Betania Publishing House is making the document available to readers for free download.
14ymedio, Havana, 19 June 2025 — Written in 1988 by writer Reinaldo Arenas and artist Jorge Camacho, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro was neither a pamphlet nor an angry proclamation, but an open letter written from exile—between New York and Paris—calling for what in any free country would seem obvious: a free and transparent referendum on the continuation of the regime. It did so, moreover, in a sober tone, without insults or diatribes, appealing to the universal right to vote, the end of the monopoly of power, and freedom of expression as essential pillars of any just society.
Thirty-five years after its first publication, Betania Publishing has made this fundamental document freely available to the public. It is a gesture of memory and lucidity that brings back to the present a key element of Cuba’s democratic tradition, often buried by the noise of propaganda or resignation.
The letter was inspired by the plebiscite held that same year in Chile, under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The idea was simple but powerful: if a political regime claims to have the support of the people, why fear the ballot box? This direct appeal, formulated from an ethical perspective rather than a harsh one, transformed the document into a call that transcended borders. It was soon translated into English and French and sent to dozens of cultural and political figures. The response was overwhelming.
The letter is inspired by the plebiscite called that same year in Chile, under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet
In its final 1990 edition, the letter had 274 signatures: 110 Cuban and 164 foreign. Eight Nobel Prize winners—among them Octavio Paz, Czeslaw Milosz, Saul Bellow, and Claude Simon—signed the letter alongside former Latin American presidents, writers, filmmakers, philosophers, journalists, activists, and academics. Among them were Mario Vargas Llosa, Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsberg, Jacques Derrida, Lydia Cabrera, and José Ferrater Mora, an intellectual constellation that gave the text a legitimacy that was difficult to refute. It was not a letter “against Cuba,” but “for Cuba”: for its right to decide, for its silenced citizens, for its still-pending democracy.
From the island, under infinitely more adverse conditions, there were also supporters. For many, the gesture meant surveillance, persecution, or permanent exile. But it also stood as testimony that not everyone remained silent, even within the system.
The letter not only denounced the absence of basic freedoms, but also demanded a democratic and peaceful solution.
More than a specific proposal, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro was—and remains—a moral snapshot. The letter not only denounced the lack of basic freedoms, but also demanded a democratic and peaceful solution, with minimal transparency, and under the protection of the international community. In the current context, marked by renewed repression and political frustration, the text reads like a warning that stands the test of time. Its relevance is not circumstantial, but ethical.
Today, when authoritarianism is becoming naturalized or the value of the free vote is being relativized, this document reminds us that dignity does not admit excuses or postponements. As Reinaldo Arenas affirmed in his other texts, freedom is defended with words, but also with lasting gestures. Committing to a plural Cuba, open to dialogue, without dogmas or exclusions, remains an outstanding debt that this text denounces with lucidity and courage.
Thanks to Betania Publishing, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro can be read and downloaded for free in PDF format. It is an opportunity for new generations of Cubans—both inside and outside the country—to reconnect with a critical tradition that has not died. Disseminating it is more than a cultural exercise: it is an act of active memory, a way to keep alive the flame of peaceful and civic change.
Thanks to Betania Publishing, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro can be read and downloaded for free in PDF format.
In an era when social media is saturated with empty slogans and misinformation seems omnipresent, recovering a text like this is also a commitment to clarity and depth. Its pages contain no hatred, but hope; no revenge, only a demand. Rarely in the history of exile, words have managed to break the siege of fear with a concrete, communicative, and firm proposal.
More than a historical relic, A Plebiscite on Fidel Castro is a living tool. To read, share, and discuss it is to resist resignation. Because that letter doesn’t just ask for a vote: it demands Cuba’s right to be itself, without tutelage or caudillos. And that, thirty-five years later, remains urgent.
See also: An Open Letter to Fidel Castro (English only version)
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