[Marxism] "Cuba goes capitalist" : From the New Statesman

[Fred Feldman]

I would be glad to see more information on the facts in this article from
the New Statesman in Britain. The comparison with "New Labour" is wrong to
the point of being semi-criminal, equating what is happening in Cuba to a
situation where the living conditions were gutted in the interests of
pampering the rich.

Cuba has many difficulties -- many of which can be broadly summarized in the
old but true catch-phrase "socialism can not be a achieved in a single
country alone." I expect there to be many adjustments to the facts that Cuba
is a small revolutionary country in a world thoroughly dominated by
imperialism and, more broadly, capitalism.

The Cuban leaders have always had some awareness of this 

I pretty much think that just about anything they do to extract more wealth
from the available resources and strengthen the day to day social efficiency
is okay with me as long as it helps rather than obstructs maintaining the
country's world class education, child care, and medical systems; preventsd
hunger and any buildup of homeless or loss of living quarters because of
poverty; makes it possible to sustain the internationalist missions;
continue to expand the human rights of the people in areas from sexuality to
public discussion of differences of opinion; preserves the sovereignty of
the country from US interference; and deepens integration with the
revolutionary processes in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and the course
toward integration with Latin America which is Cuba's main road forward for
Cuba today.

My sense is that these are the basic goals of the core of the Cuban
leadership, and that there goals have nothing in common with New Labour. Nor
are they at all fully congruent even with China's course in recent decades.

They will have to go through a lot of turnings, retreats, steps forward,
experiments failed and successful to keep going. I plan to observe their
efforts with interest and consistent solidarity. This is an approach I
recommend to others as well.
Fred Feldman 


http://www.newstatesman.com/print/200906040028
Cuba goes capitalist
Graham Norwood

Published 04 June 2009

Observations on private property 

 
“I can talk about cigars but I can’t talk about change,” Christina said
sharply, as she showed me the Havana cigar factory where she worked. I had
asked how Cuba was evolving under the leadership of Raúl Castro.

Just outside the factory gates, however, the signs of change are everywhere.
The Cuban capital now boasts branches of clothing chains such as Benetton,
Mango and Zara. Electrical shops sell plasma TVs, hotels advertise wifi and
Cuban youths pore over mobile telephones. On every street there are scenes
that would have been unimaginable two years ago.

Come July, there will be another sign of Cuba’s New Labour-style
accommodation of the capitalist 21st century: wealthy foreigners will be
able to buy luxury holiday homes on the island.

Two hours from Havana, the neatly manicured Varadero tourist resort welcomes
a million visitors a year. The complex hosts five-star hotels, shopping
malls and even a golf course (and yes, golf is reconcilable with the
revolution – a photo of a club-wielding Che is on display at the course
shop). On the edge of Varadero, a 170-hectare plot will soon become the site
of the Carbonera Club, a joint venture between the Cuban authorities and a
British developer, Esencia. The scheme will consist of some 800 apartments
and villas, priced at up to £1.15m, and marketed exclusively to foreigners.
There will be a yacht marina, facilities for scuba diving and tennis, a spa
and a gym.

That’s all lovely, of course, but it hardly distinguishes the place from
playgrounds of the rich around the world. The Carbonera Club’s unique appeal
lies elsewhere.

In 1959 Fidel Castro nationalised Cuban land and property. Since then no
private homes have been built, sold or bought. But that will change, at
least for foreigners, when Carbonera goes on sale in July. Esencia expects
most buyers this year to be from Canada, Spain and the UK – the nations that
supply the majority of tourists to Cuba. But the company’s long-term goal is
to attract US buyers.

That will be possible only when the trade embargo between Cuba and the US is
finally scrapped. But it looks as if this will be sooner rather than later.
Barack Obama has admitted that the embargo has not brought democracy to
Cuba. The US Senate recently relaxed travel and financial repatriation
controls, and senior Washington politicians visited Havana in April. Raúl
Castro’s embrace of 3G mobiles and foreigners who want holiday homes will no
doubt be seen as a reciprocal move in the necessary diplomatic pas de deux.

Should Americans start to arrive in volume, post-embargo, you can expect to
see more private homes popping up across the island. There is already talk
of a dozen resorts.

In the meantime, the Carbonera Club has had a few hiccups. Cuba’s government
would prefer to sell the properties with a 75-year lease, but the west
prefers freehold. And there is uncertainty over Havana’s capacity to handle
inquiries from western mortgage companies if a buyer borrows to fund a
purchase. But these are small fry compared to the scheme’s political
significance.

Whether it marks the beginning of the end of Cuba’s revolutionary programme,
or the end of the beginning, as some islanders believe, one thing is
certain: if you want to see Cuba before it becomes too much like the rest of
the world, go there now. Say hello to Christina at the cigar factory. Some
day soon she may feel comfortable talking about the changes happening around
her.