Cuba: Between revolution and restoration

A 60 years of the Revolution.
The Cuban revolution gave rise to the first country that expropriated capitalism in Latin America. Its independent emergence outside the former USSR, under the direction of Fidel and Che, He generated a revolutionary enthusiasm that went beyond the continent. Unfortunately revolutionary Cuba that resisted the longest blockade in history, languishes today administered by a bureaucracy that after being taken over by Stalinism, It has launched the latest constitutional reform path towards capitalist restoration.

It is common to see many young people wearing Che's face on their shirts and even skin tatuárselo. Che like no other became the symbol of the revolution, the struggle against capitalist oppression. I'm sure the commander would be today with those from inside and outside the island we oppose this outpost of Capital which constitute the new constitutional reforms enacted by the National Assembly of Cuba.

Because, from the location of those, what, despite major criticism of the Castro driving, We were always staunchly in defense of the Cuban revolution against imperialist blockade, We argue that revolutionaries must face the capitalist restauracionismo and fight for deepening the heroic revolution of the Cuban people and Latin American.

A democratic revolution that became socialist

1st January met 60 years after the triumph of the revolution. In 1959 dictator Fulgencio Batista fled, while Fidel entered Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos and Che did the same in Havana. Fidel city that arrive on 8 January to form government. a provisional government headed by Manuel Urrutia weapon, former president of the Supreme Court, It is reflecting the interests of landowners opposed to Batista.

The original program of the movement 26 Julio was founded by Fidel democratic. It was originally supported by landowners opposed to Batista and sectors of US imperialism seeking to enter the business of the island, promoting the establishment of a bourgeois democratic republic and promoted the figure of the bearded revolutionaries in the Yankee television.

Nevertheless, the revolutionary government soon faced major frictions with the US. were first executions ordered by revolutionary tribunals, then reducing tariffs and rents. Later an agrarian reform that expropriated the landowners. The break with Urrutia and the assumption of government by the rebel army.

Toward 1960 US refineries refuse to provide either processed oil and fuel from the USSR, leading to its nationalization. the trade embargo and the liquidation of the Cuban sugar quota in the Yankee market then come, which it is countered by an agreement with the USSR and Comecon (1) to buy Cuban sugar at a preferential price. This year they are nationalized sugar companies, telephone and electricity, The bench, hundreds of other businesses and homes are granted expropriated thousands of tenants, among other measures.

Finally, he 61 It was marked by the breakdown of US relations with Cuba, and the defeated mercenary invasion, armed by imperialism, They tried to invade the island and were defeated at the battle of Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs.

A) Yes, honesty of petty bourgeois origin address, with a democratic program, He led her to having to take anti capitalist measures to consolidate their revolution, going not only against the imperialist interests but against the "democratic" bourgeoisie who initially supported. They broke the Stalinist mold favored a long democratic era of coexistence with the local bourgeoisie before they could think of some socialist change. Revolution and the direction of Fidel and Che not follow the letter of the stage revolution, but still the pace of permanent revolution.

Blocking and isolation of the revolution

Cuba's victory unleashed a huge wave of sympathy throughout the world and particularly Latin American art. As the great Russian revolution raised the need to coordinate an international political force to spread the revolution. And this was a necessity for survival given the threat of invasion. Fidel's leadership finally in August 1967 meets in Havana the first congress of the OLAS.

According to Nahuel Moreno tells us, in this event the revolutionaries all over the continent who supported the Cuban Revolution proclaimed the "right and duty of the people to make revolution" and defined "primarily as the struggle against imperialism and oligarchies of the bourgeoisie and property landowner". (Guevara: hero and martyr of permanent revolution, published by our predecessor PRT "La Verdad" the 23/10/1967)

El Che, the most consistent revolutionary revolution, convinced that there was no chance of sustaining revolutionary Cuba without fighting for "Create, of, three Vietnams ... ", he was developing a guerilla center in Bolivia, where it is captured and executed 8 October of that year. Just the departure of Che in Cuba has a lot to do with the differences that this was coming to the course taking the direction of the Cuban process. That and despite their mistakes, as foquista policy that ended up costing life, our current always vindicate Che as a great internationalist revolutionary.

