Presencia: Órgano Oficial de la Junta Patriótica Cubana. Vol. IV, nos. 38–40 and 42

Miami: Junta Patriotica Cubana, 1983. Four-issue run of the official newspaper of the Junta Patriótica Cubana, the umbrella organization established in Miami in April 1980 under the leadership of veteran Cuban politician Manuel Antonio “Tony” de Varona. Formed to promote unity among disparate exile organizations, the Junta advocated the overthrow of Castro, supported Cuban political prisoners and refugees, and linked the liberation of Cuba to the broader Cold War struggle against communist movements in Latin America.

These issues document the organization’s activities during the Reagan administration and its close attention to Central America and the Caribbean. The August number declares solidarity with Nicaraguan opponents of the Sandinista government and denounces the Contadora peace initiative; September reports on Cuban refugees leaving Jamaica for Canada; October commemorates the 115th anniversary of Cuba’s Ten Years’ War and discusses exile organizing, Nicaragua, and Radio Mambí; and November prominently reproduces a letter from President Ronald Reagan thanking Varona for supporting the American invasion of Grenada.

Additional articles report conferences, fundraising, correspondence with American and Latin American officials, campaigns on behalf of political prisoners, and the activities of Junta chapters. Notices also promote the organization’s weekly Spanish-language broadcast over Miami station WOCN. An illuminating record of Reagan-era Cuban exile politics and of the effort to unite Cuban nationalism with anticommunist movements throughout the Western Hemisphere. Laid in is a full color, illustrated flyer measuring 11 ½” x 8 ¾”.

Each issue consists of folded sheets (11” x 8 ½”), 8-12 pp, illustrated. Text in Spanish. A near fine run. Only four institutional holdings in OCLC (three in Florida). Item #15231

Price: $175.00