Cuba's Socialist Renewal

Translation: Report on Guidelines implementation

2012-08-21T14:59:00.001+10:00

On a personal note, readers may be interested to know that I'm beginning a Master of Arts (Research) in Political Economy, under Dr. Tim Anderson, at Sydney University. It's a one-year research thesis on Cuba. Specifically, where is Cuba headed? Perhaps when it's finished I can post a link to this blog.

Here is my translation of a summary of an important address by Marino Murillo, head of the Cuban government's permanent commission overseeing the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, to Cuba's National Assembly in late July. I was able to watch a telecast of his address on Cuban TV. It was a very thorough report that took up about two hours, accompanied by a Power Point presentation.

Murillo used his report to announce two major new initiatives in the implementation process: an experimental phase in the projected overhaul of central planning and state enterprises, and the establishment of 222 experimental non-agricultural cooperatives that will manage small and medium-sizes state-owned entities. Note that state-owned entities will not be privatised but handed over, under various leasing arrangements, to work collectives to manage on a cooperative basis.

It's also worth drawing attention to what this progress report indicates about the status of the Guidelines. Raul Castro has repeatedly stressed that they cannot be allowed to be shelved and forgotten, as as often happened in the past. In his closing speech to the same National Assembly session, Raul explained that "the updating of the economic model has entered a qualitatively new phase with the drafting and approval of the 2012-2015 Strategic Plan for implementation of the Guidelines, with a corresponding timetable for comprehensive, step-by-step measures." He added:

"You have no doubt noticed that in the various reports presented to the Assembly, and in my own address, repeated mention is made of specific guidelines when matters relating to them are being discussed. I must say that this is not by chance, it is intended to firmly establish in our minds a determination to fulfill these Guidelines and to not to allow decisions of the utmost importance for the future of our nation to, once again, become a dead letter."

The country will continue advancing in an organised way in the implementation of the Guidelines

By various authors

Juventud Rebelde, July 24, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

The country will continue advancing in an organised way in the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines approved by the 6th Communist Party Congress, based on the principle of acting without haste but without pause, as Raul [Castro] has called for.

This was affirmed on Monday by Marino Murillo, vicepresident of the State Council and head of the Commission for the Implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, who gave deputies a broad and detailed report on the measures, actions and results of the implementation process from December to the present, in line with a decision of the previous ordinary session of our National Assembly.

He said that for the implementation of the decisions of the 6th Party Congress in this period, a total of 55 objectives belonging to five groups were defined whenever the Guidelines are of a strategic nature and it is virtually impossible to view them in isolation, since they are interrelated.

The first of these groups, he explained, focuses on the most complex task — that of the conceptualisation of the socio-economic model, based on the Guidelines — that would allow us to strive for maximum efficiency within the framework of the socialist system and favour the development of the country’s productive forces.

Elsewhere in his report on progress in the transformation and updating of the economic model, Murillo stressed that the most important sector of our economy will always be the socialist state enterprise. We are now beginning to do certain things in the state enterprises in the search for a new approach to central planning. The idea is to launch it on January 1, 2013 and to train those involved between now and December.

The first thing to be established is a new system of relations between the enterprises, the superior bodies and the Central State Administration agencies. He explained that governing bodies will be set up to watch over their functioning.

It is a new category of enterprise planning, he said, and these leadership bodies will only have to monitor the functioning of the entity, focusing on the measurement of basic indicators. The enterprise will have the authority to do its job.

Murillo added that the enterprises to take part in the trial are being selected now. They will operate solely in regular [rather than convertible] Cuban pesos, and will be allowed to make their social objectives more flexible and to set prices according to production costs, taking into account international parameters.

He considered this an important step in the transformation of the socialist state enterprise, as the basic unit of our economy, in the search for maximum efficiency.

Expansion of cooperative sector

Another important step, he said, is the experimental creation of non-agricultural cooperatives. This should be considered the preferred option among the non-state forms of employment because it is more social and more in harmony with the conceptualisation of the new economic model.

Certain state entities will pass over to this new form of cooperative, comprised of persons who do not own [productive] property but contribute only their labour.

The assets will be handed over in the form of a lease, in usufruct[1], as a loan or otherwise for up to ten years, without ceasing to be state property. The premises will always continue to belong to the state via one of these arrangements, though certain equipment may be sold, such as the refrigeration equipment in the case of a cafeteria.

The enterprise will have a collective character that will be reflected in the distribution of the earnings, which will be according to the labour contribution [of each cooperative member]. However, if some of the participants contribute [financial and other] resources the cooperative will later reimburse them via its earnings, but always with the consent of the cooperative’s management committee. The legal framework is now being drafted and an initial step will involve the establishment of 222 cooperatives, in a gradual manner, in the final three months of this year.

This entails the need to draw up a General Cooperatives Law, because such cooperatives cannot be separated from those that have been established in agriculture.

New thinking in agriculture

With regard to the wholesale commercialisation of agricultural products, Murillo stressed it must be governed by the fulfilment of contracts.

Having fulfilled their commitments to the state, the producer may sell the surplus at an agreed price, he said. What cannot occur is that they don’t comply with their commitments and the produce is sold on by other means. This can’t be rectified after the fact, it has to be dealt with through the signing of appropriate contracts.

He also announced that next year, the list of products with prices fixed centrally will be reduced, and noted that this year 53% of agricultural produce had been contracted while 47% had been sold at prices agreed between the buyer and seller.

Regarding the sale of agricultural products in Havana, Murillo said that the city has 310 state markets, the majority of which are undersupplied, as well as 29 markets where prices are set by supply and demand, 400 produce stalls and more than 900 points of sale. We’ve filled the city with micro-outlets, we’re going to put them all together in the marketplaces and lease the market to a cooperative.

The majority of these micro-outlets say they’re cooperatives selling their produce, but this not true. If you want to sell then get a self-employment permit, as we’ve established.

