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Today's
Stories
September 9,
2004
Joe Bageant
Karaoke
Night in Bush's America
September 8,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
This
Doesn't Smell Like Victory: A War on Two Fronts in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
Bush Confuses; Kerry Mute: Spinning 1000 Dead
Bulent Gokay
Russian and Chechnia After Beslan
Lisa Viscidi
Land Reform and Conflict in Guatemala
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Byrd's Eye View
Mike Whitney
Afghanistan: American's Drug Colony
Stan Goff
Body
Count: 1001
Website of
the Day
Bush and the Love Doctors
Sex,
Drugs & the Blues!
Serpents in the Garden
CounterPunch's
Sizzling New Book on Culture and Sex is Now Available
Click here to purchase
September 7,
2004
Diane Christian
Hostage Tactics: a Game of Mortal Poker
Joshua Frank
Greens
Unravel from Within
Patrick Cockburn
Fallujah
Erupts Again: US Death Toll in Iraq Nears 1000
Ron Jacobs
Bush and Putin: "We're Not Girlie Men"
Chris Floyd
Cry Havoc: Bush's Own Personal Janjaweed
Dr. Carol Wolman
No Blood for Oil at Paul Bunyan Day Parade
John Ross
The
Politics of Darkness North / South
September 6,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
An
Anti-Labor Day That Lives in Infamy: How Many Democrats Voted
For Taft-Hartley?
Ralph Nader
The
Cruel Legacy of Taft-Hartley: a Labor Day Call for Rights for
Working People
Lee Sustar
What's Driving the Attack on Pensions?
Kathleen and
Bill Christison
Dual
Loyalties: the Bush Necons and Israel
September 4-5,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
Elephants
and Gramsci
Ted Honderich
The
Way Things Are
Sasan Fayazmanesh
The
Holy Empire: Who We Are and What We Do
Douglas Valentine
What the World Should Know About Guantanamo
Patrick Cockburn
New Iraqi Police State Flexes Its Muscles
Gary Leupp
Neo Cons Under Fire
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: the Hempstead T-Shirt
William A.
Cook
The
Day of the Lemming
Dave Zirin
Kobe Bryant and the Price of Freedom
John Chuckman
The Day the World Ended
Karyn Strickler
God Save the Endangered Species Act
Vanessa Jones
Bad Day with an Ikea Cup
Mike Whitney
Kerry: the "Better" War Candidate
Mark Donham
Dear John (Kerry): Start Explaining and Fast
Mickey Z.
McBypass Nation: Feeling Clinton's Pain
Alan Farago
Can the Everglades be Fixed?
Poets' Basement
Landau and Albert
September 3,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Jesus Told Him Where to Bomb
Rahul Mahajan
Bush's RNC Speech: an Annotated Response
Carl Estabrook
The
Book of Slaughter and Forgetting
Joshua Frank
The Florida of the Northwest: Oregon Dems Sabotage Nader Again
Gary Leupp
Music to My Ears: Sunday's March
James Hollander
Deja Vu in Manhattan: Assisted Political Suicide?
Mark Engler
Republicans
Among Us: a Week at the RNC, Inside and Out
Jesse Sharkey
Making Students and Teachers Pay for the Crisis in Education
Jane Stillwater
Calling the Cops on Your Own Kid
Stephen Green
Serving
Two Flags: the Bush Neo-Cons and Israel
September 2,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part 3: More Pricks Than Kicks
Max Gimble
Et Tu, Menchu? Extrajudicial Killings and Clandestine Graves
in Guatemala
James Petras
President Chavez and the Referendum: Myths and Realities
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush and the Afghan Electoral Model: "If They Want to Vote
Twice, Let Them"
Todd Chretien & Jessie
Muldoon
Will the Democrats Expel Zell Miller?
