The Escalante affair was a political incident in Cuba after politician Anibal Escalante gave his comrades in the Popular Socialist Party positions of authority over the general members in the newly formed Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, causing Fidel Castro to dismiss him and his compatriots from the IRO.[1]
The origins of the affair lie in the decision to create a vanguard party in Cuba by combining the 26th of July Movement, Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, and Popular Socialist Party into the newly formed Integrated Revolutionary Organizations. The creation of the ORI in 1962 was entrusted to PSP executive secretary Anibal Escalante, who used this opportunity to place PSP executives in positions of power and then purge the army of old guerrilla leaders, and speed up agrarian reforms which caused an economic decline. These actions were unpopular in the country causing Fidel Castro to condemn the ORI and order for its restructuring.[2]
- ^ Artaraz, K (5 January 2009). Cuba and Western Intellectuals since 1959. St. Martin's Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780230618299.
- ^ Seblin, Eric (2018). Modern Latin American Revolutions. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9780429974595.