and economic theories. The two most common interpretations are of Martí as an idealistic liberal or as a radical revolutionary. The prolixity and variety of Martí's writings permit the selection of direct quotations to support virtually any pre-determined ideological interpretation, and in Cuban politics over the last forty years Martí's writings have been used to legitimise totally opposing political regimes. An escape from such a treatment of Martí's writings is clearly essential if his thoughtvis to be properly understood, since only a fresh, objective examination of the totality of Martí 's writings and, in particular, an investigation of Martí's plans for the independent Cuba he so long and nobly struggled to liberate, will give an understanding of Martí's thought and its development. Based upon a close examination of the twenty-five volumes of the most recent edition of Martí's writings and upon a careful analysis of all significant critical studies of Martí's works, this dissertation has concentrated upon analysing Martí's socio-political thought and particularly his plans for the liberated patria. The dissertation also seeks .to explain the sources of Martí's thought and to investigate the development, if any, that occurred in his thought over a period of some twenty-five years. The extraordinary importance of Martí's childhood and adolescence is considered in Chapter I which demonstrates how decisive in the formation of his thought were his experiences both within his family and during his savage mistreatment by the Spanish authorities. Chapter II investigates the importance of his personal experience during his adult life in Latin America and in the United States and shows how these experiences led to a further development and, in his final years, to a radicalisation of his thought. The following four chapters contain an analysis of Martí's plans for the liberated Cuban Republic. Each chapter concentrate's upon a' specific aspect of these plans—the "moral imperatives" guiding the new Republic, its political structure, its social organisation, and its economic development. These chapters reveal that, if Martí did not present specific blueprints, he did adopt a coherent approach to the formation of the new Republic-and the problems it would face. His plans were based upon moral priorities rather than upon any abstract theory of government and society. The Conclusion restates the main findings of the dissertation,' underlining the uniqueness of Martí, a man capable of inspiring, more than sixty years after his death, a new vision of Cuban society. The dissertation closes with two appendices, one summarising biographical details of Martí's life, and the other analysing the historical portrayal of Martí who has visibly passed from the position of "Apostle" to that of "Revolutionary." / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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In Latin America, the regimes of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner are indiscriminately posited as representative cases reflecting similarities and differences of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. This work tests the more general typology by studying the contrasting institutions, processes, and styles of the Castro and Stroessner autocracies, habitually labeled totalitarian and authoritarian, respectively. Totalitarianism emerged as an analytic concept as social scientists attempted to understand characteristics of the Hitler and Stalin regimes distinctive from other forms of dictatorship. While authoritarian regimes are generally based on history and tradition, leaving intact existing arrangements regarding wealth, status, church, family, and traditional social behavior, totalitarian regimes aim to revolutionize and politicize society, culture, and personality. They claim jurisdiction over the whole life of the citizenry and obliterate the boundaries between public and private. Despite the corpus applicable to totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and Latin America, few studies exist melding all three topics in a comparative context. Paraguay has long remained outside the mainstream of serious study by political scientists, yet Stroessner's 34-year dictatorship was one of the world's most durable. This research contributes to a better understanding of a nation and regime begging scholarly attention. Stroessner's downfall leaves Castro's Cuba the Western Hemisphere's oldest non-democracy and provokes analysis revealing organizational resemblances common to both regimes. Divergences relate more fully to sui generis social forces, forms of government, and geopolitics. The work analyzes the differences and similarities between Cuba and Paraguay, linking them to the larger typologies by focusing on four distinguishing variables comprising the totalitarian syndrome: (1) the supreme leader; (2) the nature and ideology of the single, official party; (3) the forms and uses of political force in the state control apparatus; and (4) the scope and degree of societal mobilization and mass legitimacy engendered by the regime. The work concludes by considering the policy relevance and utility of these heuristic paradigms.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis explores the ways in which Cuban identity is expressed, understood, maintained and recreated by Cuban migrants in Sydney and the wider Australian society. Initially, the analysis focuses on some of the most visible ethnic markers used by people outside the Cuban community to recreate Cubanness: politics, through the promotion of Cuba as a ‘socialist paradise’ by leftist Australian organizations and solidarity groups with Cuba; and music and dance, taking as an example the salsa boom in Sydney, and the advertising of Cuba as an exotic tourist destination in Australia. Throughout the work an argument is developed that the very different demographic configuration of Cubans in Australia has fostered a singular praxis of maintaining their identity. In doing so the study examines why politics does not play a primary role in the recreation of Cubanness in Australia, in contrast to numerically larger and higher profile Cuban settlements. Rather, Cubanness in Sydney has centred more in preserving eating habits, memories of Cuba as a place, listening and dancing to Cuban music, and other practices kept in the domestic space. This is achieved through the Cuban migrants’ strategic borrowings from other migrant communities, from food products to people and institutions, such as the Catholic Church being used to maintain the traditional worship of the Virgin of Charity. Finally, the study explores how migrants and outsiders understand the identity of Cubanness in Sydney, and considers the contribution of some major theories of ethnicity and identity to understanding this phenomenon.