Jack Random
Spite and Venom Day: the Turncoat and the Profiteer
Alan Maass
The Real Vietnam
Christa Allen
Contre Bush
Website of
the Day
[Redacted]
September 1,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Stench of Doom
Kathleen and Bill Christison
Poor Larry Franklin
Dave Lindorff
Kerry's Litmus Test
Josh Frank
Protest in White: Not All of New York Rises Up
John L. Hess
Moles, Scoops and Flip Flops
Mike Whitney
Deconstructing Arnold
Jack Random
Kindergarten Night at the RNC
Andrew Wilson
War on the Pachyderms: Why Do Elephants Hate Us?
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part Two: Mark His Words
August 31,
2004
Joseph Nevins
Escapism
and Global Apartheid: The Dominican Republic & the NYTs
Matt Vidal
Beyond
Bush's Rhetoric on the Economy
Neve Gordon
Kerry and the Middle East
Dave Lindorff
Bush
the Peace Candidate?
Mike Whitney
NPR Leads the Charge for War Against Iran
Jack Random
Opening Night: Playing the War Card
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: the Life and Crimes of George W. Bush (Part One)
CounterPunch Photo of the Day
Pete Seeger in NYC
August 30,
2004
Justin Podhur
The
Disappeared Mayor
Shaun Joseph
The
Hypocrites at TheNaderbasher.com
Mike Whitney
Israeli Moles in the Pentagon: What More Could They Possibly
Want?
Ron Jacobs
Live, From New York: the Majority of Protesters Claimed No Candidate
David Lindorff
Sunday in Manhattan: the Sound of Marchin', Chargin' Feet, Boy
Dave Zirin
USA Basketball: The Team White America Loved to Hate
Sam Husseini
Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History
August 28 /
29, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Zombies
for Kerry
Patrick Cockburn
Najaf Ceasefire Good for Iraq, But Weakens Allawi and US
Ray McGovern
Blowing Smoke on Intelligence
Dr. Juan Romagoza
From El Salvador to Abu Ghraib: Reflections of Torture Survivor
Ray Hanania
An Israeli Spy in the Pentagon? Ridiculous!
Fred Gardner
Eddie Lepp Busted by DEA: Facing Life for Growing Medical Pot
Diane Christian
Big Men: the Better Leader Lets You Live
William S. Lind
The Desert Fox
Paul D'Amato
The Left Takes a Dive for Kerry
Joshua Frank
Greens at the Crossroads
Mickey Z.
Media Declares War on Anti-War Protests
Winslow T. Wheeler
Sen. McCain's Pork Chops: an Exchange
Justin E.H.
Smith
The New Age Racket and the Left
Thomas St. John
Burning Slaves at the Stake: On "Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God"
Ali Tonak
Help the NYPD?
Mark Engler
New York Says "No"
Justin Felux
Haiti: the Attica of the Americas
Poets' Basement
Gelman, Albert, Ford and Hamod
August 27,
2004
Gary Leupp
Neocon
Musings
Robin Cook
The
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Diane Christian
Disarming
Michael Donnelly
Situational Democracy: the Show Me the Green Party?
Jack Random
4F and Other Heroes: an Army of War Resisters
Mike Ferner
"To the Swift Boats!"
Mazin Qumsiyeh
7000 Palestinian Political Prisoners
Veronza Bowers, Jr.
"You Won't Be Leaving Tomorrow"
August 26,
2004
M. Shahid Alam
The
Clash Thesis: a Failing Ideology?
Diane Christian
War
Rules: Bush is No Sun Tzu
Derek Seidman
"They're As Bad As Wal-Mart:" Starbucks Workers Get
Organized
David Lindorff
Court to RNC Protesters: Drop the Rally
Christopher
Brauchli
Signs of Dissent: the Bush in the Bubble
Stew Albert
Reporting Suspicious Activity
Mark Donham
Judgement in Athens: Give the Koreans Their Day in Court
Saul Landau
Pinochet:
the Al Capone of the Southern Cone
Website of
the Day
The Kerry 527 Ad You'll Never See
August 25,
2004
Amelia Peltz
Can
I Have 9.8 Seconds of Your Time?
