A Stage in Rio De Janeiro? Ho Chi Minh's Maritime Journeying and Latin America Networks

The presence of Ho Chi Minh in Rio de Janeiro at the end of one of his early seafaring journeys is taken as an article of faith by a spectrum of opinion in Brazil today. But what is the source material that lends credence to such a view? As this article exposes, the legend originally emerged in 1968 with the publication of two pieces of writing linked with a reported encounter between Ho Chi Minh and two Communist Party of Brazil leaders in Moscow in 1924. In that year, Ho Chi Minh published a French-language typescript titled "Solidarité de Classe," relating to a violent class action in Rio de Janeiro port. Looking deeper into this obscure text - never since reprinted - the present article appraises the possibility of a Ho Chi Minh visit to Latin America as well as pointing to the deeper importance of his maritime networking, here taken as another instance of praxis in the further awakening of his socialist internationalist worldview and future direction.