PRESBYTERIANS AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION By TOMÁS ENRIQUE CASTELLANOS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Tomás Enrique Castellanos 2 To my mother, whose sacrifice, love, and support have made this work possible 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My research and this thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of a number of individuals and institutions. I am thankful to the University of Florida and the Center for Latin American Studies for funding my graduate studies and archival research. My work would not have been possible without the welcoming policy of the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia and its staff, especially its senior reference specialists, Leah Gass and Lisa Jacobson. I also want to thank my friend, Ashley Puig Herz, her husband, and her two children for allowing me to live in their home while I was doing archival research in Philadelphia. The guidance and contributions of my advisor, Lillian Guerra, and the other members of my thesis committee Richmond Brown and Manuel Vásquez have been of unimaginable value and I owe a great debt to all of them. I also thank María Cristina Garcia for advising, teaching, and mentoring me throughout my undergraduate years at Cornell University and for encouraging me to pursue graduate studies in history and Latin American studies. I also extend my thanks to all of the professors, classmates, and friends who have supported and encouraged me throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. Furthermore, I will be eternally grateful to my family, especially my grandparents whose love, support, and memories of 1960s Cuba have greatly contributed to my work. Finally, none of this would be possible without the sacrifices and unconditional support of my mother. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 7 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 10 Research Objectives ............................................................................................... 10 Sources ................................................................................................................... 13 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 14 Explanation of Terminology .................................................................................... 17 Protestantism Before the Cuban Revolution ........................................................... 18 Presbyterians in the Anti-Batista Struggle ............................................................... 23 A PERIOD OF EUPHORIA ........................................................................................... 25 Initial Support .......................................................................................................... 27 Life As Usual ........................................................................................................... 34 Presbyterians in the Revolutionary Government ..................................................... 38 Executions, the U.S. Media, and the Presbyterian Reaction ................................... 42 Anti-Communism .................................................................................................... 45 Separation of Church and State .............................................................................. 47 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 51 RADICALIZATION AND ACCOMMODATION .............................................................. 53 Increasing Tensions ................................................................................................ 58 Nationalization of Presbyterian Schools.................................................................. 64 Revolution, Marxism, and the Church ..................................................................... 67 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 78 PRESBYTERIANS AND THE COMMUNIST STATE .................................................... 80 Dependency Challenged, Bonds Endure ................................................................ 80 Departure and Exile ................................................................................................ 92 Church and State .................................................................................................. 101 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 109 THE NEW MAN AND THE CHURCH .......................................................................... 111 Ecclesiastical Independence and Opposition ........................................................ 113 The Cuban Project and the Board of Pensions ..................................................... 120 From U.S. Dependency to Global Outreach ......................................................... 124 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 130 CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................... 133 Contributions and Significance ............................................................................. 135 Suggestions for Further Research ........................................................................ 138 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 140 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 142 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BNM Board of National Missions CCIE Consejo Cubano de Iglesias Evangélicas (Cuban Council of Evangelical Churches) CCPAL Committee on Presbyterian Co-operation in Latin America COEMAR Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations CWS Church World Service DR Directorio Revolucionario (Revolutionary Directorate) IPRC Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba) NCC National Council of Churches PHS Presbyterian Historical Society PSP Partido Socialista Popular (Popular Socialist Party) SET Seminario Evangélico de Teología (Evangelical Theological Seminary) PCC Partido Comunista de Cuba (Communist Party of Cuba) PURS Partido Unido Revolucionario Socialista (United Revolutionary Socialist Party) UPCUSA United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America WCC World Council of Churches 7 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts PRESBYTERIANS AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION By Tomás Enrique Castellanos May 2013 Chair: Lillian Guerra Major: Latin American Studies This thesis examines the Presbyterian experience in Cuba during the period of state consolidation following the Cuban Revolution. The first phase of the Revolution, between 1959 and 1960, was welcomed by Presbyterians with optimism and euphoria. Presbyterians hoped the new government would represent a new beginning for Presbyterian missionary and social work in the country. They justified the more controversial actions of the revolutionary government, namely the public executions of former Batista policemen, guards, and military officials, and sought to maintain and strengthen their bonds with their North American financial sponsors, the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The radicalization of the Revolution, especially between 1961 and 1966, presented a challenge for Presbyterians as they tried to accommodate to the changing nature of the regime, the breakdown of United States-Cuba relations, and the economic recession that ensued. A sector of the denomination embraced the radical reforms, even the Marxist nature of the state. However, a significant faction opposed the radicalization of the revolutionary government and chose to emigrate, especially after the Presbyterian leadership secured ecclesiastical independence in 1967. 8 Presbyterian entered the most radical phase of the Revolution, between 1966 and 1971, with an independent church but deeply tied to U.S. financing. This thesis demonstrates that while the Presbyterian leadership embraced the anti-imperialist, nationalist, and sometimes even Marxist discourse of the Revolution, they failed to internalize the self-sacrificing, frugal, unselfish, and egalitarian ideology of the “New Man” that emerged during the final period of the revolutionary state’s consolidation. 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Research Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between Presbyterians and the process of state consolidation following the Cuban Revolution. It covers the period from 1959 to 1972, when Presbyterians were forced to renegotiate their historic dependence on the United States and reexamine their identity in the context of an anti- imperialist revolutionary state.