Noah Leavitt
Defining and Redefining Torture
Ron Jacobs
Takin' It to the Streets: It's Not About the Election, It's About
Democracy
James Brooks
Coronado Crosses the Jordan
Akiva Eldar
How to Win the Jewish Vote: Turn Gaza into a "Mini-Afghanistan"
Gemma Araneta
Chavez's New Brand of Populism
Philip Cryan
Uribe's Boys: the Death Squads of Colombia
CounterPunch Wire
Cheney Opens the Closet Door
August 24,
2004
Jeremy Scahill
John
Kerry: the Warchurian Candidate
Gary Leupp
"We
Want Them to Go Away"
David Domke
God
Willing: an Echoing Press and Political Fundamentalism
William Loren Katz
The Meaning of Hugo Chávez: Black and Indian Power in
Venezuela
Jonah Gindin
With Chavez? Reading the International Private Media
Fran Schor
Denying Atrocities: From Vietnam to Fallujah
Joe Bageant
Driving
on the Bones of God
Website of the Day
The Great America Lockdown: a Primer for the RNC
August 23,
2004
Winslow Wheeler
Don't
Mind If I Do: Porkbarrel and the War on Terror
John Pilger
Bush
May Be the Lesser Evil
Stan Goff
Swift
Boat Dogfight
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Notes
from the West Bank: Build, Demolish, Rebuild
Mike Whitney
The Unraveling of Afghanistan
William Blum
Brave
New World of Iraqi Sovereignty
Ralph Nader
A Letter to the Washington Post: a Shameful and Unsavory Editorial
August 21 /
22, 2004
Cockburn /
St. Clair
"They
Want Blood:" The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on
Drugs
Landau / Hassen
Failing
the Mission? Form a Commission
Brian Cloughley
The
Bush Team in Iraq: Moral Cowardice, as Practiced by Experts
Josh Frank
Nader as David Duke? The ADL Wants You to Think So
Mike Whitney
Reincarnating Mengele: the Torture Doctors of Abu Ghraib
Ron Jacobs
Day Labor Blues
Mickey Z.
Shooting at Whales: 40 Years After Tonkin
Fred Gardner
Dr. Wolman Comes Out: The Cannabis Consultants
Dave Zirin
Uprising in Athens: Iraqi Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot
Josh Saxe
Witnessing Police Brutality in LA
Yanar Mohammed
Letter from Baghdad: a Democracy of Killings and Bombings
Helen Williams
Ali's Story: a Taste of Reality from Baghdad
Michael Donnelly
Elemental and NaturalForests, Fire and Recovery
Elizabeth Schulte
The Crisis in Affordable Housing
Poets' Basement
Adler, Albert, Virgil, Ford and Krieger
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
September 9, 2004
Present and
Future
The
Cuban Revolution
By
PETER BOHMER
Understanding Cuban society objectively
is incredibly difficult, given 45 years of unremitting US propaganda
against Fidel Castro, the Cuban government and Cuban society.
Even for those individuals critical of the U.S. mainstream media,
constantly hearing the Cuban government called a dictatorship
that has failed its people, influences our perceptions. So do
interviews or discussions with Cubans who have immigrated to
the United States, most of whom are very critical of the Cuban
system. I urge the reader to be open to the following article
which presents a viewpoint at variance with the mainstream one
of Cuba. This positive, but not uncritical analysis of Cuba,
is based on in-depth study of Cuba for more than 35 years, two
visits to Cuba in the early 1990's, living there for four months
in 2001, and the recent trip I made with 23 students in April
and May, 2004.
To understand Cuban society,
we have to place the political economy of Cuba today, its successes
and real problems, in the context of the following:
1. 400 years of Spanish
colonialism. This began with genocidal attacks against the
indigenous people of Cuba, followed by an economy organized around
sugar plantations, where most of the labor force were enslaved
and super-exploited Africans. Slavery ended in 1886, but extreme
racism and economic segregation of blacks continued until 1959.
2. U.S. domination and aggression.
During the 1895-1898 Cuban war for independence, the U.S. intervened
militarily, claiming to support independence for Cuba, but then
dominated Cuba economically and politically until 1959. As a
condition for the U.S. ending its military occupation of Cuba,
Cuba had to sign the Platt Amendment, which was the basis for
establishing the U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Today in Guantanamo,
prisoners from around the world are being held indefinitely with
no rights and subject to brutal treatment by the U.S. military.
