INTERVIEW WITH VÍCTOR DREKE | CHE GUEVARA’S SECOND-IN-COMMAND AND VETERAN OF THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION

In the whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution

An Phoblacht’s Mark Moloney with Che Guevara’s second-in-command in the Congo, Víctor Dreke, in Dublin

CHE GUEVARA’S second-in-command in the Congo and a veteran fighter at the Bay of Pigs, VÍCTOR DREKE took time out from his visit to Ireland to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion to talk to An Phoblacht’s MARK MOLONEY about his revolutionary journey.

HE GUEVARA wrote of Víctor Dreke in a report to Fidel Castro after the Cuban mission to aid the Congo freedom fighters in the mid-1960s: “He was one of the pillars on which I relied. The only reason I am not recommending that he be promoted is that he already holds the highest rank.”
Víctor Dreke was born into a poor black family in the northern coastal city of Sagua la Grande. The youngest of seven boys and two girls, his father was a trader, a musician and a carpenter. An ability to work in a number of trades was a necessity in order to earn a living in Cuba at the time.
On Víctor’s 15th birthday, 10th March 1952, a military dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista seized control of the Caribbean island. Víctor celebrated his birthday on the streets of his hometown, alongside other students, shouting and protesting against the coup. Subsequent birthdays would be spent in hiding as Batista’s forces launched massive military round-ups on the anniversary of the coup, targeting anybody who opposed his regime.
With the backing of the United States Government, Batista set about turning Cuba into a US colony in all but name. It became a playground for businessmen and gangsters alike, while at the same time the gap between rich and poor increased dramatically. Former US Ambassador to Cuba Earl T.Smith acknowledged that until the Cuban Revolution:
“The US was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American Ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president.”
On the 26th July 1953, a group of 135 men, led by Fidel and Raúl Castro, launched an assault on the regime’s Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The rebels failed to capture the building and fled. Many were murdered by Government death squads in subsequent search operations; others, like Fidel, were imprisoned but later released and exiled to Mexico. Following the attack on the barracks, various anti-Batista groups began referring to themselves as the 26th of July Movement.
The 26th of July Movement eventually ousted the US-backed dictatorship on 1st January 1959 following a gruelling guerrilla campaign. Batista fled to the nearby Dominican Republic which at the time was ruled by another dictator and mass murderer, Rafael Trujillo. However it was an event that followed the Cuban Revolution that would mark a shift in US policy and define the latter period of the Cold War between the world’s two super-powers, the USA and the Soviet Union.
This incident is now known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion and it took place 50 years ago, on April 17th 1961.

had arranged to meet Víctor Dreke at the Cuban Ambassador’s residence in the Dublin suburb of Clontarf.
At 9:30am, I arrived outside the residence adorned with a Cuban flag that billowed in the early-morning Irish breeze. I was welcomed inside by the Ambassador, Ms Teresita Trujillo, and introduced to Víctor. Víctor shook my hand firmly and welcomed me with a warm smile.
Not having a word of Spanish and Víctor no English, the Ambassador kindly agreed to act as a translator. While setting up my video camera, I said that I would be heading to Cuba for the first time in two weeks. Immediately the Ambassador and Víctor began suggesting places to go and things to see.
Camera rolling, the focus switched back to Víctor.
“I spent my 15th birthday shouting against Batista on the streets,” Víctor recalls of his revolutionary coming of age.
We discussed Víctor’s early days as a student leader in his hometown and his subsequent involvement in the 26th of July Movement. He told of the difficulties of organising revolutionary organisations under a Batista regime that would arrest anybody considered “troublemakers”. He spoke of how many students spent long times in prison or in hiding.
During the revolution he led many underground militias and revolutionary groups - sometimes avoiding capture by the skin of his teeth. He first met Che Guevara in October 1958 and both men went on to take part in the definitive Battle of Santa Clara that December, an engagement that ultimately toppled the hated Batista regime.
When I asked Víctor about the Bay of Pigs invasion his smile disappeared and he pointed to his watch.
“Precisely today – the 15th of April – in just a few hours it will be the 50th anniversary of the prelude to the invasion.
“It started with the attack on three Cuban airports by planes with the Cuban flag and Cuban Air Force Logo but they were mercenary planes which were following instructions given by the USA.”
These attacks were designed to knock out Cuba’s air force and to destroy their anti-aircraft capabilities. The mercenaries over-estimated their effectiveness when they reported to their CIA advisors that Cuba’s air capability was decimated
The reality was far different.
“In actual fact, the planes that were on the tarmac at the time of the attacks were useless – planes that were out of order,” Víctor pointed out.
As the mercenary planes attacked, people rushed to the defence of the airports. Víctor spoke with particular admiration of those who he described as “the artillery kids”, groups of teenagers and members of the Young Rebels who volunteered to man the anti-aircraft batteries, succesfully downing three planes. During the initial raids, six of Víctor’s comrades were killed and it was at their funerals on 16th April that Fidel Castro announced the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.
The next day, a ground invasion got underway and the invaders attempted to establish a beachhead at the Bay of Pigs. Other, smaller, diversionary landings also took place earlier that morning which took Cuban forces away from the main battlefront.
Víctor, who had two companies under his command, was wounded and briefly captured by mercenary forces two days into the fighting while speeding towards Gíron in a jeep ahead of his units. A few hours later, the ground invasion had been beaten back into the sea and almost 1,300 mercenaries were taken prisoner.
Víctor described the event as “our first encounter with imperialism”.
It was a humiliating defeat for the mighty US Government, the world super-power.
Indeed, during an economic conference in Uruguay, Che Guevara sent a note to US President John F. Kennedy which read:
“Thanks for Playa Girón [Bay of Pigs]. Before the invasion, the Revolution was weak. Now it’s stronger than ever.”

