La Senda: The Future of Cuban Socialism

Carlos Borrero

Cristina Liriano

Benjamin Tupper

Revision History
• April-May 1992	Newspaper: Funded by Syracuse University students.
The Alternative Orange: Vol. 1, No. 5 (pp. 24,18)
• August 27, 2000	Webpage: .
DocBook XML (DocBk XML V3.1.3) from original.

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Cuba enters the new year with a thirty three year old commitment to socialist development and national sovereignty. The Cuban Revolution has seen better prospects for the incoming new year, as many Cubans will attest. Internationally, taking into account the recent historical changes, Cuba’s commitment to socialism appears irrational, as if one man named Fidel Castro can run against the winds of time and history. It is in this context that many Americans await the news, that like the Berlin Wall, Castro has fallen.

From the Cuban perspective, this struggle to continue on the path towards communism is the most honorable and rational. Given the history of American intervention in Cuba, and of the current situation of Cuba’s neighbors, who suffer the systematic ills of hunger, malnutrition, and dependency associated with global capitalism, we can better understand their commitment to the revolution and the concrete gains it has brought. With this understanding, we as Americans can better grasp the Cuban’s admiration for Fidel and the revolution.

Cuba’s Crisis: No Trade and No Oil

The recent changes in the ex-Stalinist block have rocked Cuba’s economy. The aid and trade Cuba relied on has either been terminated or delayed, causing wide spread shortages of all consumer and industrial products. Shortages include rum, meat, new clothing, and laundry soap. But the crucial shortage, or the “Achilles heel of the revolution” as Fidel has called it, is oil.

Cuba is currently operating on one third of the oil it needs to run its cars, factories, and buses. This has meant drastic austerity measures to cut the use of oil, and creative approaches to transportation. The government has recently imported over 850,000 bicycles for students and workers to use for transportation. Electricity is being rationed, and the use of luxury items like air conditioners and televisions is limited.

Cuba’s crisis is magnified by the U.S. embargo (which will be discussed later in detail) which means instead of importing buses from Detroit, they must go to Japan or Russia, which radically increases their shipping costs.

The Revolution’s Response: Ice Cream and Dancing

Cubans have confronted the crisis on many fronts. To reduce the tension in the capital, where the shortages exist, the government has asked for people to move to the country side during this “special period”, where they will be provided new schools and housing. The response- 150,000 people voluntarily have relocated to the rural areas, leaving behind the problems of crowded housing and shortages of vegetables, chicken, and pork.

Across the nation, vegetable gardens have been planted in every empty lot and front-yard to reduce shortages of fresh vegetables. In other areas, the government is expanding its efforts to provide entertaining activities to alleviate the frustrations caused by the crisis. Free street concerts, cheap and abundant ice cream, and lots of paid vacation time, mixed with a serious, straightforward campaign of explaining the causes and solutions to the crisis.

For the most part, Cubans agree with their government’s view of the situation, that the crisis is not caused by internal problems, but by the the cutoff of aid and trade from the East, and continued U.S. economic isolation. Once Cuba can reestablish trade with the new independent republics, and expand trade with Latin America, things will return to normal.

Supporting Castro: Are They Crazy?!?!

The idea that millions of Cubans would voluntarily weather this special period of deprivation, and continue to support Fidel and the revolution he led puzzles many Americans. This is because the Cold War rhetoric we have been fed failed to highlight the advances in health care, education, and national prominence forged by the revolution, that Cubans continue to enjoy despite the economic crisis.

Cuba, according to the United Nations, has the best health care in Latin America. Their system rivals the “first world” in technology and quality. Cuba delivers its care 100% free to anyone regardless of age, employment, or ailment. Cuba also has an infant mortality rate half that of Syracuse.

Cuban technology and expertise is exported across the globe. Medical equipment developed in Cuba is used in Brazil, Mexico, and the republics of the ex-Soviet Union. Cuba even has more doctors serving internationally than the World Health Organization.

Militarily, Cuban soldiers gave the white supremist South African Armed Forces their first modern military defeat by driving them out of Angola and liberating Namibia from years of South African rule.

Students from around the world, including some from the United States, go to Cuba for schooling. Despite a severe economic crisis, there were few cuts from the school budget in 1991. Free textbooks, notebooks, and uniforms are guaranteed, along with cheap child care from over 1,100 day care centers for working parents.

These successful programs should shed light on the popularity of Fidel and the revolution. Education, health care, and defense remain the top priorities of the government, and in turn guarantee a standard of living that surpasses anything Cuba’s neighbors have to offer. These successes are what has kept Cuba on the socialist path in such tumultuous times, and not the illusions of a mad dictator committed to an ideological fantasy.

Cuban Sweat versus American Heat

Cuba is in a race against time to shore up new trading partners before the internal situation decays to the point of popular rebellion. As can be expected, American attempts to sabotage Cuba are continuous, as the Bush Administration continues a policy of economic strangulation and isolation. This pressure has been extremely effective, as the U.S. has blackmailed countries like Venezuela and Mexico to refuse to sell Cuba oil. The U.S. also refuses to lift an embargo that denies Cuba access to American products, and American’s access to visit the island and see what is really going on (it is currently illegal under U.S. law to visit Cuba unless you are a reporter, a Cuban-American, or conducting research).

While it is valid to highlight the successes and strong points of the Cuban revolution, one must take account of the sobering effects of these American pressures, and how they cast shadows over the Cubans resistance. Shortages have created a strong sentiment of discontent among the Cuban youth, who are bombarded with symbols of Miami’s luxuries- fast cars, nice clothes, etc. The constant threat of American aggression creates a siege mentality on the island, which results in Cuban crackdowns on dissent and opposition organizing. While there are cases where this is justified, many revolutionary Cubans who disagree with a certain policy are unable to express their view in a collective manner because it runs against “the party line”. It is difficult to move away from such a repressive model of governing when Miami exiles infiltrate the country to assassinate government leaders, or CIA agents are captured organizing “Cuban” opposition to the revolution.

These problems, combined with the centralization of the economic crisis in the capital, could provide the tinder for an explosive situation. An explosion of this sort won't destroy the revolution, but it could be used as a pretext for U.S. military intervention.

Home Grown Errors

While the U.S. has to share much of the blame for Cuba’s ills, Fidel has also made strategic errors throughout the years, the most prominent of which was to model Cuba after the Soviet system. The ideology of socialism has many different interpretations, and the one chosen by the Cuban leader was the crudest, most repressive and bureaucratic of them all. Today the national debate over the future of Cuban socialism is based on the pretext that critique is fundamental to innovation and improvement, and that power should flow both top-down and bottom-up. Changes in the Cuban constitution have been made to empower the grassroots levels of government, and to democratize decision- making and institutionalize debate. These changes appear to signify a move towards a more legitimate democratic revolutionary socialism, and away from Stalinist influences. The challenge will be to unlearn years of semi-autocratic rule and continue developing legitimate working class and peasant control over government.

For Your Information: There are many organizations in the U.S. that work to support a change in U.S. policy towards Cuba, and that promote relations based on mutual respect and cooperation. If you are interested in working to end the U.S. embargo against Cuba, or in possibly visiting the island and seeing things for yourself, contact these groups:

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