Regarding self-employment, Murillo stressed that some regulations must continue to be made more flexible and we should cease doing things that embody certain contradictions.

He noted that the leasing of workspaces for personal and technical services had been generalised, and that in this [non-state] sector there are more than 62,000 workers hired by other self-employed workers[2], which has created jobs, the majority in food processing and sales.

In September 2010, there were 157,000 self-employed workers, while as of June of this year there were 390,000. There have been illegalities, he said, but self-employment is being adjusted with a view to flexibility and had become a source of employment.

Elsewhere in his report Murillo referred to the inevitable aging of the Cuban population, which has two basic causes: the low birth rate and increasing life expectancy.

This is now unavoidable, he said, it’s happening and it cannot be turned around in the short term. What we have to do is take measures to encourage births and also to care for the elderly, as well as adapting economic development.

The key difficulty is those entering and those retiring from the workforce. In 2021, more will leave the workforce than enter it. In 2026, for example, 120,000 will reach working age and 170,000 will reach retirement age, a difference of 50,000.

Given this, the productive processes must be improved in order to make them more efficient and require a smaller workforce.

The current Labour Code will also become obsolete and at the appropriate time a new one will have to be drafted and approved by this Assembly, he stressed.

Murillo also mentioned the national entities that are now being overhauled. Among them are the ministries of Information and Communications, Finances and Prices, and Work and Social Security; as well as the creation of two new ones: Energy and Mines, and Industries.

In addition, he said, they will have their own enterprise groups. These will be attended to by the ministries but not managed by them, since state and enterprise functions are being separated, he explained.

He announced that the overhaul of the ministries of Justice and Foreign Trade, the [urban land use] Planning Institute and the National Statistics Bureau has begun, and that the unification of the Civil Aviation Bureau and the Ministry of Transport is underway.

Murillo also noted the merging of the University of Computer Science, belonging to the Ministry of Information and Communications, with the Ministry of Higher Education, and the integration of the [West Havana] Scientific Complex with the Cuban Pharmaceutical Group, which will remain directly subordinated to the Council of Ministers, through which an important [state] enterprise group with great scientific capability will be created.

Regarding the Ministry of Agriculture, he explained that the second phase of its overhaul is underway while its productive base has been transformed.

With respect to the means by which Cuban households cook food, he said that the repair or replacement of such devices will be guaranteed.

Consideration will also need to be given to a system of credits for those who need to purchase cooking equipment, he said, although it’s complicated because some still have debts previously incurred.[3]

In this connection he emphasised that 69% of Cuban households cook with electricity, and that it’s necessary to maintain this proportion because it’s the most rational for the country.

He also announced the setting up of the Technical Advisory Council, which will undertake to organise all of the scientific work being carried out in the universities and scientific research centres that can be drawn on in the implementation of the Guidelines.

The idea is to involve institutions, rather than individuals, and to give them specific tasks, so that all of this accumulated scientific knowledge can be harnessed in the search for practical solutions to problems.

_________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] Usage rights to state-owned productive property rent-free on a medium or long-term basis and under certain conditions.

[2] An obvious contradiction: if one “self-employed” person hires another, then one becomes a boss (a petit-bourgeois in Marxist terminology) and the other is no longer self-employed, but an employee. Official Cuban discourse glosses over this fact by labelling it all “self-employment”.

[3] To state entities for the mass distribution of stovetops and other kitchen devices, on credit, to Cuban households as part of the comprehensive “Energy Revolution” launched in 2005.

Fidel: Time to reflect on his legacy

2012-08-12T20:28:00.003+10:00

This was written for Australia's Green Left Weekly to promote the conference "Fidel in the 21st Century: His Contribution and Ideas for a Better World", to be held over August 18-19 weekend at the New South Wales Teachers Federation building, 23-33 Mary St, Surry Hills, Sydney. Further details are here. An edited version is published in the current issue.

I'll be speaking alongside the Cuban Ambassador to Australia, Mr. Pedro Monzon, in a session titled "Fidel and the renewal of Cuban socialism", on Sunday at 2.30pm.

Fidel: Time to reflect on his legacy

By Marce Cameron

This isn’t an obituary. If Fidel Castro had died I’m sure you would have heard about it.

Every now and again those who hope and pray for his death spread yet another rumour, only to be disappointed by a photo, a newsclip or a commentary in that unmistakable style, confirming that Fidel is very much alive and making the most of his twilight years.

When the inevitable does happen, the world, admirers and detractors alike, will pause for reflection. The corporate media will saturate our inner recesses with words and images that convey, for the most part, how the 1% appraise his life and legacy. Just imagine the gloating on Fox News.

I suspect it will be harder, and take longer, for those who admire Fidel and feel a sense of loss at his passing to be heard amid this din.

The hundreds of millions of the 99% for whom Fidel has been something of a political compass, and a spiritual compass in the secular sense, will want to reflect and recommit to our shared visions of a better world — a world without Fidel, but nourished by his presence in our struggles.

Thus will begin a new battle of ideas, a concept promoted by Fidel. Between the extremes of hatred for the man and sycophantic adulation lies a broad field for critical, nuanced reflection from Fidel’s side of the struggle for socialism.

But why wait for the inevitable before undertaking this task? Better to begin it now, while Fidel is still among us and before the corporate vultures descend on his tomb.

In this necessary, timely endeavour we are joined, first and foremost, by millions of Cubans committed to the continuity of Cuba’s socialist project, the stage from which Fidel has set out to change the world and, to a degree, succeeded.

Would a pregnant woman in a remote East Timorese village be seen by a doctor today if it were not for Cuban medical personnel and medical training?

How much longer might apartheid have dragged on in South Africa if Cuban blood had not been shed in the sands and jungles of Angola and Namibia? Would Venezuelan’s Bolivarian socialist revolution even exist? According to Hugo Chavez, probably not.

In this sense, “Fidel” is something more than an individual. Fidel is certain ethical values, ideas and ideals; a cause and a devotion to that cause. It is adherence to principles but rejection of sectarianism and dogmatism in the struggle for a better, socialist world.

