The 1966 Tricontinental Conference in Havana, Cuba, marked a crucial turning point in the solidarity formed between “third-world” countries in opposition to oppressive and colonial nations. The unification of over 500 delegates from 82 different countries resulted in the formation of the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL). Building off the prior success of solidarity formation from the Bandung Conference of 1955 and incorporating Latin American nations, the Tricontinental conference represented the first time this solidarity had explicitly entered the Americas, and would serve as an example for future meetings. Cuba’s geographic proximity to the United States, as well as the legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and Fidel Castro’s broader rule, elevated the historical context in which the conference claimed opposition to imperial force. The conference was the birth of a unified third-world anti-imperialist network, harnessing radical thought to a much higher degree than previous conferences. Cuban propaganda for the event placed much emphasis on the slogan “the duty of every revolutionary is to make revolution,”, advocating that imperial violence must be met with patriotic revolutionary violence. This reversal was key in the damnation of the conference by imperialist nations. 

 

Stokely Carmichael, a central figure in the Black Panther Party, spoke at the conference in its final days. His appearance was a massive publicity boost both for the Black Panther Party and the aligned nations present at the conference. Building on his legacy in helping found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Carmichael stood to embody and promote black internationalism on a truly global scale. In his speech, he said, ““Because our color has been used as a weapon to oppress us, we must use our color as a weapon of liberation,” (Seidman). His critiques extended to nearly every aspect of American history and interventionism. Much attention was given to his and Fidel Castro’s speeches, as each were conducted at the end of the conference. Both individuals were characterized as extremely powerful speakers, capable of fostering connection and adopting personas of incredible leadership. Castro, in his speech, said, ““We must reject—as injurious and slanderous—that attempt to present the Negro movement of the United States as a racial problem,” (Seidman). This divergence from Carmichael’s notion of black power- a term he himself coined- marks the differentiation and struggle faced between Cuban and black internationalist struggles. Following Cuba’s abolition of segregation in 1959, organizations and discussions based on the specificity of racism were banned. Nonetheless, Castro offered Carmichael a permanent home and position of leadership in Cuba as he faced tremendous uproar in the United States.

 

Carmichael’s trip to the Tricontinental Conference ultimately led to his ostracization and forced retirement from the SNCC. The vision fostered at the conference was incredibly important and served as a reference point for international movements and the OSPAAAL for many decades, but was never fully realized as a consequence of the specificity of different representative groups’- namely, the divergence between the Black Panther Party and Cuban revolutionaries in their inability to commune on discussions about race. The transnational roots paved by the conference showcased both the potential and continuous failures faced by anticolonial groups standing in solidarity.

 

Ty Lei and Walker Bankson