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Introduction
The Cuba Issue Collective
Section
I: Economy and Society
Section
II: Government
Section
III: The Agrarian Sector
(The introductions
listed above preface each section of the issue. You can order a copy of
the Cuba issue and get the full texts of each section by calling (617)
776-9505 or emailing us at info@sdonline.org.
The table of contents of the entire
issue can be viewed in the back issues section.)
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Introduction
The Cuba Issue Collective
This special
issue on Cuba stems from Socialism and Democracy's fifteen-year history
of theoretical and practical concern with the interrelated fortunes of
socialism and democracy in the contempor- ary world. Because Cuba occupies
such an important place among the countries that have had to cope not
only with the problems of socialist development but also with specific
situations arising from the demise of the Soviet Union, it seemed obvious
to the journal's editors that a special publication on Cuba was long overdue.
We offer this issue in a spirit of critical inquiry and from a point of
view that is in general sympathy with the goals of the Cuban Revolution.
In order
to provide readers with perspectives and experiences not easily obtained
in the United States, we decided to publish articles by Cubans living
and working in Cuba today, with the exception of two contributors who
have lived and conducted extensive research on the island. These authors
thus write from within the framework of Cuba's overall socialist structure,
but not without a critical eye to the realities of the Revolution. As
such, they are in a position to fairly evaluate contemporary trends and
tendencies within Cuba, which those outside the country or brief visitors
often have difficulty seeing.
Cuba is one
of the few countries in the world that still openly proclaims itself committed
to socialism. It does so, moreover, in defiance to the implacable hostility
of the United States, a political reality that, materially and ideologically,
places the Cuban government virtually in a category all its own. Some
of the reasons for Cuba's special status are explored in this issue. The
prospects of Cuban socialism today depend on answers to questions that
have been asked since the Revolution came to power in 1959. Is it possible
to build socialism on one small island, located just ninety miles from
the U.S. colossus, i.e. within the traditional U.S. self-proclaimed "sphere
of domination"? Is it possible to create a viable socialist society
over time in a world under capitalist hegemony? More or less the same
questions were asked at the onset of the Soviet Revolution in 1917, but
in regard to a country that had vast untapped human and economic resources
at its disposal. While Cuba possessed significant agricultural, mineral,
and human resources for its size, it nonetheless represented, in global
terms, a small, underdeveloped country.
At time of
the breakup of the Socialist Bloc in 1989, growth in the Cuban economy
had slowed. The disintegration of the socialist common market (Council
on Mutual Economic Assistance, CMEA) proved a severe blow. The country
lost its favorable trading status, along with sources of cheap oil, long-term
and large-scale credits, plus vital food imports and industrial inputs.
As a result, the economy went into free fall. Between 1990 and 1993 the
GNP contracted 34.8%, according to official figures, before bottoming
out in 1994. Serious shortages of industrial goods (fuel being the most
important) resulted in widespread blackouts, factory downtime, and severe
transportation problems. Indeed, the price of over-dependence upon the
socialist bloc (official figures show that some 85% of external trade
took place with that area) proved high.
In response,
the government declared a "special period in time of peace,"
in which the immediate goals of socialist development took second place
to assuring survival of the Revolution itself. The government initiated
drastic measures in the economic arena. It further opened limited sectors
of the economy to controlled foreign investment, creating mixed areas
in the economy, mainly in tourism and export-oriented sectors such as
mining. It legalized the holding of dollars. It expanded the establishment
of small businesses owned by single proprietors and often family-staffed.
It downsized state enterprises and certain government ministries. And,
finally, it promulgated sweeping changes in the agrarian sector, eliminating
many large state farms and replacing them with cooperatives. Some of the
above changes actually increased socio-economic disparities that had previously
been held largely in check.
Whether these
changes and adaptations will become permanent is hard to say. The impact
of even limited profit-seeking businesses on Cuba's heretofore relatively
egalitarian society is not predictable in the long run. It is clear, however,
that Cuba remains committed to its original social and political objectives
in crucially important areas such as education, the justice system, health,
sports and recreation, and various forms of participatory democracy at
the local level. One of the reasons for this sustained commitment, we
should remember, is that the Revolution was not imposed from above. It
came about as a result of a popular struggle that sprang, to a large degree,
from inequalities in Cuban society that favored the interests of a privileged
minority and foreign capitalists, and from a more elite opposition which
sought to overthrow the authoritarian regime headed by Fulgencio Batista
(1952-1959).