Fidel's essential message is one of hope, that we can reverse the gradual descent of global capitalism into a 21st-century barbarism, besieged by ecological collapse, if we can only unleash the power of masses of ordinary people acting together with a shared vision and strategic compass.

Fidel is, above all, solidarity in a selfish world.

It is asking what we can contribute and share rather than what we can plunder and hoard. It is worrying about the infant mortality rate in Western Sahara and the waves lapping at the doorsteps of Pacific islanders, and doing something about it.

It is internationalism: the rejection of subservient seclusion behind our white-picket fences and national borders decked out in razor wire.

Australia doesn’t have a revolutionary tradition like that of Cuba. After the European invasion and dispossession of its Indigenous peoples the continent developed as an outgrowth of British imperialism.

Relative prosperity for most, thanks to a combination of circumstance and struggle, has blunted radical urges and channelled them into the English gentleman’s game known as parliamentary reformism.

Waves of progressive radicalisation have ebbed and flowed, but none has yet succeeded in placing the country under new management, as did the Cuban Revolution under Fidel’s leadership.

The next one may just do that, opening the way to a very different kind of Australia. Call it socialism or call it whatever, it will have to bury capitalism.

Fidel is daring to dream of such a revolutionary transformation of our own society. And working patiently towards it in ways that are meaningful to each of us, respecting each other’s contributions and seeking the path of principled unity.

Fidel is contributing our little grain of sand to the revolutionary hourglass, recalling that he began his struggle with a handful of idealistic youth with hardly a cent among them.

The Economist: wishful thinking on "transition"

2012-07-05T13:57:00.001+10:00

This was written for Australia's Green Left Weekly.

Cuba: Corporate press wishful thinking on 'transition'

Green Left Weekly, Sunday, July 1, 2012

By Marce Cameron

“Under Raul Castro, Cuba has begun the journey towards capitalism. But it will take a decade and a big political battle to complete, writes Michael Reid”. So began the lead article of the London Economist magazine’s March 24 special issue on Cuba, under the heading “Revolution in retreat”.

It's a familiar refrain, but how much truth is there to it? Unfortunately for the credibility of The Economist, authoritative mouthpiece of the Anglo-imperialist ruling class, it’s a dog’s breakfast of factual errors, illogical arguments and wishful thinking.

“When on July 31st 2006 Cuban state television broadcast a terse statement from Fidel Castro to say that he had to undergo emergency surgery and was temporarily handing over to his brother, Raul, it felt like the end of an era,” Reid observed.

“In the event Fidel survived, and nothing appeared to change. Even so, that July evening marked the start of a slow but irreversible dismantling of communism (officially, ‘socialism’) in one of the tiny handful of countries in which it survived into the 21st century.”

Had Reid read Marx, he would understand that communism has never existed, let alone in a small number of countries. According to Marx, it could only be achieved on a world scale on the basis of socialist revolutions in the most developed capitalist societies.

So whatever is being dismantled in Cuba, it isn’t communism. Or even socialism, if this is understood to mean the consolidation of a first stage in the transition to a classless society. Even this would require socialist revolutions to take hold in developed capitalist countries.

For Reid’s argument to hold water he would have to demonstrate that Cuba is abandoning its socialist orientation and gradually restoring capitalism, or that the economic reforms that have been implemented and decided on will inevitably lead to capitalist restoration.

Privatisation?

Since Cuba’s socialist state is the owner and manager of the bulk of the Caribbean island nation’s economic resources, the restoration of capitalism, however gradual, would require the transfer of ownership to individuals of large swathes of productive property that belong to Cuba’s working people. In a word, privatisation.

Reid seemed to imply that this is what’s happening in Cuba today: “Raul Castro, who formally took over as Cuba’s president in February 2008 and as first secretary of the Communist Party [PCC] in April 2011, is trying to revive the island’s moribund economy by transferring a substantial chunk of it from state to private hands, with profound social and political implications.”

Here, Reid should have clarified that what is being transferred to “private hands” ― that is, to the self-employed, small private businesses and cooperatives ― is not ownership, but the management of socially owned productive property.

The distinction is crucial, yet Reid glossed over it.

“The leadership shuns the word ‘reform’, let alone ‘transition’,” Reid said. “Those terms are contaminated by the collapse of the Soviet Union, an event that still traumatises Cuba’s leaders.

“Officially, the changes are described as an ‘updating’, in which ‘non-state actors’ and ‘cooperatives’ will be promoted. But whatever the language, this means an emerging private sector.”

Perhaps, but this is not the kind of Cuban “private sector” that those who dream of capitalist restoration would like to see. Take, for example, barber shops and beautician’s salons with one to three chairs.

Until recently, these were centrally managed by Cuba’s 169 Peoples Power municipal governments following the nationalisation of retail trade and services in 1968.

Today, they are being leased to their workers, who purchase their own supplies, set their own prices, maintain the premises and pay income taxes and retirement contributions to the socialist state. Public ownership of the premises is retained and leases specify how they are to be used in the public interest: a barber shop is for hair cuts, not handicrafts.

The Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, adopted by the Sixth PCC Congress in April last year after an extensive public debate, made it clear the privatisation of social property and the emergence of a new Cuban capitalist class is not on the agenda.

Guideline No. 3 is explicit: “In the non-state forms of management [of socially-owned productive property] the concentration of property [ownership] by juridical and natural persons [that is, by enterprises and individuals] shall not be permitted”.

Other than joint ventures between the socialist state and foreign investors, the scope for private capital accumulation in Cuba will be limited to what can be achieved on the basis of the management under lease ― rather than ownership ― of small and medium-sized economic entities by individuals, small businesses and cooperatives.

And such arrangements will occur where they are considered economically viable and socially desirable.

In the main report to the PCC Congress, Raul Castro said: “Some opinions were not included [in the final version of the Guidelines] … because they openly contradicted the essence of socialism, as for example 45 proposals advocating the concentration of [private] property [ownership].