In addition, the U.S. and Cuban elites dominated Cuba from 1902
to 1959, with the U.S. sending troops and supporting Cuban governments
who were favorable to U.S. investors and undermining those who
weren't.
3. Cuba's alliances with
the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. In 1961, two years
after the victory of the Cuban revolution, Cuban President Fidel
Castro declared the country socialist and increasingly oriented
its politics and economy towards the Soviet Union. The Soviet
Union and its allies paid a good price for sugar and sold Cuba
oil at reduced prices. They also extended many loans to Cuba.
Cuba's economy, including its technology and machinery, consumption
goods, imports and exports and methods of economic planning became
increasingly integrated with those of the Soviet Union and its
allies. This often meant utilizing technology and using products
that were below the quality available in the West. Cuba diversified
its economy slowly, continuing to rely on sugar exports as its
main source of foreign exchange.
The Soviet system collapsed
in 1989 and ever since, Cuba has had a very difficult time maintaining
socialist principles while developing a different economic model
from the Soviet-inspired one. The transition to different technologies
has been difficult and costly. Cuba has attempted to but has
not been successful in developing an economy that is both equal
and also provides an increasing standard of living for its people.
The Cuban government has called the period since 1989, the Special
Period.
4. Global Capitalism.
Cuba is part of a global economic system that is increasingly
unequal within and between countries. For example, the price
of Cuba's main export good, sugar, sells for lower and lower
prices relative to the prices of Cuba imports, e.g., machines,
and consumer durables like refrigerators, on the world market.
5. The United States Blockade.
During the period of Cuba's alliance with the U.S.S.R., the
U.S. claimed that hostility towards Cuba was because Cuba was
an extension of the U.S.S.R in the Americas. However, notice
that the U.S. intervention has become even more aggressive since
the collapse of the U.S.S.R, which should lead us to question
the U.S. rationale in the past as well as the present. The U.S.
embargo, which the Cubans call a blockade, because it limits
Cuban trade with other countries besides the U.S., means that
Cuba has had to pay a higher price for goods on the world market
that it imports such as medicines and food, and has had to maintain
a larger military budget than it would otherwise. The blockade
has also significantly reduced Cuba's ability to export, which
in turns means its ability to import has also been reduced.
This is the context for understanding
Cuba today. So when U.S. leaders and academics say Cuba is a
failed experiment, economically and politically, they ignore
this context. To me, the five points I have outlined are the
starting points for understanding Cuba but not the end points.
My position is a critically supportive one that examines the
Cuban model and its decisions and policy. There are a few aspects
that I disagree with.
The
Golden Period of the Cuban Revolution
From the 1960's to the late
1980's, Cuba was one of the most economically equal countries
in the world. Almost all production was owned and organized by
the state. There was free health care, equal access to free education,
and full employment. Hundreds of thousands of apartments were
built in Cuban cities-often in the form of huge apartment complexes
such as Alamar in Havana. In the countryside, electrification,
indoor plumbing, drinkable water and basic housing was provided
for almost all Cubans. Hunger and absolute poverty were overcome.
Cuba was not a utopia during
this period. There were limited and insufficient consumer goods,
slow economic growth with a very slow rising of the standard
of living; and a paternalistic system where the government listened
to the people and management listened to worker complaints but
the decisions were made at the top. There were important and
major gains for women in accessing higher education and entering
and advancing in significant numbers in many professions but
little change in the sexual division of labor at home, as women
still did most of the housework.
There were striking changes
towards achieving racial equality as discrimination was outlawed,
and the proportion of black Cubans in secondary and higher education
and in higher status jobs began to approach their numbers in
the population although the top leadership in Cuban society was
still disproportionately white and male. The gains for families
who were poor before the 1959 Cuban revolution, particularly
in rural areas, was truly impressive-in education, income, health,
housing, and in being treated with respect and dignity. Cuba
had truly become a society that was successful in changing for
the better the lives of those who had been historically at the
bottom. This is an accomplishment whose significance cannot be
overstated. In the early 1980's, in an article in the Wall Street
Journal, the author grudgingly admitted that the standard of
living for working people in Cuba was the highest in Latin America,
with the possible exception of Puerto Rico.
