[Marxism] Morning Star article on Cuba

[Paddy Apling]

I think list members will be interested in today's feature article in the Morning Star, whch, though it is rather long I am contributing in full as their web-site is subscription only.

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50 years after
(Wednesday 09 April 2008)
VICTOR FIGUEROA
VICTOR FIGUEROA reflects on Cuba's present. 

THE Cuban revolution is no longer in its youth and, for the past five decades, the revolution has progressed at all levels. 

It has lifted the Cuban people out of poverty and ignorance and provided them with great opportunities, often standing alone in the face of neoliberal imperialism. 

There is widespread ignorance outside Cuba about life on the island, a fact that is underlined by the reaction to Fidel Castro's recent retirement. Hundreds of articles have spoken of "transition," "pluralist democracy" and government "repression." 

On the island, nothing seems further from the truth. Few speak of "transition," most speak of reforms. Cubans routinely express themselves freely. 

This was amply demonstrated during a recent visit to Cuba, where an old man in central Havana spent 20 minutes loudly complaining about the leaders of the revolution not 15 steps from a police officer. 

Yes, there is dissent - people are not afraid of expressing it - but, for every such person, there are many others who support the revolution wholeheartedly. 

Cuba is a complex country. It shares some of the problems that all other countries face, while a lot of its troubles derive from the continuous hostility that it has suffered at the hands of the world's only superpower and its satellite states. 

This hostility means that finding solutions to even the most ordinary problems is complicated, while solving complex predicaments becomes a Herculean task. In this context, the achievements of the Cuban revolution, especially since 1991, are all the more impressive. As a friend in Havana pointed out, "Here, nothing is easy, but somehow we manage it." 

For much of this time, Cuba stood alone against the dark tide of neoliberal and imperialist forces that engulfed the rest of the world. Former friends advised that it should embrace "transition" and forget about socialism, but Cuba refused to abandon the central tenets of the revolution - social justice, sovereignty and free health care and education. No schools or hospitals were closed down. 

No matter how tight the belt had to be pulled, resources for health and education were never cut. That a small Third World country such as Cuba managed to do this highlights the strengths of a society based upon socialist ideas. 

Cuba has managed to resurrect its economy after losing 70 per cent of its trade overnight in 1991. This in itself is testament to the high levels of support and legitimacy that the revolution enjoys among the general populace. 

Since the turn of the century, Cuba has experienced renewed economic growth, owing largely to increasing tourism and the export of non-traditional goods. Good relations with China, Canada and some European countries, as well as with regional allies such as Venezuela, have aided this economic recovery. 

This growth is evident around Havana in particular. The centre is gradually being renovated and many buildings along the famous Malecon are being restored. Cuba has invested in road-building machinery and new non-polluting asphalt factories in order to speed up repairs on roads that suffered due to years of enforced neglect. 

Workers are being retrained, information technology is springing up in workplaces across the country, wind farms are being built, modern machinery is replacing older models in factories and infrastructure around the island is being upgraded. 

However, Cuba faces not just a few infrastructural challenges, but a mass of accumulated problems. 

Tourism, while bringing in hard currency, has also brought Cubans into contact with foreigners who have money to spend and who generally see Cuban problems as being a fault of the system. 

It has also resulted in relative inequalities appearing among Cubans, a situation that creates a social and political headache in a country that strives towards social justice. As one bus worker told me, "I don't mind if they have a job in tourism, but, if they are just hanging around tourists for money, it isn't right." 

The Cuban government is aware of this. It is also conscious of the dangers that lurk in any reform programme that introduces capitalist methods and ways of thinking. The stark example of the Soviet Union stands as a monumental reminder of what happens when "market" methods are relied upon to solve problems in socialist processes. It also serves as an example of how victorious capitalism treats its vanquished foes. 

This is why the Cubans have instituted a "battle of ideas," which seeks both to remind the people of what they are struggling for and to find solutions to the problems that face the country. 

Perhaps the biggest mistake made by outside observers is to think that the revolution has no legitimacy. In fact, the revolution has built mechanisms of popular power and participation which, along with the achievements of the revolution and the absence of repression, have endowed the revolution with a great deal of legitimacy and flexibility. 

Travelling in the country, you will meet people who are unafraid of expressing constructive criticism and take great pride in their revolution and its achievements. More than once, I was told: "We don't want what happened to Russia to happen here." 

This legitimacy means that the revolution has the capacity to continue to develop - not in the interests of the few as in a "transition," but in the interests of the many by continuing the revolutionary process. 

The new government has a popular mandate to do this, by instituting reforms that are aimed at solving Cuba's domestic problems within a socialist framework. 

The problem lies in reforming the system in a manner that doesn't undermine the values of the revolution, while providing solutions to the day-to-day problems that Cubans confront, all the while preventing the US from destabilising the country. 

In this, Cuba's integration into the global economy on its own terms and the internal battle of ideas will play a key part. 

If it can rise to these challenges, then Cuba's role as an inspirational veteran and adviser to many revolutionary movements stands a good chance of continuing unabated. 

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Comradely greetings from,

Paddy
http://apling.freeservers.com