These articles
focus primarily upon the 1990s. Our authors examine the Revolution from
within. We have consciously excluded issues that would arise from an examination
of Cuba's international relations such as the country's foreign policy,
the concerted efforts on the part of the US to undermine the revolution,
and the exile community in the US and elsewhere. We must nevertheless
note the substantial impact of the US embargo that has existed in one
form or another since 1959. Given the almost total integration of the
Cuban economy into that of the US prior to the Revolution, the embargo
has had a significant impact upon the country. The collapse of the socialist
bloc only made the embargo more effective, as alternative supplies dried
up. The embargo in the 1990s has strangled access to convertible currency,
tripled the cost of medicines, starved Cuban agriculture of needed imports,
blocked Cuban exports in such areas as bio-tech, and created scarcities
across the board. The bans further aim to prevent trade, investment, and
tourism in Cuba.
Ostensibly
directed at Cuba's leaders, the embargo, a slow-acting but nonetheless
potentially lethal form of aggression, has had its major impact on civilians,
mainly those least able to stand its deprivations: the very young, the
elderly, and the ill. Although in the past two or three years things have
eased throughout the economy, the embargo remains a major obstacle to
Cuban development. The Cuban government's main "crime" has been
the attempt to declare economic independence of the US and establish its
own socio-economic system.
The writers
in this collection represent, for the most part, a stratum of Cuban intellectuals
who support the Revolution, but who are aware of unresolved problems and
thorny issues that it faces. These articles demonstrate that Cuban scholarship
is not monolithic. Diverse currents of thought are alive and circulating
throughout the country. Further, scholars are actively searching for new
ideas to advance the nation's socialist agenda. The authors here examine
Cuban society, economy, and government in the 1990s. They ask questions
about the extent to which the Cuban Revolution has achieved its goal of
overcoming historical inequalities. They look, either tacitly or explicitly,
at efforts to promote democratic government and participation without
reproducing the model of democracy typically found in most capitalist
countries. While in general they see many positive features within the
system, they note that room for improvement still exists. At one level,
these articles provide insight into how serious scholars view the Cuban
situation. In another sense, they are relevant to much more than the Cuban
case. They represent contributions to the whole question of building socialism
in today's world.
Thus, while
cast in the Cuban context, they have import far beyond just that island's
particular experience.
The issue
divides into three sections, each with an introduction that the reader
is encouraged to look at before plunging into the individual texts. The
first contains articles on economy, society, race, and gender. Pedro Monreal
examines changes in the economy in the 1990s. Mayra Paula Espina Prieto
looks at how the Revolution has struggled to maintain its historic promise
of equality and the degree to which hard times may threaten some of the
Revolution's basic tenets. Alejandro de la Fuente takes up the question
of race and ethnicity. Clearly Blacks and mulattos have been major beneficiaries
of the Revolution, yet they still have furthest to go. Some evidence exists
that they have been disproportionately hit by economic hardships. Marta
Núñez Sarmiento assesses the role and attitudes of professionally
and technically trained women, asking to what degree their situation has
changed due to the "special period."
The second
section includes two contributions on Cuban representative government.
Juan Valdés Paz discusses overall changes in government but particularly
democratization and centralization in the past decade. Jesús Pastor
García Brigos focuses on difficulties of the role played by the
People's Councils and the leadership of the municipal assemblies both
on the local level and on issues regarding local representation in the
nation's highest body, the National Assembly. Both authors find that while
genuine democracy exists, problems remain in terms of reaching the highest
level of popular participation.
The last
part presents pieces that discuss the agrarian sector, one from a macro
and one from a more micro perspective. Hans- Jürgen Burchardt examines
the general changes that the government has instituted within the agrarian
sector in the last decade or so. He looks at attempts to diversify away
from sugar and one or two other crops, and also at the implementation
of new forms of landholdings. Niurka Pérez Rojas and Dayma Echevarría
León specifically examine the UBPCs (Basic Units of Peasant Production),
another recent form that has decentralized many sectors of agricultural
production into medium and small units worked as cooperatives by local
producers. Both authors see encouraging signs of progress in the sector,
but also point to continuing problems.
In all, the
contributions to this issue present a variegated array of analyses of
Cuba after 1989. They show that, despite considerable progress, problems
exist at the social, economic, and political levels. They also demonstrate
that social scientists are thinking about these problems and searching
for ways to solve them in consonance with the goals of the Revolution.
The Cuba
Issue Collective
Note
on Translations
English versions
of the articles in Part I (except for Espina's), were provided by the
authors (in Monreal's case, with the assistance of Jack Hammond). For
the remaining articles, the following individuals prepared draft-translations:
Francine Cronshaw, Karen Hatherley, and Jane McManus. The draft-translations
were checked and revised by Jill Hamberg, Yolanda Prieto, Peter Roman,
and Victor Wallis.
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