Cuba called itself socialist,
meaning most production was nationalized and state-owned, and
production was not organized for profit but rather was centrally
planned to meet the economic needs of the population. However,
the population had limited power in making major economic and
political decisions, e.g., on whether to develop nuclear power.
The input of the population
then and now comes mainly through the mass organizations, such
as the community-based Committees to Defend the Revolution (CDR),
the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), and the Cuban Federation
of Workers (CTC). It is through these mass organizations as well
as through the Communist Party, whose current membership numbers
over a million, and whose members are for the most part respected
by the Cuban people and closely linked to the grass roots, that
people can express their needs. In other words, to look at this
system as totally top down where Fidel orders and the people
follow misrepresents the reality of a government quite connected
to popular sentiments. On the other hand, a viewpoint that claims
that the Cuban people and their elected representatives have
the power is also inaccurate.
The Special
Period
With the collapse of the Soviet
Union and various economic and trade arrangements that Cuba had
with the Soviet bloc, Cuban production fell by more than one
third from 1989 to 1993 and Cuban imports and exports were reduced
by more than two thirds. In the early 1990's, there was widespread
eye blindness and other health problems from an insufficient
diet and lack of vitamins. The survival of the Cuba revolution
was at stake. Cuba has survived with slow but significant economic
growth and a growing consumption of necessities over the last
10 years. Nonetheless, most of the population has a lower standard
of living-around 25% lower than they had in the mid 1980's. Most
Cubans, unless they have some way of earning or receiving dollars,
live in poverty although they are not hungry or homeless.
Most countries in the third
world or global South have had to structurally adjust their economies
since the early 1980's because of balance of payments problems,
meaning they imported more than they exported, and thus, had
to make deals with foreign lenders such as the International
Monetary Fund in order to get loans to pay off the foreign debt
they were accumulating. The resulting structural adjustment plans
have increased economic inequality and reduced social spending
as countries have been forced to reduce government spending and
public employment and to open their country up to foreign investors.
Cuba's structural adjustment
since 1989 has been different, although they too have a major
foreign debt and have struggled to reduce the imbalance between
high imports and low exports. To its credit, the Cuban state,
has maintained basic social services-free and available medical
and dental care, free education up to and including university
level, and food rations for the population at low and affordable
prices, although not the quantity or variety that Cubans need
and desire. Housing and utility bills are affordable; although
housing is often very crowded and most people do not have phones.
Infant mortality has continued to fall and life expectancy has
continued to lengthen. Infant mortality, life expectancy and
the health of the population is the best in Latin America and
is close to that of the United States.
With the exception of agriculture,
most production is still organized by the Cuban state. Although
there no longer is full employment, jobs are easier to obtain
and keep compared to other countries in the Americas. Most young
people can find jobs although wages for most jobs are very low.
The unemployed as well as parents of children under a year old
receive 60 to 70% of the earnings of their last employment, and
parents are guaranteed their job back when they return to work.
Child care is available and affordable.
Changes
in the Cuban Economy
The major changes Cuba has
made since 1989 have led to some improvement in the standard
of living but has created a new set of social problems. The main
changes are the following:
1. Legalization and widespread
use of the dollar inside Cuba. Since 1993, both the dollar
and the Cuban peso are used as money. Many goods in Cuba, mainly
luxuries and imports are priced in dollars or if in pesos, their
prices are very high for Cubans because they are converted from
dollars to pesos at the rate of 25 pesos to the dollar. For
example, chicken sells at about $1 U.S. or 25 pesos per pound.