n 1962, Víctor Dreke was promoted to commandanté - the highest rank in the Cuban military. That same year he was tasked with the mopping-up operation against CIA-backed forces in the Escambray Mountains. In his 2002 book, ‘From the Escambray to the Congo: In the whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution’, Víctor gives a vivid and frank account of the Escambray Operation, known as ‘The War Against the Bandits’, which ended with the defeat of the insurgents in 1965.
Following this success he was chosen as the second-in-command to Che Guevara for the Cuban mission to the Congo.
That year, the Congolese National Movement (MNC) had requested the help of Cuba following the assassination of President Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba had been a leader of the independence movement and was the first elected President of the Congo after its freedom from Belgian colonial rule. Lumumba was assassinated by CIA-backed forces loyal to General Mobutu (at the request of the Belgian Government), who then went on to seize control of the country.
When the Cuban mission arrived in Africa, Che contracted malaria and suffered from severe asthma attacks. Víctor described an incident that occurred as the Cuban team reached the top of a 1,500-metre-high mountain:
“As we reached the top, our doctor [Rafael Zerquera], told Che that if his health continued to deteriorate then he would have to leave. And, of course, Che’s response was violent. He didn’t mistreat him physically but he told him that if he had to die then he would die there because he was not going anywhere.”
Eventually, Che did recover and continued on with the mission. As well as commanding the operation, Che, who had a limited knowledge of Swahili, acted as the translator between his troops and the native population.
Víctor revealed that Che was better known among the native population as a doctor than as a guerrilla fighter. During his time he had built up a strong relationship with the local peasants. However, after seven months, the Congo mission ended. Che did not want to leave and even considered sending the others home and remaining alone. He eventually admitted that it was a failure, in part due to infighting among the Congolese troops.
“It has always been a problem of the African continent,” said Víctor, “and in general it is a problem of revolutionary struggle around the world - the internal divisions.
“When people ask why was it possible for the Revolution to triumph in Cuba – and why it still exists despite the imperialists’ best efforts – we say that it is down to the unity of the people.”
In recent times, some academics, particularly those on the American Right, have accused Che Guevara of going to the Congo to hide away. Doctor Douglas Young described Che Guevara’s actions as akin to those of an “adolescent running away from his problems to get caught up in some heroic crusade”.
Víctor Dreke rebuts this notion.
“Che didn’t go to Congo to hide away. He didn’t go there to bide time before going somewhere else or because he had any problem in Cuba. On the contrary. Most of us in Cuba didn’t want him to go to the Congo or anywhere else but when Che joined the struggle in Mexico he made Fidel promise him that whenever he wanted to leave Cuba to fight somewhere else he wouldn’t have any problem leaving - and of course Fidel fulfilled that promise.”
While in Ireland Víctor spoke at a packed event in Dublin’s Liberty Hall to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He also laid a wreath at the James Connolly memorial.
Víctor retired from the Cuban military 21 years ago and has since served as Cuban Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. He is currently vice-president of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association and a member of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

VÍctor Dreke A Life in Struggle

10 March 1937
Víctor Dreke is born, the youngest of seven boys and two girls.

10 March 1952
Batista installed as dictator. Víctor becomes politically active and begins organising revolutionary student groups.

October 1958
Meets Che Guevara for the first time.

19 April 1961
Shot and wounded during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

1962
Promoted to the rank of Commandanté, the highest rank in the Cuban military. Leads the mopping up operation against CIA-backed counter-revolutionaries.

April 1965
Appointed Second-In-Command to Che Guevara on mission to the Congo in Africa.

1986
Leads the Cuban military mission to Guinea-Bissau, in west Africa.

1990
Retires from the military.

2002
Publishes his book, From the Escambray to the Congo; tours the United States.

2003 to 2008
Appointed Cuban Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea.