"OSPAAAL anti-Vietnam war poster - "create two, three,…many Viet-nams, that is the watchword."" [T37]

Catalogue Number
T37

Object Name
Poster

Title
OSPAAAL anti-Vietnam war poster - "create two, three,…many Viet-nams, that is the watchword."

People
Che Guevara

Events
The Vietnam War

Date
1967

Description
Long rectangular poster, with pink, black and white., Top of the poster says "Create Two, Three…Many Vietnams, that is the watchword." Underneath this there is a block print repetitive pattern in pink, with black and white faces which are repeated; the black and white photographs of faces are of soliders and repeated photos of Che Guevara. The bottom of the poster has white text in Spanish, translated to "Create Two, Three...Many Viet-Nams, that is the watchword." This is a quote from Che Guevara; an argentinian Marxist revolutionary, guerilla leader, and prominent figure in the Russian Revolution. He used the previous quote in an address to the Organisation of solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America - his speech was published in one of their magazines in 1967. The quote is suggesting that the west and neo-liberalism intends to create several forms of the Vietnam war, to continue with imperial,, anti-communist, pro-capitalist violence. The Cuban leader Manual Piñeiro, in charge of Cuba’s relationship with revolutionaries in the Third World at the time, explained in 1997 that the “Message” was written by Che in a training camp in Pinar del Río in Cuba before setting out for Bolivia in 1966. Other quotes from this speech include "This is the painful reality: Vietnam, a nation representing the aspirations and hopes for victory of the disinherited of the world, is tragically alone. This people must endure the pounding of U.S. technology — in the south almost without defenses, in the north with some possibilities of defense — but always alone." Vietnam war was from 1955-1975.Millions died - Vietnamese civilians and American Soldiers. The United States provided funding, armaments, and training to South Vietnam's government and military since Vietnam's partition into the Communist North and Democratic South. Opposition to American involvement was widespread, condemning the decision to put troops in Vietnam, as well as opposition to the violence, war crimes and human rights abuses. War crimes were committed by both sides, with American forces initially denying massacres, mass rape and unnecessary murders. Sexual violence was also used as a war crime. African Americans died at a higher rate in combat and suffered huge amounts of racism. Communists would have definitely opposed the war due to unnecessary violence and capitalist expansion. The war was widely condemned and sparked several peace movements and anti-war movements across the world. This poster was issued by OSPAAAL - OSPAAAL is the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America. abbreviated as OSPAAAL, was a Cuban political movement with the stated purpose of fighting globalisation, imperialism, neoliberalism and defending human rights. The OSPAAAL was founded in Havana in January 1966, after the Tricontinental Conference, a meeting of over 500 delegates and 200 observers from over 82 countries.

Acting as the "key bridge" to unite liberation struggles and movements in the three continents, OSPAAAL's main objective is the promotion of anti-imperialism and socialism.[1] The Organization of American States (OAS) called OSPAAAL "the most dangerous threat that international communism has yet made against the inter-American system".

OSPAAAL's motto was "This great humanity has said: enough! And has started to move forward".

Until 2019, it published the magazine Tricontinental as their main transnational communication tool. After the closing of OSPAAAL by the Cuban Government,the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research seeks to continue the heritage of the Tricontinental conference and the organization. They "stand, in the words of Franz Fanon, with the wretched of the earth to create a world of human beings." There are slight creases in the paper. On the back of the poster there are hand written numbers; looks like someone did some maths questions on the reverse inscription.