In the same speech, Castro said: “The growth of the non-public sector of the economy, far from an alleged privatisation of social property as some theoreticians would have us believe, is to become an active element facilitating the construction of socialism in Cuba.

“It will allow the state to focus on raising the efficiency of the basic means of production, which are the property of the entire people, while relieving itself of those managerial activities that are not strategic for the country.”

Reid acknowledged: “The new president often says his aim is to ‘make socialism sustainable and irreversible’. The economy will continue to be based on planning, not the market, and ‘the concentration of property’ will be prohibited, Raul Castro insisted in a speech to the National Assembly in December 2010.”

Yet Reid doesn’t acknowledge that what has been implemented to date, and what has been projected in the guidelines, is consistent with what Raul Castro said then ― and that the PCC leadership’s words and deeds refute his own baseless assertion that Cuba “has begun the journey towards capitalism.”

Clutching at straws

Instead, Reid insinuated that Raul Castro’s speeches were aimed not at the Cuban people but at placating Fidel: “He is careful not to contradict his elder brother openly: his every speech contains several reverential quotes from Fidel, who despite his semi-retirement is consulted about big decisions …

“Fidel’s frail and ghostly presence … doubtless checks the speed of reform.”

Doubtless. And if Fidel Castro is consulted on strategic decisions, doesn’t this suggest that he endorses the PCC’s reform agenda, a course that Reid describes as the “irreversible dismantling of communism”? In this surreal light, Fidel appears as Cuba’s reclusive Deng Xiaoping, a reluctant convert to Deng’s best-known contribution to “communist” ideology: “To get rich is glorious”.

Just in case readers were not persuaded that the PCC leadership under Raul Castro (with or without Fidel’s approval) is intentionally setting in motion a process of capitalist restoration, while feigning socialist continuity, The Economist fell back on the hope that capitalism will inevitably return to Cuba no matter what anyone does.

Capitalism, you see, is the natural order of things, and the odds are stacked against Cuba’s socialist project. “Whatever the intentions of Cuba’s Communist leaders, they will find it impossible to prevent their island from moving to some form of capitalism”, said Reid.

“What is harder to predict is whether they will remain in control of the process of change, or whether it will lead to democracy.” In other words, the only question for The Economist is whether Cuba will adopt Chinese-style “market socialism” or evolve into a typical Third World capitalist “democracy”.

Reid notes that capitalist ideologues such as himself have predicted the end of the Cuban Revolution before, and got it wrong. “When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,” Reid pointed out, “many outsiders believed that communism in Cuba was doomed”.

Today, however, there can be no doubt: “This time, Raul has insisted, there will be no turning back: the reforms will happen sin prisa, pero sin pausa (slowly but steadily)”.

So, when Raul Castro insists the economic reform agenda adopted by the PCC’s sixth Congress will be implemented, The Economist takes his word for it. But when he says that the reforms will strengthen Cuba’s socialist project, rather than lead to capitalist restoration, it dismisses this without offering either facts or arguments to refute it.

Translation: A magnifying glass on the 'updating'

2012-06-26T20:48:00.001+10:00

Note the emphasis in this brief report on the internal, rather than external, challenges and the emphasis on "bureaucratic, centralising and administrative obstacles" to the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution.

Below the online version of this article on the Juventud Rebelde website are 16 comments submitted by readers. One of them, "Rogelio", wrote:

I'm worried about this attention given to the economic transformations in Poland, one of the countries where the ruling class sold the country to the capitalist class and this same class restored capitalism. I think the trajectory should be towards the working class.

The author replied as follows:

Rogelio: I'll explain because I was there, reporting on the seminar. The fact that Señor Polaco had given a lecture there, and the same goes for the Vietnamese specialist, doesn't mean that they're handing out recipes to the Cuban scholars. If you read the brief report I published, it is noted that the approaches of the Cubans are aimed at improving and advancing our socialist economy, which it sorely needs. Kind regards.

A magnifying glass on the economic updating

By José Alejandro Rodríguez

Juventud Rebelde, June 23, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

The Annual Seminar on Cuban Economy and Management 2012, held over three days in Havana, was a bold academic introspection on the challenges that confront the current process of updating the Cuban economic model, to consolidate it firmly in the face of much external and domestic resistance so as to secure the wellbeing of the nation and the future of socialism.

In the gathering, organised by the Centre for Studies on the Cuban Economy (CEEC) at Havana University, the pressing problems that limit the country's economic growth, and the urgency of radical structural changes that would overcome bureaucratic and top-down obstructions and favour the socialist state enterprise — in harmony with the cooperative and non-state[1] sector — were debated, with a view to freeing up the economy from restrictions and the lack of incentives and initiative that entrench low levels of productivity.

The academics took stock of the transformations that are brewing following the adoption of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, and weighed up the decisive factors and the external uncertainties of the Cuban economy, in particular the prolonged US economic blockade. But even more so, they pointed to the internal obstacles that still limit the efficacy and efficiency of our economic management, and that make us more vulnerable to so many pitfalls.

The bureaucratic, centralising and administrative obstacles were also emphasised, as well as the lack of systematic approaches, that still limit and slow down the growth of the productive forces in Cuban agriculture, make it more difficult for the workers to feel a sense of ownership, and don't recognise in reality the role of the market together with planning.

Two keynote lectures, with very different approaches, were presented in the seminar: the Vietnamese experience of foreign direct investment and international trade by Mai Thi Thu, Director General of Vietnam's National Centre for Information and Socioeconomic Forecasting; and the economic reforms in Poland by Grzegorz Kolodko of the Research Institute on Transformation, Integration and Economic Globalisation at Poland's Kozminski University.

