And yet Americans are more ignorant of the nature of the Cuban
Revolution and U.S.-Cuban relations than are the people of almost any other
country in the world. Except for those few Americans with access to a handful
of liberal and radical publications the people of this country have been
subjected to an unrelieved campaign of distortion, or outright slander of Fidel
Castro and the revolution he leads. The determined hostility of American
leaders to the Cuban Revolution, the implementation of a system of economic
harassment, and the threat of military intervention, not only endanger the
Cuban Revolution, but increase the tempo of the cold war at home and abroad (Editors,
“The Cuban Revolution: The New Crisis in Cold War Ideology,” Studies on the
Left, Volume 1, Number, 1960, 1).
This statement was published in the summer of 1960! Fifty-nine years later the same assessment of the Cuban revolution is still widely believed in the United States, even by those who support the ending of United States hostility to the island nation.
The
Cuban Revolution of 1959 began in the nineteenth century and was driven by 400
years of nationalism, a vision of democracy, and a passion for economic
justice. This vision was articulated in Fidel Castro’s famous “History Will
Absolve Me” speech presented before being sentenced to prison after a failed
military action against Batista in 1953. He spoke of five goals of his
revolution: returning power to the people; giving land to the people who work
it; providing workers a significant share of profits from corporations;
granting sugar planters a quota of the value of the crop they produce; and
confiscating lands acquired through fraud. Then he said, the Revolution would
carry out agrarian reform, nationalize key sectors of the economy, institute
educational reforms, and provide a decent livelihood for manual and
intellectual labor.
“The problem of the land, the problem of industrialization, the
problem of housing, the problem of unemployment, the problem of education and
the problem of the people’s health: these are the six problems we would take
immediate steps to solve, along with restoration of civil liberties and
political democracy (Fidel Castro,” ‘History
Will Absolve Me,’ Castro Internet Archive,
www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953).
www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953).
Almost
immediately the revolutionaries who had seized power in January, 1959 began to
implement the program envisioned by the Castro speech. Over the next fifty
years, with heated debates inside Cuba, experiments--some successful, some
failed--were carried out. Despite international pressures and the changing
global political economy, much of the program has been institutionalized to the
benefit of most Cubans.
Education
and health care are free to all Cubans. Basic, but modest, nutritional needs
have been met. Cubans have participated in significant political discussion about
public policy. And Cuban society has been a laboratory for experimentation. In
the 1960s Cubans discussed whether there was a need for monetary incentives to
motivate work or whether revolutionary enthusiasm was sufficient to maintain
production. Debates occurred over the years also about whether a state-directed
economy, a mixed one, or some combination would best promote development; how
to engage in international solidarity; and whether there was a need to
affiliate with super powers such as the former Soviet Union. Central to the
Cuban model is the proposition that when policies work they get
institutionalized; when they fail they get changed.
The
United States reaction to the Cuban Revolution has been as the Studies on
the Left article warned in 1960. U.S. policy has included military
invasions, sabotage, assassination attempts on the life of Fidel Castro, an
economic blockade, subversion including beaming propaganda radio and television
broadcasts to the island, efforts to isolate Cuba from the international
system, restrictions on United States travelers to the island, listing Cuba as
a state sponsor of terrorism, and in the long-run most importantly portraying
in government statements and the mass media the image of Cuba as a totalitarian
state that oppresses its people.
On
December 17, 2014 President Raul Castro and Barack Obama announced that the
U.S./Cuban relationship would change. The United States and Cuba,
President Obama said, would begin negotiations to reestablish diplomatic
relations, open embassies, and move to eliminate the U.S. economic blockade and
restrictions on American travel to the island. This announcement was broadly
celebrated by nations everywhere, the Pope who had lobbied Washington for the policy
change, and Americans and Cubans alike. Of course, in both countries there were
skeptics and the strong and vocal Cuban-American lobby immediately condemned
the announced policy changes.
Since
December, 2014 the United States and Cuba have been negotiating the announced
normalization of relations and several steps have been taken by both countries
including the reestablishment of formal diplomatic relations in 2016. However,
since coming in office President Trump has begun to reverse the normalization
of US/Cuban relations initiated in 2014, despite worldwide condemnation of US hostility
to the island nation.
As we
remember the historic contribution of Fidel Castro to the world, solidarity
with Cuba must continue.
First,
activists must continue to pressure their legislators to repeal the
Helms-Burton Act and oppose any efforts by their peers to re-impose legislation
that will stop the process of change. Lobbying should be complemented by
rallies and marches. Support should be given to those organizations which have
been in the front lines of Cuba Solidarity for years such as Pastors for Peace.
In addition, people to people exchanges, community to community outreach, and
high school and university study abroad programs should be encouraged.
Second,
those in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution should support economic reforms
being introduced on the island that reflect the best principles of the Cuban
Revolution: independence, democracy, and human well-being. The clearest
manifestation of these principles is reflected in the development of work place
cooperatives in both cities and the countryside. Cubans are being encouraged to
engage in work that produces goods and services for their communities in ways
that empower workers and decentralize production and decision-making. Educating
the American public to the fact that Cuba is embarking on new economic
arrangements that encourage work place democracy contradict the media image
that the people are embracing entrepreneurial capitalism.
Third,
the solidarity movement should continue the process of public education about
Cuba, explaining the realities of Cuban history, celebrating Cuban
accomplishments in health care and education, and recognizing the richness and
diversity of Cuban culture. Ironically, despite the long and often painful
relationship the Cuban people have had with the United States, the diversity of
the two nation’s cultures are inextricably connected. That shared experience
should be celebrated.
Finally,
solidarity with the Cuban people provides an opportunity to educate Americans
to the reality that the United States is not “the indispensable nation,” but
one among many with virtues and flaws. Cubans have celebrated their own history
and culture but have done so without disrespecting the experiences of other
nations and peoples. We in the United States could learn from that perspective.