Because of the high prices of these goods and services in relation
to salaries, this makes these goods inaccessible to Cubans who
don't receive dollars. The average salary in Cuba is 250 pesos
a month. This is worth far more than ten dollars in terms of
purchasing power which is what 250 pesos can be converted into
at the exchange rate of about 25 pesos to the dollar. In calculating
the purchasing power of Cuban salaries, one must consider that
health and education are free; and that prices are low, even
in pesos, for food purchased on one's ration card. For other
goods and services, a peso is roughly equal in value to a dollar,
e.g., movies or bus transportation. On the other hand, for many
imports, e.g., a pair of jeans the price is $20 or 500 pesos,
twice the average monthly salary; and the price of cooking oil
is $2 or 50 pesos for one liter (quart). Given the lack of goods
available at affordable prices, life is very difficult on a peso
salary.
Both the Cuban economy and
Cuban families are dependent on remittances, which is money sent
by relatives to their families in Cuba. This provides foreign
exchange to the Cuban government, as much of this money is spent
on Cuban goods and services, and the Cuban state and Cuban enterprises
then use these dollars they receive to buy needed imports. It
also provides purchasing power for the 40 to 50% of Cuban families
who directly or indirectly receive remittances. George W. Bush
in an increased effort to destroy the Cuban economy in order
to cause an uprising, announced on May 6, 2004, further restrictions
on sending remittances and gifts to Cuban relatives.
In addition, some Cubans in
government enterprises earn dollars. Since 1993, some highly
skilled jobs considered essential pay an incentive in dollars
in addition to the salary in pesos. A friend of ours who is an
engineer gets $11 a month in addition to his monthly salary of
350 pesos.
2. Tourism. About two
million tourists now visit Cuba annually, mainly from Western
Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. government not only is putting
further restrictions on U.S. tourism but is trying to limit tourism
to Cuba from other countries. Tourism is the main earner of foreign
exchange and Cuba is increasingly producing more of what tourists
consume. Two third of each tourist dollar is now spent on Cuban-produced
goods and services and thus creates foreign exchange that can
be used for imports for the Cuban people.
Tourism is a mixed blessing.
It creates foreign exchange but it also increases desire by the
Cuban population for a first world standard of living. It reinforces
sexism as young Cuban women often sell themselves to foreigners.
Tourism also furthers racial inequality as black Cubans are underrepresented
in the tourist sector, both in Cuban-owned enterprises and in
mixed enterprises, meaning joint Cuban and foreign ownership.
The government and unions have acknowledged this problem but
it continues.
Much of the income generated
from tourism does trickle down to the general population as it
ends up with the government and in government banks. It is then
used to purchase necessary imports-medicines, buses, oil, machinery,
even agricultural products from the United States. On the other
hand, many Cubans working in the tourist sector get most of their
income in dollars, mainly from tips, which greatly distort incentives
in Cuba. Highly trained doctors, engineers and foreign language
specialists often do not use their education and training but
instead work as waitresses, taxi drivers, hotel doormen, and
as cleaning staff because they can earn much more in the tourist
sector.
The tourist industry and the
aforementioned remittances also contribute to a growing inequality
of income in Cuba, between those who get dollars and those who
don't. Cuba, while far more equal than the rest of the Americas
including the United States is much less equal than it was 20
years ago and this is a source of discontent. Most tourism is
of the "beaches and sun" variety. Other forms of tourism
are less destructive of socialist values and are being promoted:
ecological tourism; cultural tourism (tourists coming to learn
about Cuba's history, culture and revolution); medical tourism
(visitors coming to Cuba for medical care); and educational tourism,
such as the thousands of Venezuelan students studying in Cuba
and ourselves.
3. Foreign Investment.
Cuba permits and encourages 50% ownership by foreign companies
in various industries, e.g., hotels, nickel mining, and biotechnology.
This is an attempt to bring in foreign capital and become more
integrated into the global economy and obtain up-to-date technology
to replace obsolete Soviet technology. The hope is that this
can be done without being dominated by and becoming totally dependent
on multinational corporations. Most contracts include technology-sharing
and teaching of skills. Perhaps most important is ongoing off-shore
oil exploration. Cuba currently imports one half of its oil and
all of the oil used for transportation needs. Finding low sulfur
Cuban oil would substantially strengthen the Cuban economy; it
would make it easier for Cuba to import other goods and reduce
its continued imbalance in international trade.