The seminar also launched the multi-volume publication Perspectives on the Cuban Economy; The Updating Process — Cuba; Towards a Development Strategy for the Beginnings of the 21st Century; and Elements of Econometrics — Applications for Cuba, by CEEC researchers and other study centres.
________________
Translator's footnote

[1] A reference to self-employment and small private businesses

Translation: With neither subsidy nor explanations

2012-06-26T19:02:00.000+10:00

My last post referred to the new housing subsidies Cuba, whereby low-income individuals and households can apply for grants to repair or extend their homes. Priority is given to those whose homes have been damaged by hurricanes and flooding. The scheme is funded by the sale of construction materials by state entities at retail prices. A percentage of the proceeds are allocated to subsidies at the municipal level.

As always, enlightened policies might look nice on paper but their effectiveness depends on implementation. Here, the enemy is what Cubans call "the bureaucracy" — corrupt, incompetent or simply uncaring administrators and, sometimes, entire institutions.

The problem is not simply petty-mindedness on the part of individuals and an administrative culture that fosters such a mentality. The root cause seems to be hyper-centralised decision-making, in both the political and economic spheres, and a lack of accountability of administrators and institutions to popular constituencies, i.e. "from below". The theme of decentralisation is taken up in another commentary I've translated by the author of the fragment below, Jose Alejandro Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has a regular column in Juventud Rebelde newspaper titled Acuse de Recibo (Acknowledgement of Receipt) in which he summarises and comments on selected letters sent in by readers, most of which deal with specific cases of administrative corruption, incompetence, arbitrariness or insensitivity. As well as exposing and publicly shaming those responsible for such injustices, Acuse de Recibo provides a sober counterpoint to the triumphal style of much Cuban journalism. It arms and emboldens those who struggle against administrative arbitrariness and injustice.

The online version of Juventud Rebelde allows readers to submit comments. These are moderated, of course, but highly critical opinions are often accepted, including from Cubans living abroad who don't support Cuba's socialist order. The regular feature that attracts by far the most commentaries is Rodriguez's column, which has evolved into a forum in which Cuban revolutionaries debate each other and, on occasion, the Revolution's hostile critics. The case below is one of two that appeared in Acuse de Recibo three days ago. It burns with indignation.

Little wonder, then, that the online commentaries occasionally draw attention to instances in which Juventud Rebelde journalists, or those from other Cuban pro-Revolution publications, have been turned away by officials who probably have something to hide.

With neither subsidy nor explanations

By José Alejandro Rodríguez

Juventud Rebelde, June 23, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

What's worst of all, in some of the tales related in this column, is not the lack of resources or unavoidable objective impediments. No, what's inexcusable is that authoritarian style, blind and deaf to human problems; drastic decisions being taken without even those affected being offered an explanation. A name is crossed out and that's that.

Félix Revilla Castillo of 12th Street, No. 97, between 7th and 14th Steets in the Mármol neighbourhood of Santiago de Cuba, was very upset when he wrote to me. He told me that the mother of his two children, Miosotis Hechavarría, lives with them together with her own mother, now elderly and infirm, in an old and very run-down house at No. 50 Brigadier Marrero, between Calvario and Maceo Streets, in that city.

Miosotis has found it necesary to leave her job, due to health problems, and is a social welfare recipient. Given her precarious economic circumstances, and faced with the urgent need to get to work on the house, she applied for a subsidy to repair it. This she was granted by the [local government] commission established for this purpose, after a monumental effort given that there was always something missing: either a signature or a statement from the People's Savings Bank (BPA) that lacked a name or this or that surname of one of the requisite officials...

Then, at the construction materials distribution centre, the first time they gave her 65 metres of reinforced steel rod, a sink, two towell racks, electrical cables, two soap dishes and the set of components for the toilet cistern.

That was all she got. There were no other kinds of materials assigned to those with subsidies, even though such items were being sold freely[1] to the population. Yet Miosotis has a subsidy precisely because she can't efford to pay for them...

The following week they went back to the distribution centre to ask for the windows, doors and interior lighting. To their astonishment, at the Bank[2] they were told that the subsidy had been suspended as instructed in a letter sent by the Municipal Administration Council, in which they didn't even explain why.

Félix asks: "Why was that subsidy cancelled or suspended? Can anybody, whatever their level of authority, stop a process that up to now has been going well, despite its ups and downs?"

The saddest thing of all is that no offical from the Peoples Power municipal government has written to this family to inform them that the subsidy in question was cancelled, and why. Are these the methods of our society?
_________________

Translator's footnotes

[1] At retail prices, i.e. without subsidies, and in unrestricted quantities

[2] Once granted, housing subsidies are deposited in a bank account. The bank is supposed to ensure that the funds are only used for their stated purpose, i.e. the purchase and transportation of building materials and the labour of registered small private businesses or self-employed workers (construction cooperatives have been foreshadowed).

Translation: How to view the glass?

2012-06-24T00:15:00.002+10:00

Superstitious readers may have noted that my last post was dated Friday April 13. Let me reassure you that nothing bad happened to me on that day; it just so happens that since then I've had dedicate myself almost exclusively to completing my undergraduate degree. I'm now anxiously awaiting the results of exams and assignments.

In this incisive commentary Juventud Rebelde deputy editor Ricardo Ronquillo Bello refers to one of the first significant policy changes announced by Raul Castro when he became acting Cuban president: lifting the ban on citizens staying in Cuban tourist hotels. While most Cubans can't afford to stay in such hotels — the aim is to maximise income for the socialist state from foreign tourism — lifting the ban was a popular measure and an act of great symbolic significance. Many Cubans had resented the fact that only foreigners were entitled to stay in Cuba's best hotels, regardless of affordability, and pointed out that such discrimination was proscribed by Cuba's socialist constitution.

In the early 1990s, Cuba turned to foreign tourism as a means to keep its socialist-oriented economy afloat after the demise of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the US economic blockade. The ban on Cubans staying in tourist hotels was aimed at minimising the social and ideological fallout from the sudden and massive expansion of tourism in a relatively egalitarian society amid great hardships and shared sacrifices.

