| |
| https://spartacus-educational.com/SPmatthewsH.htm |
_std.jpg)
| 04 (article concluded) |
|
Over the next few years he published Eyewitness in Abyssinia (1937), Two Wars and More to Come (1938) and The Fruits of Fascism (1943). During the Second World War Matthews served as the Rome correspondent for the New York Times. He also reported the war from India from July 1942 to July 1943. In 1945 he headed the London Bureau of the newspaper. At the end of the war Matthews stated: "The democracies and the Communist power facing each other over the stricken field of Fascism. They need not settle their differences by war... But war, as we have learned to our sorrow, is not avoided by appeasement; it is avoided by possessing the strength to hold your own and by using that strength for political purposes." In 1949 Matthews joined the Editorial Board of the New York Times. Matthews took a keen interest in Latin America and wrote numerous articles and editorials on the subject. In 1957 Ruby Phillips, the Bureau Chief in Havana, arranged for Matthews to interview Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra. In the interview Castro spoke about his plans to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. In July 1959 Matthews returned to Cuba. His reporting of events caused a great deal of controversy: "This is not a Communist revolution in any sense of the word, and there are no Communists in positions of control... Even the agrarian reform, Cubans point out with irony, is not at all what the Communists were suggesting, for it is far more radical and drastic than the Reds consider wise as a first step to the collectivization they, but not the Cubans, want." This was in contrast to the views of Ruby Phillips, who also worked for the New York Times: "Since the victory of the Castro revolution last January, the Communists and the 26th of July movement have been in close cooperation." Matthews retired from the New York Times in 1967. Two years later, he published Fidel Castro: A Political Biography (1969). His autobiography, A World in Revolution: A Newspaperman's Memoir, was published in 1972. This was followed by Revolution in Cuba (1975). Herbert Matthews died in Adelaide, South Australia, on 30 July 1977. By John Simkin (john@spartacus-educational.com) © September 1997 (updated January 2020). |