4. Agriculture. In
agriculture, Cuba has moved away from state farms and centrally
planning agricultural production. There has been a steady growth
of private ownership of farms, and of cooperative ownership of
the land. Organic farming techniques are increasingly used, and
there has been a large growth in urban gardens. Privately-run
farmers markets play an important role in supplying food. In
them, farmers sell produce, above what they are required to sell
to the state, at market prices. These reforms have significantly
increased agricultural production over the last 12 years, particularly
the organic production of fruits and vegetables. Food consumption
has increased significantly although meat, except for pork is
still scarce and expensive. However, these reforms have also
created a group of high-income Cubans who sell produce at the
farmers markets at prices that are high for those Cubans who
do not have access to dollars.
5. New Industries. Cuba
has an educated and skilled labor force. There is significant
research and development resources invested in state industries
such as medical instruments, and developing and producing medicines
for AIDS, for curing cancer, hepatitis, malaria and other diseases.
This is part of what the Cubans call biotechnology. There is
a growth in the development and production of computer software.
Cuba hopes to sell these products globally although exports in
this sector are growing much slower than the Cuban planners had
projected. The continuing hope is that this industry could be
globally competitive, pay a livable wage and bring in substantial
foreign exchange. Not surprisingly, the U.S. is trying to prevent
these sales by pressuring other nations not to buy Cuban goods,
but there is interest in developing and marketing these products
even by U.S. firms.
Overall
Assessment
Cuban's survival in the face
of the U.S. attempt to destroy the Cuban revolution is a great
achievement as is Cuba's continuing to provide for the basic
needs of its population. For example, every single person in
Cuba has free dental and eye care. Every person in Cuba with
AIDS gets free, high-quality retroviral drugs.
Our responsibility as U.S.
residents is to stop the criminal embargo/blockade against Cuba
that is being waged by the U.S. government in our name. For 45
years, the people in power in the United States have been unwilling
to accept a sovereign, independent Cuba. That is the main reason
behind the past and present immoral and illegal U.S. actions
against Cuba; we have the responsibility to change U.S. policy.
During our six weeks in Cuba, we were all impressed by how well
we were treated and received by the Cuban people and government
who consider the U.S. people, but not the U.S. government as
their friends. It is up to us to make the difference between
the people of the U.S. and our government greater, to make our
government's aggression against Cuba so unpopular in the United
States that it is forced to accept Cuban sovereignty.
If the people in the United
States are successful in getting our government to end the blockade,
U.S. tourism to Cuba will grow exponentially. This will cause
new problems in Cuba such as a growing desire for a first world
standard of living, but it is up to Cubans who unanimously want
the blockade to end, to deal with this.
In so far, as we work to end
the blockade, we have a right to humbly criticize the Cuban system
although the U.S. government does not have that right given its
past and present policies. Cuba is as just as any country in
the world; it deserves critical support from the people of the
U.S. but there are real problems.
Cuba has not developed a workable
strategy for simultaneously achieving economic and social equality,
people's power and an improving quality of life. The main efforts
of the Cuban government have been to survive, to maintain basic
services and to increase economic production. They have accomplished
the first two of these objectives but have not so far developed
a strategy for sustainable economic development. Economic growth
is necessary; otherwise increases in needed services such as
public transportation comes at the expense of other needed goods
and services. Possibly, increasing worker participation and power
in work places could lead to higher productivity and production.
Income inequality is still
worsening. Income equality could be improved by increasing the
types and quantity of goods available at subsidized prices on
the ration cards, and/or moving to one currency and price system
and raising wages substantially for those getting paid in pesos.
However, unless production is increased substantially and higher
incomes are taxed more heavily than now, these reforms will cause
huge inflationary pressures as demand increases; and increase
balance of payments problems as imports increase.
Cuban society is not the dictatorship
you hear about in the media here; people do speak up and criticize,
and there is no torture or disappearance of dissidents. There
is some suppression of the organized opposition. This repression
is because of the fear and the reality of the U.S. commitment
to overthrow the Cuban revolution and return Cuba to a neocolonial
status. We need to understand the context for Cuban government
behavior without necessarily supporting it. The U.S. government
does support much of the opposition in Cuba, for example, the
75 Cuban dissidents who were arrested and imprisoned in 2003.
If Cuba openly financed opposition to capitalism in the U.S.,
or intervened in the U.S. elections, think how people in the
U.S. receiving money from the Cuban government would be treated.