The ethical logic was simple: if the vast majority of Cubans can't afford to stay in such hotels then no Cuban should be allowed to. In the name of solidarity, the government pursued a policy of limiting the possibilities for conspicuous consumption by a minority in the midst of a national emergency. The ban was also aimed at curbing the resurgence of prostitution during the Special Period and the growth of black-market activities aimed at fleecing tourists of their hard currency, both of which contributed to the rise in social inequality that accompanied the economic crisis.

How to view the glass?

By Ricardo Ronquillo Bello

Juventud Rebelde, May 19, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

Some data published in this newspaper last week might pose a dilema for us in the style of Mastropiero. Let’s recall that the famous doctor, going by the name of Alexander Sebastian, is the originator of the well-known uncertainty principle.

That scholar carried out an experiment in which a group of people were placed in a situation in which the glass was either “half full” or “half empty”. It demonstrated that subjectivity is the element of thought that depends on the way of thinking or feeling of the person making the observation.

For Mastropiero, the throught process is linked to memory, recollections, experiences and the knowledge of the people involved, who, as individuals, usually have differing experiences.

The announcement by the Ministry of Tourism that domestic tourism has grown significantly since 2008, and that during the past year alone 580,000 Cuban citizens stayed in hotels, an increase of 32%, is one such figure that can be viewed from different perspectives.

The first, and who would deny it, is very pleasing. It’s gratifying that more of our fellow Cubans have the means to enjoy a little taste of tourism.

Fortunately, as might be expected, this growth affects all of us. As well as demonstrating the soundness and good sense of abandoning a policy that favoured foreign tourists, it dignifies Cubans and stimulates a sector that was always intended to function as an engine of the national economy; a sector that often had many of its rooms unoccupied, while numerous Cubans found themselves unable to satisfy their yearnings and spend their adequate incomes in a pleasant way.

But there’s a more defiant way of viewing the content of this “Mastropierian glass”. The good news also demonstrates that we have a country with a marked social stratification.

As this sector with money to spare grows, with the possibility of using its incomes for some deserved holidays, at the other extreme is another sector whose economic situation obliges it to turn to state subsidies just to be able to satisfy basic necessities.

Hence the need for us to bind to everyone's sensibility, with silken threads, the socialist principle that in Cuba nobody will be left helpless; that in this process of adjustment of the economy and society no person or family will be cast adrift, without lifelines to this magic rope of justice that united us after 1959.

To achieve this implies replacing the egalitarian policy, that subsidised products, with another that subsidises persons, without trauma; and consolidating a taxation strategy that would guarantee the funds for our state to support an appropriate conception of redistribution and welfare, as decided by the Sixth Communist Party Congress.

After the beginning of the updating [of Cuba's socialist economic model], the best sign in this regard was the government's decision to allocate part of the proceeds from the free[1] sale of construction materials to subsidising the construction of a basic housing unit [i.e. a room] for those individuals and families of greatest social vulnerability[2].

As important as the decision itself was the way in which it was announced by the members of Workig Group 6 of the Permanent Commission for the Implementation and Development of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution. They made it clear that this is neither an act of state charity nor a gift, but the fulfilment of a constitutional obligation.

They stated that the government's decision to grant subsidies to low-income individuals and families is a policy that promotes equality of opportunities in Cuba; that nobody will be left to fend for themselves, and that social solidarity will be put into effect, organised by the socialist state.

Neither can we ignore the fact that ours is a socialist state that must undertake the transformations in the midst of a serious distortion of the social pyramid[3], which means, moreover, that until it is corrected equal access won't always involve equality of opportunities. Thus it might be more complicated for us to place ourselves in front of Mastropiero's glass and answer his disturbing question: It's half full! It's half empty!
_________________
Translator's footnotes

[1] By state-owned retail stores without subsidies and in unrestricted quantities.

[2] 'Social vulnerability' is a Spanish term that is more encompassing than poverty. The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean defines it as a multidimensional process that contributes to the risk that an individual, a household or a community may be disadvantaged by a situation or a change in circumstances.

[3] A reference to the fact that, for example, a self-employed worker or small business owner may earn more in one day than the monthly salary of a doctor, a teacher or an engineer — a legacy of Cuba's post-Soviet "Special Period".

Translation: Conference on self-employment

2012-04-13T12:44:00.003+10:00

I noted in a previous post that official Cuban discourse doesn't distinguish between the self-employed, the owners and employees of small private businesses and members of cooperative societies: all are lumped together under the Spanish term trabajo por cuenta propia, or self-employment.

As far as I'm aware this fudging of the distinction between bosses and workers in small private enterprises has never been explained. It has the positive effect of undermining prejudice against allowing small private enterprises to flourish in Cuba's socialist-oriented economy — but at the cost of blunting social awareness of the unequal power relationships involved.

Somebody who employs four other people to work in their restaurant may work alongside their employees, but they are not "self-employed". They are an employer, a boss. They belong to that class of people that Karl Marx labelled the petit-bourgeoisie, French for "small capitalist", a term that has the merit of scientific accuracy.

Conference on self-employment held

By Jose Alejandro Rodriguez, Juventud Rebelde, April 9, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

The interdisciplinary gathering addressed the viability of various forms of non-state economic management, from the diagnostic and scientific point of view, as part of the changes and transformations of what has been called the Cuban model.

The 1st Conference on Self-Employment in Cuba, organised by the Technology and Knowledge Management Enterprise of the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment, took place yesterday.

Featuring presentations and panel discussions by academics, researchers, economists and social scientists, the multidisciplinary event discussed the viability of various forms of non-state economic management, from the diagnostic and scientific point of view, as part of the changes and transformations of what has been called the Cuban model.

The debates – which centred on the already irreversible expansion of self-employment and the potential of non-agricultural cooperatives, which will begin to be set up on an experimental basis outside the farming sector – demonstrated that non-state forms of management can stimulate significant advances for Cuba’s economy and socialism.