Cuban driving slowly sidesteps politics extension of the revolution that encouraged the OLAS and choose to follow the guidelines imposed by the Soviet bureaucracy. While it has frictions and disagreements with the Kremlin for its support to national liberation movements, its historical claim to the CPSU to support the war without sleight of Vietnamese guerrillas (2), increasingly subordinating its policy clearly goes to the lines of world Stalinism.
Why Fidel condemns the "Prague Spring" of 68 and supports the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Travels to Chile to give support to Salvador Allende, which unfortunately it maintains the "peaceful road to socialism", It is ending political disarming the Chilean revolutionary vanguard against the threat of Pinochet coup.

Calls the triumph of Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua 79 not to expropriate and follow the path that took Cuba, reconstruction endorsing the government in alliance with the bourgeois opposition to somozismo and supports the disgraceful policy of leaving Ortega isolated Salvadoran revolution when the Pact of Costa Rica, It supports the murderer Cristiani government denounces terrorism and armed actions (its ally the FMLN).

Against the Bolivarian process, in which Cuban paintings play an important role, support the more conservative wing, Maduro today with the head are busting that enormous revolutionary process. all these, just to mention the most important, were great opportunities that had the Latin American revolution, and the slip direction Castro, missing an opportunity to break the blockade and isolation that imperialism has plunged to Cuba and the hardships it produces on the heroic population of the island.

The recent meeting of ALBA in Havana met, among others leaders, the former revolutionary turned-murderer of his people Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, or one of the gravediggers of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, responsible for the most serious humanitarian crisis in the continent, to defend the interests of the ruling caste and businesses with imperialism and called Bolibourgeoisie, President Nicolas Maduro, mark and explain the role of the Cuban leadership, now just put in the constitution mechanisms for capitalist restoration on the island. The opposite way to that proposed by Che.

Pro-capitalist constitutional reforms

Last 22 from December to 2018 was adopted by the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba the draft constitutional reform, which it must now be ratified by Cubans in an upcoming referendum to be held 24 February 2019. A referendum whose outcome is sung, in a country where the Communist Party is the only legal party and therefore controls all political resources of the state.

The most important reform is the constitutional recognition of private ownership of the means of production and foreign investment. Which does nothing but deepen the Cuban leadership course that is already taking around the island economy. The introduction of measures to encourage capitalist investments on the island is not new. Comrade Luis Meiners in his article "Echoes of the death of Fidel. Present and Prospects " (3) It makes a list of the various measures that the Cuban leadership has been doing since 82 to date, which were deepening the crisis that caused the collapse of the USSR.

Among the latter we can mention the dismissal of 600.000 public employees between 2010 Y 2014, entering private activity in branches such as hotels and transportation. The law allows the entry of companies 100% foreign capital 2014, laws favoring self-employment created by the new President Diaz Cannel and delivery to private producers of one-third of state lands in usufruct, renewable concessions 20 years, among other.

The inclusion in the new constitutional text is a new leap in the introduction of capitalism on the island. As described in Cuba Debate 21/12/2018 In his summary on constitutional changes: "Adjustments were made in the form of private property. the subjects who hold settled: natural and legal persons; foreign and domestic "and" The secretary of the State Council reaffirmed that the socialist state enterprise is the main actor of the economy, However he acknowledged that we must abandon prejudice against non-state forms and the role of foreign investment. " (underlined our).

Faced with such categorical terms, the fact that replacement has the word "communism" had been removed from earlier drafts, to talk about the "proletarian internationalism" and that Cuba will never return to capitalism, "As a regime sustained in the exploitation of man by man" (Cuba in Debate), They are mere makeups, since exactly the system and capitalist property is based on the exploitation of man by man to extract surplus value.

Unfortunately stagnation and deterioration of the Cuban economy, by isolation and blocking, by the refusal of the ruling caste to extend the revolution, and because the pro-capitalist measures do nothing but deepen social differences, the privileges already told by senior government officials produced, has made an important sector of the population considers that this is the only way out of the crisis. Bureaucracy Island, and repeating the steps of the Soviet bureaucracy was the main vehicle by which was introduced and restored capitalism in the former USSR.

Continues the one-party regime and the lack of freedoms

Far from opening any political regime occur in the constitution enshrining again that "The Communist Party of Cuba .... It is the highest leading political force of society and the state. ".

