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by Carl Sack/Cheq Bay
Youth for Socialist Action
Over this past winter break, I had the extraordinary
opportunity to visit Cuba. I went as part of a twenty-member delegation
through the organization Witness for Peace. Our group was composed of a
diverse mix of college students and older adults from various backgrounds,
from cosmopolitan New Yorkers to activists from Indian Country.
Situated just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba is
in many ways the antithesis of the United States. In the last 46 years
since the guerilla revolution, little Cuba has managed to draw the rage of
U.S. policymakers by refusing to submit to the whims of North American
capitalism. They have assailed Cuba with sabotage, assassination attempts,
and efforts to isolate the country with a full embargo. Yet, as testament
to the determination of the Cuban people to live the ideals of socialism,
Cuba today remains far from isolated. It is currently engaged in the bumpy
process of rebuilding from a decade of particularly harsh economic
challenges.
The mission of our delegation was to find out as much as
we could about the Cuban system of economics, governance, and social
services as well as the effects of the U.S. embargo (referred to as “el
Bloqueo” in Cuba) on these institutions. In addition, most of us made it
our personal mission to talk to many Cubans on the streets and get their
views on the revolution.
The latter part actually proved to be the easiest; the
Cuban people are super open and friendly. A number of people hailed us on
the street because we were foreigners; they wanted to find out where we
were from and to practice their English (all Cubans take English classes
from early grade school through high school). But we found that even those
who seemed not particularly interested in foreigners were always willing to
answer any questions, tell us about their views or help in any way they
could. Best of all were the kids – they were never shy, and loved having
their pictures taken!
Throughout the experience, we saw the great strides Cuba
has made toward insuring as much general equality as possible. Basic social
services are free, including free and universal health care and free
education from preschool through graduate school. In addition, Cubans are
guaranteed full employment in their field of study after graduation. All
workplaces are government-owned; workers receive different pay scales
according to the type of work, how difficult it is, level of seniority,
etc. Cubans receive one month of paid vacation a year, and mothers receive
one full year paid maternity leave.
The Cuban system of government, a far cry from the
totalitarian dictatorship claimed by the U.S., has quite a lot of space for
democracy and diverse viewpoints. Direct elections are held for municipal,
provincial and national assemblies. The official voting age is 16, and
everyone is registered to vote at birth. Policies are proposed by the Cuban
Communist Party, the national labor union, the Federation of Cuban Women,
the Union of Communist Youth, and other popular bodies. Lively political
debates occur frequently on the streets. There are no special privileges
for government officials; most government offices are unpaid volunteer
positions, and those who are paid get whatever their wage was at their
previous workplace.
While we spent most of our time in the capital city of
Havana, everyone’s favorite part of the trip was the three days we spent in
the countryside at the little town of Puerta Esperanza, about four hours
west of Havana. There we saw one of the most successful aspects of the
revolution in Cuba: the system of agriculture. Farms are organized into
co-ops directed by the campesinos (Spanish for “peasants”) themselves.
These either consist of many individually-owned small farms, or a large
tract communally owned and directed by an autonomous farmers’ collective.
The campesinos contract with the state to receive a fair price for what
they produce.
The type of agriculture in Cuba has changed drastically
within the past 14 years. Prior to 1991, Cuba’s economy was almost
completely dependent on sugar exports to Soviet-block countries. When the
Soviet Union collapsed, these export opportunities disappeared and the
Cuban economy crashed. But the Cubans decided that instead of going back to
capitalism, they would embark on a radical reorganization of their economy
to become self-sufficient. This became known as the Special Period in a
Time of Peace.
During this time, Cuba could not afford to import
petroleum to make fertilizers and pesticides and run farm machinery. They
also needed to become food self-sufficient. In searching for solutions, the
campesinos reached back to traditional land wisdom. They converted giant
sugar and tobacco monocrops to diverse food crops. They began rebuilding
the soil ecology, using biological pest control, and relying on livestock
instead of tractors. Now that they can once again afford the necessary
supplies for industrial agriculture, the Cubans have decided instead to
stay mostly organic (some crops, like tobacco, need some artificial
inputs). Cuba now has one of the most advanced and widespread sustainable
agriculture programs in the world.
While the Cuban system overall is certainly among the
most progressive in the world, it is not without its problems, nor is it
above criticism. Many of the hardships in Cuba stem from the U.S. embargo,
which makes it difficult and expensive for Cuba to reach trade agreements
with other countries. Cuba simply cannot import enough raw materials to
support its industry.
The constant attempts at disruption by the U.S.
government have put the government on edge. The U.S. funds dissident groups
in Cuba that carry out acts of terrorism and sabotage to the tune of $59
million a year. Because of these threats, there is a higher level of
surveillance of the Cuban people than most Americans would tolerate, and
while there is plenty of space for diverse opinions within official
channels, there is little tolerance for outside dissent.
There are other problems in the economic sector. Beginning
with the Special Period, the Cuban government decided to promote tourism to
bring in critical funds. The tourist industry has done this, but it has
also brought back prostitution, crime and inequality. Some Cubans leave the
jobs they were trained for to join the tourist economy simply because they
can make more money waiting tables than practicing neurosurgery. This is
the vast minority of Cubans, though, and the inequality is much lower than
any other country, with a ratio of about 5:1 between the highest and lowest
incomes in Cuba.
Pressures from the outside have somewhat eroded the
popular appeal of the revolution. By and large, the older generations are
very supportive of the revolution and understand the value of the gains
that have been made. But many in the present generation of Cubans question
what they see as a lack of economic opportunities and too many restrictions
(despite improvements, Cubans are still poorer today than before the fall
of the Soviet Union). They are not impervious to the influence of pop
culture and propaganda from the North, and some buy into individualism and
the myth of the American Dream. There are increasing levels of apathy and
political non-involvement among the youth.
What one finds in Cuba is open to interpretation, and
different people will conclude different things depending on their own
worldview. What I found was a breathtakingly beautiful country with a great
sense of human solidarity and a system that embodies great hope. Cuba is
not perfect, but it is certainly worth defending and looking to as a
positive example of many goals to work towards. I will return one day to
once again bear witness to the way forward for working people.
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