Economist Dr. Pavel Vidal gave a very positive assessment of the relaunching of self-employment in Cuba, in the midst of the complexities of a structural overhaul, with a far more flexible regulatory framework. At the same time, he identified factors that, in his opinion, limit the advance of this form of employment in Cuba: among others, the absence of a wholesale supplies market and the few skilled job categories in which self-employment is permitted.

Two panels of researchers in the field took up the importance of integrating these non-state forms with the core of the socialist system, the state enterprises, which are in turn poised for profound transformations. This was addressed at both the macro-economic and the local and household levels.

Conference participants agreed to establish a network for analysis and the sharing of information among researchers of the non-state forms of management in Cuba: the starting point for systematic scientific research into a sector that will have a growing weight in the Cuban economy.

Translation: Constitutional changes needed

2012-03-26T00:31:00.001+11:00

Here, a Granma reader argues that Cuba's socialist Constitution needs to be amended in line with the transformation of Cuba's socialist-oriented economic model, in particular the legalisation of small private businesses. I commented on the need for such constitutional amendments in a May 2011 post. You can read an English translation of the Cuban Constitution here.

The author says that legalising small private businesses is not a step towards socialism, but a necessary retreat in order to advance. The reference to Lenin recalls Lenin and Trotsky's New Economic Policy in Soviet Russia in the early 1920s, an experience that the architects of Cuba's new socialist economic model have no doubt studied in depth.

Much confusion has resulted from the word "socialism" being used interchangeably, in Cuba and elsewhere, to mean two very different things: a society in which the state, money and social classes have withered away — the communist society envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, conceivable only on a world scale — and a post-capitalist, communist-oriented society such as Cuba that is confined by international isolation to the beginnings of the transition from capitalism to communism.

An example of such ambiguity can be seen in the letter below, in which the author states that "the employment of wage labour by individuals" contradicts "to some degree the socialist character of the socio-economic system."

What is meant by the word "socialist" here?

If "socialist" is synonymous with communist society, then wage labour would indeed contradict the character of this mode of production. In such a society the distinction between labour and leisure would have been transcended, the compulsion to work giving way to free creative practice. The generalisation of automated production would make possible the satisfaction of the rational needs (which are not the same as the consumerist cravings stimulated by capitalism) of all members of society. There would be no need to ration access to goods and services via wages.

Cuba is light years from this lofty objective.

If by "socialist" is meant a communist-oriented society at the beginnings of the transitional epoch, such as Cuba today, then (as I argued in my previous post) the only absolute requirement with respect to property forms is that the "commanding heights" of the economy — large-scale industry in which labour is objectively socialised — are social property. Self-employment, small private businesses and cooperatives whose market relations are subordinated to central planning by the socialist state are in no way incompatible with such a society.

The Constitution and the updating of socialism

By J. C. Mora Reyes, Granma letter, March 23, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

I’m one of the many who are grateful for this space for opinion and public debate, proof positive that all viewpoints are valued. Grateful that it exists and that diverse opinions can be expressed honestly, without any taboo topics, sparking the interest of the citizens regarding matters that concern everyone and that serve to spur participation as both a necessity and a right.

In this spirit I’d like to express an opinion on a question that is, in my view, of fundamental importance.

While modifications to the Constitution of the Republic are a recourse that should not be used excessively, there is no reason to not make such changes if they are necessary and feasible.

I offer by way of example certain measures, above all those related to the employment of wage labour by individuals, that contradict to some degree the socialist character of the socio-economic system. The Constitution prohibits, explicitly and categorically, exploitation (Articles 14 and 21, Paragraph 2), and for good reason. The inclusion of such a prohibition in the Constitution is not an error committed in the past, but an authentic expression of the new society to which we aspire but which lies beyond the realms of possibility in this historical moment – though other laws uphold indispensable worker’s rights, such as the minimum wage and retirement pensions on the basis of employer contributions.

It’s pointless, and doomed to failure from the outset, to try to argue that exploitation and socialism can be reconciled. The people’s intelligence, education and capacity for critical thought would not allow it. On the contrary, it will be readily understood if it is explained with complete honesty – proof of the respect that is always appreciated – that to legalise this kind of work, which is contrary to how we have conceived of it up to now, far from being an advance, as some claim, implies, as Lenin would say, a retreat to new positions from which to wage the revolutionary struggle, positions that are advantageous tactically and strategically in terms of the Revolution’s objectives.

The Constitution will have to be amended to address crucial questions such as those mentioned above, but in such a way as to leave room for retreat without abandoning the path of building socialism. Which, by the way, goes beyond simple declarations: we can declare ourselves to be loyally carrying on with socialist construction while making mistakes that lead to its demise, above all if we lack clarity on the scope of such fundamental issues which oblige us to seek solutions to economic problems today.

If we want to strengthen the institutionalism that is indispensable for the improvement and updating [of the socialist economic model], this must be done on the basis of the legality that flows from the Constitution. In other words, nothing must be done if the letter of the Constitution does not permit it, lest we undermine it or weaken its regulatory role in the legal, economic, political and social spheres, with the serious consequences this implies. We must be flexible in the search for the forms, ways, methods and procedures to implement what emanates from the Constitution, always within the limits it establishes.

Comment: Cuba's alternative to privatisation

2012-03-11T17:27:00.001+11:00

Here is the fourth of a series of articles written for Australia's Green Left Weekly on the debates and changes in Cuba. Parts 1, 2 and 3 are here, here and here.

Cuba’s alternative to privatisation

Green Left Weekly #914, March 11, 2012

By Marce Cameron

Cuban President Raul Castro has urged the Caribbean nation's citizens to contribute to a free and frank debate on the future of Cuba’s socialist project.

For the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), the aim of this debate is twofold: to strive for consensus on a new Cuban model of socialist development and to empower Cuba’s working people to implement what has been decided.

In other words, to advance a socialist renewal process in the face of entrenched opposition from within the administrative apparatus.

