Granma still covers the story

[John Simkin]

You can, however re-entry to the USofA without being charged with breaking the law by US authorities could be a problem. Some circumvent this by entry through other countries and kindly helped by sympathetic Cuban Customs who may not stamp your passport to give you less trouble when tryiing to get home to 'the land of the free'. However, after the experience, keeping silent about the lies you have been fed and gobbled up over the years could be difficult. (see script)

That happened to me when I visited Cuba (I had to go via Canada so that I did not travel over US airspace). The Cuban custom officer asked me if I was ever likely to want to go to the US. When I said yes, he said that he would not stamp my passport.

In the late 1970s a friend of mine was booked to do a lecture tour of the USA. He had originally lived in Hungary but had fled from there as he was an opponent of the communist government. He was an academic and got a job teaching at the University of Sussex. Although he had fled the Soviet block he was still a Marxist. He wrote a book about about alienation in a communist society from the point of view of a liberation socialist. However, when he arrived at the US airport he was denied entry on the grounds he was a Marxist. So much for freedom of thought.

[Tim Gratz]

John, this might surprise you but if your friend was indeed simply an anti-communist Marxist who did not advocate the violent overthrow of the goverrnment, I certainly do not think he should have been denied entry to the United States.

What was (is) the name of his book?

[John Simkin]

John, this might surprise you but if your friend was indeed simply an anti-communist Marxist who did not advocate the violent overthrow of the goverrnment, I certainly do not think he should have been denied entry to the United States.

What was (is) the name of his book?

Marx's Theory of Alienation by Istvan Meszaros. It was originally published in 1970 but was reprinted in 2005. His latest book is "Socialism or Barbarism: From the American Century to the Crossroads".

I have to admit that he did advocate the the violent overthrow of the goverrnment - the Soviet government in Hungary. As you can see, he was a very dangerous man.

[Tim Gratz]

Thank you, John for the information. I suspect both books may be good reads and I will try to see if they are available in any of the libraries to which I have access.