The Tricontinental Conference was a gathering of countries that focused on anti-colonial and anti-imperial issues during the Cold War era, specifically those related to Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The attempt was fulfilled in 1965 when Mehdi Ben Barka, an exiled Moroccan opposition leader, brought together both legal and illegal revolutionary organizations from all over the world to partake in this conference, which took place in Havana at the Chaplin Theatre.

[7] Though the full guest list was never published by the conference managers due to security concerns, a US Staff Report compiled out of anxiety over the communist nature of the participants succeeded in naming all delegates and involved countries.

Notable conference attendees included anti-colonialist Amílcar Cabral of Guinea-Bissau and Nguyen Van Tien, the representative of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.

Notable absentees included Che Guevara, who while fighting in Bolivia sent a letter to be read to the delegates on his behalf; and Mehdi Ben Barka, the intended Chairman of the conference whose disappearance two months prior sparked deep anti-imperialist tones during the event.

[7] Certain recorded participants included: Cuba Guatemala China Dominican Republic Soviet Union Rhodesia Discussion at the conference centered on tricontinental integration, with emphasis on anticolonialism, anti-imperialism, revolutionary internationalism, and overall collaboration and support in these areas.

[7] However, the general declaration of the conference emphasized that the shared enemy of Asia, Africa, and Latin America was without a doubt, American imperialism and interventionism.

Racial discrimination both within the United States and in developing nations were important issues discussed by delegates, with a focus on the South African apartheid regime.

[7] Che Guevara, who was not present at the conference, sent a message condemning British colonialism in Rhodesia and the white minority in southern Africa, and denouncing the apartheid regime.

[12] For the Tricontinental delegates, the United States was the prime instigator of imperialist aggression, and they believed the Civil Rights movement to be a crucial component of their cause.

[13] In addition to national liberation and anti-imperialist struggles as being main issues on the agenda, delegates also discussed and debated models of economic development.

[14] Delegates agreed that such nation building projects would be focused on accomplishing equality and social justice through radical measures, particularly through agrarian reform.

[7] Nguyen Van Tien, the representative of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, requested support at the conference for the Vietnamese people against the Americans.

[18] The Bulletin included updates and commentary on ongoing independence movements worldwide, and also produced propaganda posters, found within its pages, for distribution.

[18] Meanwhile, the magazine offered a more in-depth analysis of conflicts, and also distributed speeches and essays written by leading revolutionaries, such as Che Guevara and Amilcar Cabral.

The conference took place during the international political turmoil of the Cold War – four years after the Cuban Missile Crisis and several months after the first American foot soldiers invaded Vietnam in 1965.

[citation needed] In response to the Tricontinental Conference and its revolutionary ideas, the United States engaged in its own effective counter-revolutionary behaviour via the Central Intelligence Agency.

[22] Washington officials therefore considered the meeting a direct threat to America security, a reaction that stemmed partly from the sheer proximity of Cuba to the North American continent.

[25] In Latin American countries, such as Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, the Tricontinental Conference and its message sparked revolutionary activity, but these were often initially unfulfilled in the 1970s.

Because Cuba’s action led to eventual Angolan and Namibian independence, it reduced South Africa’s sphere of influence and political power in the region, contributing to the destabilization of the apartheid regime.

[29] This was not necessarily a Communist position, although it opposed American capitalist interventionism, but a strictly anti-imperialist one that committed to supporting resistance struggles financially and militarily, as it did in Angola.

[25] Liberation movements grew less necessary with the achievement of independence and the leftist superpower that was the USSR drew closer to collapse, leaving former Tricontinental delegates purposeless and without global support.