Also, the U.S. is a clear threat to Cuba; Cuba is not to the
United States, meaning that Cuban fears and actions are more
justifiable than the United States actions would be.
Nonetheless, there is only
a limited role for worker control in Cuban enterprises, and the
state-owned media is limited in its criticisms of the government.
Because daily life is difficult and time-consuming in Cuba, participation
and activism in public life have declined. Cynicism and dissatisfaction
have grown, particularly among the young. The Special Period
has been particularly hard for women as it has meant that maintenance
of the family and family responsibilities take more time, e.g.,
the decline in public transportation, and there is less income
available. The burden of this time and money squeeze has mainly
fallen on women so they have less time than before for participation
at the workplace, in the community and in the women's federation.
However, the Cuban revolution,
the concept of socialism and Fidel Castro and the Communist Party
are seen as legitimate by the majority of the population, and
the overwhelming majority would fight in support of the revolution
if the U.S. invaded. During our trip, we heard from many different
Cubans that they and the revolution will persevere even with
the most recent May, 2004 tightening of the blockade. This includes
the reduced possibilities of U.S. travel to Cuba for educational
purposes as well as by Cuban Americans, the increased funding
by the U.S. government of groups who are actively trying to overthrow
the Cuban government and of anti-Cuban propaganda, and other
measures aimed at isolating Cuba and hurting the Cuban economy
by reducing their access to foreign exchange.
The Future
of Cuba
The Cuban government and many
Cuban people fear a U.S. invasion. I think it is possible although
not likely. There will, however be increased pressure and aggression
against Cuba if Bush is reelected. U.S. provocations such as
flying military planes with radio and TV transmitters, which
Bush announced on May 6, 2004, could lead to violations of Cuban
airspace and U.S. military attacks on Cuba if Cuba defends itself
against these violations. John Kerry's position on Cuba is not
as bad as the current administration's but he does not accept
Cuban self-determination and sovereignty as the basis for U.S.
foreign policy. Kerry has said, if elected President, he would
end the travel ban but he would not end the embargo/blockade
or establish normal diplomatic relations with Cuba. If we are
concerned about human rights and the right of all nations to
choose their own system, we should do what we can to stop the
U.S. from waging war against Cuba, whether it is an invasion
or the continuing blockade.
In conclusion, the survival
and maintenance of the Cuban Revolution is incredibly important
for the Cuban people and globally. It is an alternative to neoliberalism
and a beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world.
I am often asked what will happen after Fidel Castro retires
or dies. I think there will be no big changes immediately in
Cuba nor will U.S. hostility end as it is aimed at the Cuban
system not just at Castro. My hope for the future of Cuba is
that as we work to reduce U.S. aggression, and as Cuba gains
more economic and political allies in the world such as Venezuela,
that Cuba will experiment with more people's democratic power
and build a socialism that is participatory, egalitarian, and
increasingly meets the needs of its people.
Peter Bohmer is a faculty member in Political Economy
at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. He has been active
in movements for social and economic justice and has studied
and taught about Cuba since the late 1960's. His email is: bohmerp@evergreen.edu
Weekend
Edition Features for August 7 / 8, 2004
James Petras
The
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Fred Gardner
Run
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Justin Delacour
Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela
Brian Cloughley
Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd?
Joshua Frank
The
Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader
Iain A. Boal
On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection
Chris Floyd
All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome
Andrew Fenton
Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti
Aseem Shrivastava
Saga of an Anguished Afghan
Neil Corbett
See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush
Carol Miller
/ Forrest Hill
Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only
12% of the Vote
Tarek Milleron
Breaking the Principled Voter
Donald Macintyre
The
Battle of Najaf
Ron Jacobs
Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies
Mickey Z.
Kid
Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO
Poets' Basement
Adler, Ford and Albert
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