In parallel with the treatment of the constitutional project, the Cuban government launched the aberrant decree 349 which makes it an offense to practice as an artist or journalist without proper state authorization, He is sparking a strong wave of criticism from writers, intellectuals and artists. The authorities rushed to deny that an artist could not exercise his art without authorization and versions emerged that the decree will be repealed. Nevertheless, the decree is still there and what happened with the gay marriage sets the tone of what can happen with this measure anti democratic.

They backtracked with civil union

One of the few progressive aspects of the first draft reform is eliminating the feature of traditional marriage between a man and a woman, to supplant these subjects by the word "person". This opened the way to civil unions between gay couples. Which was a major breakthrough for a homophobic regime, has repressed homosexuality creating centers of "reeducation".

Finally, the "pressures" of religious sectors of society (which by the way they are very numerous in Cuba given the weight that bureaucracy has allowed him to regain the various churches and religious faiths) They prevented this progressive change happen. They could not go back completely now the term is "spouses". As the regulations of the Family Code which will determine the possibility of moving in this direction.

The official media argue that what is legislated is in the right middle of what can absorb Cuban society. They say nothing about the responsibility of a leadership that has historically persecuted homosexuality and encouraged the worst prejudices against it.

our model: Socialist Cuba with democracy

The disasters of the ruling bureaucracy have made an important sector of the population identifies with the idea of ​​socialism lack of freedoms, economic stagnation and poverty, privileges for officials. And with that the social foundations are created to advance the introduction of capitalist measures. Deepening social inequality as a result of the advance of capitalism, a sector of the middle class is going to be benefited while the rest of the population will continue or deepen their poverty, hand the gradual dismantling of the great social gains of the revolution.

But amid the tremendous capitalist crisis facing the planet, either with the intervention of predatory China or Russia, or directly from the imperialist capitals, deepening the contradictions of the pro-capitalist measures will create will surely provoke struggles and resistance of a people who resisted for decades the US blockade, when the consequences of a return to capitalism worsen the living conditions of millions of Cubans.

The Cuban regime born with a pipe supported by a party army, then took the form of the Stalinist Communist parties. In this he was different from the Russian Revolution where the revolutionary party was supported by democratic bodies of the masses mobilized (los soviets). The need for organization of the Cuban people, to defend the pro-capitalist measures, to defend their social conquests and fight to improve their living standards, they will lead to demand democratic freedoms that today the single-party regime prevents. Revolutionaries can not let this elementary democratic demand in the hands of the right and imperialism.

During these fights must prepare a new revolution. One that, taking the best traditions of struggle of the Cuban people, front capitalist restoration measures, fight by Cuba to maintain and develop the great conquests of the revolution, end with single-party regime, the Cuban people will give ample freedom to organize and break the current isolation supporting the struggle of Latin American peoples against imperialism. This service must build a new revolutionary political tool of the Cuban people.

The fate of the Cuban revolution is bound as never before to the development of Latin American and world revolution. Castro driving leads by way of restoration, a revolutionary driving would use the enormous prestige that still retains the revolution to encourage the Nicaraguan people and play driving this process on the right of employers and the Church. Act to build an alternative pole direction opposite experiences "progressive" failed to confront the imperialist offensive, the Bolsonaro and all governments that seek to destroy the gains of workers and thus fight to fill the void of revolutionary leadership today premium in the mass movement of the continent and the world.

Convinced that the struggles of the peoples of the world against the rising capitalist crisis settings and all the old treacherous leaderships create huge opportunities to create a new world revolutionary current, far from giving the battle lost, as many justifying betrayals driving a supposed imperial omnipotence, Anti-capitalist revolutionaries grouped in Red believe that you can fight and win in the defense of the heroic and revolutionary Cuba that our chests swelled with pride and emotion.

Gustavo Giménez
COMECON: trade agreement between the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe under Soviet orbit.
Armando Hart Cuban delegate at meetings of the XXIII Congress of the CPSU presented the motion to declare the Soviet Union and China to Vietnam "inviolable territory" and give full support.
Published in the website https MST://mst.org.ar/2016/12/01/ecos-de-muerte-de-fidel-cuba-presente-perspectivas/ the 01/12/2016

reproduced from Anticapitalist Network

30.12.2018