Following is a talk given in a panel titled “Socialism and the Latin American revolution” at the Nov. 13-14, 2010, National Conference on Socialism sponsored by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
 Monica Ruiz PSL photo: Nathalie Serrano |
Cuba, an island of 11 million people and only 90 miles away from the most powerful imperialist country in the world, has withstood a decades long economic blockade, capitalist economic crises, and outright attacks by imperialism or right-wing terrorist forces supported by the U.S. It withstood the fall of key allies like the Soviet Union, and after all that, Cuba continues to build socialism today and continues to support anti-imperialist and socialist movements throughout the world. Cuba stands today as an example to all those fighting for social justice, sovereignty and real freedom.
After the triumph of Cuba’s revolution in 1959, private property was eliminated and a planned economy was put in place. A planned economy guarantees that the needs of the people are the motor force for production, as opposed to profit—which is the reason for production under capitalism. The first act of the new socialist revolution was to implement agrarian reform, which redistributed land so production could feed everyone. Millions of people were taught how to read and write, eliminating illiteracy. The subsequent implementation of a planned economy meant that millions of unemployed and poor people were given the right to a job, to housing, to healthcare and to all the basic things that are needed to live. Cuba, with a planned economy, was now able to provide for people’s needs. It stands alone in the world today as an underdeveloped country that provides a standard of living matching and sometimes surpassing that of the so-called developed world. Indices of life expectancy and health in Cuba surpass those of many cities in the U.S. This is entirely because of socialist planning.
Not only did Cuba provide for itself. Cuba was and has always been a source of internationalism and solidarity: providing thousands of doctors and teachers to nations in Latin America, Asia and Africa and fighting alongside nations trying to liberate themselves from colonialism and imperialism, like Cuba’s support for Angola, which heroically pushed back and defeated the racist apartheid South African military. Cuba has been there for the oppressed and the workers of the world.
Demise of socialism in Cuba?
The imperialist ruling class has been touting the demise of socialism in Cuba for a long time, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union when Cuba lost its main trading partner and over 85 per cent of its trade as well as 80 per cent of its imports. That was called the Special Period, a time when production fell by almost 35 per cent and people had to do with far less than before. The ruling class thought it would be just a matter of a short time before there would be a collapse in Cuba as well. They are still waiting today because Cuba overcame that moment, as it has survived the blockade and the political and propaganda war against them. What allowed Cuba to survive then may be what we hope will prove to succeed today as well: political clarity about the conditions of the moment, mass involvement of the people and steadfast unity.
Cuba may be entering a second Special Period. Recently the Cuban government announced that close to 500,000 people will be reduced from state employment. They stated that an expanded private sector would provide employment for these people as well as shifting to the agricultural sector. Our party has written extensively about this and I would encourage you to read the articles on the website. But it’s important that we delineate the key points here today. Cuba carried out its revolution 51 years ago when it was, as it is today, an underdeveloped country. This means that scarcity is a fact of life that Cuba’s government has had to manage; imperialism exploits that scarcity through the blockade in order to intensify it.
Today, in addition to the intensification of the U.S. blockade of the island, Cuba has had to contend with a great increase in the price of commodities it buys on the world market such as rice, milk and meat, leading to a decline in its ability to purchase goods for consumption. In addition, the price of nickel fell sharply in 2008 and 2009. Nickel accounted for 50 per cent of Cuba’s foreign earnings. As a result, Cuba has had a significant reduction in income and production. At the same time however, Cuba had continued to support the population with basic food subsidies, housing, healthcare and education.
As if this wasn’t enough, nature has not helped. Cuba is enduring the worst drought in a century and it endured three hurricanes in 2008 that cost over $10 billion in losses.
In essence, scarcity in Cuba has resulted not from socialist production but from the world’s capitalist crisis along with imperialism’s blockade. Therefore, Cuba has announced that it will engage in expanding the private sector to generate revenue and that those not working or studying and therefore not being productive and yet receiving vast social benefits will need to find work now. In addition, there is a great push for greater self-sufficiency in food production, something that requires that more people go to work on the land. At this point, there has been no plan to privatize agriculture at all, but to increase and diversify production.
Our party is observing the developing situation in Cuba very closely. Remaining questions still exist such as: How exactly will this private sector be expanded? How will this process be explained along the way to the people? How will Cuba control a new capitalist class that will inevitably develop if the laws are changed to allow hiring, meaning the exploitation of labor? We will hear more as time progresses.
We do know that Cuba has to cope with the current crisis in some form, and it may mean having to restructure elements of its economy. We in the PSL, while not aligned blindly to any leader or country, are confident in Cuba’s Communist Party’s ability to manage this new crisis as it has done before.
We also need to be aware that imperialism will use any opening or opportunity to attack socialist construction in Cuba. Not only has the blockade intensified, there are increasing efforts to promote and fund counterrevolutionary elements within Cuba. In addition, a series of bogus lawsuits in the U.S. by right-wing Cubans have led to the seizure of Cuba’s assets, lining the pockets of these dubious characters who now live in luxury in Miami thanks to the labor of millions of Cuban workers who no longer have access to those assets.
It is therefore at this moment that Cuba and its socialist construction needs us the most. The role that socialist Cuba plays in the world is indispensable, and its example is a shining light in a dark tunnel for millions of workers around the world. Everyone here today needs to leave here ready to do two things: fight the anti-Cuba propaganda machine by telling anyone who will listen the truth about Cuba and its revolution and secondly to fight like hell right here to carry out a socialist revolution that will free Cuba and all of humanity from exploitation and enslavement. Long live the Cuban revolution!