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis explores the ways in which Cuban identity is expressed, understood, maintained and recreated by Cuban migrants in Sydney and the wider Australian society. Initially, the analysis focuses on some of the most visible ethnic markers used by people outside the Cuban community to recreate Cubanness: politics, through the promotion of Cuba as a ‘socialist paradise’ by leftist Australian organizations and solidarity groups with Cuba; and music and dance, taking as an example the salsa boom in Sydney, and the advertising of Cuba as an exotic tourist destination in Australia. Throughout the work an argument is developed that the very different demographic configuration of Cubans in Australia has fostered a singular praxis of maintaining their identity. In doing so the study examines why politics does not play a primary role in the recreation of Cubanness in Australia, in contrast to numerically larger and higher profile Cuban settlements. Rather, Cubanness in Sydney has centred more in preserving eating habits, memories of Cuba as a place, listening and dancing to Cuban music, and other practices kept in the domestic space. This is achieved through the Cuban migrants’ strategic borrowings from other migrant communities, from food products to people and institutions, such as the Catholic Church being used to maintain the traditional worship of the Virgin of Charity. Finally, the study explores how migrants and outsiders understand the identity of Cubanness in Sydney, and considers the contribution of some major theories of ethnicity and identity to understanding this phenomenon.

This study examines Cuba’s role in the two southern African countries of Angola and Namibia during the Cold War period. It argues that Cuba’s ideological motivations have been embodied in the mutually reinforcing concepts of proletarian internationalism and anti-imperialism. These conceptual perspectives constitute some of the central variables that influence Cuba’s foreign policy behaviour in international relations. It is within this context that one can understand Cuba’s involvement in Southern Africa. This study also attempts to explain that Cuban foreign policy towards Africa was based on two complementary and contextual objectives namely, promoting nationalism at home and nurturing revolutionary Marxist-Leninist governments, as well as supporting anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements abroad. For the purpose of achieving these foreign policy objectives, Cuba not only engaged in state-to-state relations with Angola and Namibia; but had cordial relations with the rest of the continent and in particular Southern Africa, which also became a direct military testing ground for Cuba’s commitment to an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist revolutionary stance. Furthermore, the thesis shows that Cuba’s relentless hatred of imperialism is rooted in its historical relationship with the United States because from the turn of the century till 1958, the Americans interfered in Cuba’s internal affairs by supporting corrupt administrations and exploited the country. These practices by the United States laid the foundation for Cuba’s anti-colonialism and antiimperialism abroad. Ultimately, this thesis shows that Cuban involvement in Angola and Namibia can be conceptualised within these contexts (anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, proletarian internationalism and revolutionary Marxism-Leninism). The role of Cuban nationalism in the realisation of these objectives and ideals, as well as its role in perpetuating and consolidating her foreign policy is assessed in this study. This nationalism and ideals of internationalism constitutes the central idea in the Cuban revolution. Finally, this thesis asserts that Cuban motives for getting involved in the politics of Southern Africa were not motivated by economic or imperialistic reasons. Rather, the historical similarity and colonial experiences between Africa and Cuba were some of the central causal factors.

This research attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary within the context of theological education in Cuba and the Cuban Revolution. Three major purposes directed this research. The first one was historical: to document and evaluate the rise, survival and achievements of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary, which has continued its mission through extraordinary political opposition and economical difficulties. The second major purpose was institutional: to gain insight into Cuban seminary modus operandi. The third purpose of the study was to identify perceived needs of the seminary. This study sought to provide information that can facilitate a better understanding of Cuban Christian theological higher education. The Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary was founded in the city of Santiago the Cuba on October 10, 1949 by the Eastern Baptist Convention. This seminary exists for the purpose of training pastors for the Eastern Baptist Convention. The school offers a four-year program leading to a bachelor in theology degree. The Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention experienced the same oppression from the communist revolution as the rest of the evangelical denominations during the sixties and seventies. The worst period for the convention and the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary started in 1965 when many important people were recruited to work at the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP). Fidel Castro recognized in 1991 that the Cuban Communist Party erroneously made atheism its religion. Although the Cuban communist regime never issued an antireligious policy, in subtle ways Christians suffered the consequences of the religious ideological conflict. Nevertheless, today the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary operates independently and without the direction of the Cuban government. Communism and Christianity have learned to live together in Cuba even though they started with difficulties. Theological education in Cuba not only survived the negative effects of the Cuban revolution, but also has emerged stronger than ever. Economic resources are the primary need of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary has been through many difficulties during its history. Nevertheless, these days represent the best time in the seminary history.