It is first and foremost a debate about the economy. A draft policy document, the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, was submitted to a national debate for three months before to its adoption by the Sixth PCC Congress in April last year.

The core principles and objectives of the draft were conserved, but the final version of the Guidelines was substantially modified on the basis of this public debate.

The PCC said total attendance at the 163,000 local debates held in workplaces, study centres and neighbourhoods was about 8.9 million, with many people attending more than one.

More than three million interventions were noted and grouped into 781,000 opinions, about half of which were reflected in the final document. A summary detailing each modification and its motivation, and the number of interventions in favour, was published after the congress.

The Guidelines is not a theoretical document. The government commission responsible for overseeing its implementation has been charged with drafting, as Castro put it, “the integral theoretical conceptualisation of the Cuban socialist economy”.

Rather, the Guidelines is a set of principles and objectives that point to a new Cuban socialist-oriented economic model.

Yet implicit in them is a reconception of the socialist-oriented society in Cuba’s conditions.

Transitional society

The ultimate objective of the socialist revolution is a global classless society in which technology enables minimal human labour to produce goods and services, allowing these to be freely distributed to satisfy people’s rational needs.

Socially owned, this system of production would free everyone from the compulsion to work for others. It would allow a flowering of the human personality that is stunted by capitalist exploitation and alienation, both of which are embodied in the capitalist market.

What blocks this transition is not a lack of technology, but private ownership of most productive wealth and the class rule of the corporate rich over society.

The transition from capitalism to socialism is marked by tension between planning and the market. Democratic planning to meet social needs first becomes increasingly dominant, then ultimately the sole determinant of economic activity.

Without revolutions in advanced industrialised societies, socialist revolutions in industrially underdeveloped countries such as Cuba — inheriting economies stunted by centuries of colonial and neocolonial plunder — are confined to the beginnings of the socialist transition.

This implies a mixed economy with various forms of ownership and management. The only absolute requirement is that the “commanding heights” of the economy are owned by the socialist state — described by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Communist Manifesto as “the proletariat organised as the ruling class”.

A caveat must be added in light of Soviet bureaucratic “socialism”: socialist state ownership has no automatic bias towards socialism. There must also be socialist democracy.

Nowhere did Marx, Engels or Russian revolutionary V.I. Lenin argue that self-employment and small-scale private and cooperative enterprise are incompatible with progress towards socialism.

For Lenin, in his 1923 article “On Cooperation”, assuming socialist state ownership of large industry, the socialist-oriented society is “the system of civilised cooperativists”.

The notion that building socialism requires state ownership and management of almost the entire economy was born of Stalinist totalitarianism. Far from beginning to wither away as anticipated by Marx, the Soviet state from Stalin to Gorbachev assumed monstrous proportions.

Revolutionary offensive

In March 1968, Cuba’s socialist state expropriated nearly all urban small businesses in an episode known as the “Revolutionary Offensive”.

This was justified at the time by the need to combat hoarding and speculation by petty proprietors. The US economic blockade, the emigration of skilled workers and revolutionary inexperience had led to shortages of consumer goods.

It was also aimed at depriving US-sponsored counter-revolutionaries of points of support among urban small traders and business people.

Yet it was also seen as a step towards a classless society. As it turned out, it was a premature step and therefore counterproductive.

A great deal of planning goes on in big capitalist enterprises. The socialisation of the labour process embodied in large-scale industry is the basis for social ownership and democratic planning in the socialist-oriented society.

Yet even in developed capitalist societies there are economic sectors in which labour is not socialised on a scale that would allow for rational planning.

Rather than seeking to “outgrow” the market in step with the objective socialisation of labour arising from economic development, Cuba’s Revolutionary Offensive abolished the market at a stroke.

In recent years this has been the subject of much public debate in Cuba.

Since early 2008, the PCC daily Granma has opened its pages to criticisms, proposals and debate contributions from readers. There is an ongoing debate on state ownership and management of small productive and service entities, such as cafes and bicycle repair workshops.

Debate

As one reader argued in a December 9, 2009 Granma letter: “Following their nationalisation by the Cuban state in 1968, small businesses and retail firms were converted, little by little, into a source of illicit profit, the robbery of the state, inefficiency and maltreatment ...

“Arguably socialism, by definition, necessitates social ownership of the fundamental means of production, and this is not at odds with personal, family or cooperative property in some means of production or services.

“The state must free itself from the yoke of these entities which, far from being social property, have become a means for the enrichment of a minority that exploits [the majority] to the detriment of the satisfaction of the needs of the client, that is, the people.”

In other words, these entities have undergone de-facto privatisation at the hands of corrupt administrators who pay no taxes on their illicit earnings.

The opposing view is that expanding the scope of cooperatives and other small-scale private enterprise is unnecessary and unwise. The solutions proposed lie on the subjective plane — replacing corrupt administrators with honest ones, for example.

Such solutions don’t address the material roots of the problem: the inability of the socialist state to centrally manage such entities with quality and efficiency, and average state wages that don’t cover all basic living expenses in Cuba’s post-Soviet Special Period.

Widespread petty theft from the socialist state is an inevitable consequence of the latter.

The Guidelines rule out privatisation and the concentration of productive property ownership in the hands of a new Cuban capitalist class.

At the same time, they give the green light to an expanded small-scale private and cooperative sector that is projected to embrace almost half the workforce by 2015.

How can these two objectives be reconciled?

Avoiding privatisation

The idea is to lease small productive and service entities, from bakeries to beauticians, to self-employed individuals, small private businesses and cooperatives. Social ownership of these premises, which belong to the municipal People’s Power governments, would be retained.

These governments and the socialist state will regulate leased entities to ensure that they fulfill certain social objectives.

Responsibility for running these enterprises, however, passes from the state to their workers, who operate them in a competitive environment where prices are set by the market rather than central planning.

In agriculture, the government is promoting a large-scale “return to the land”, leasing farmland rent-free on a long-term basis — an arrangement known as usufruct — to individual farmers, cooperatives and state farms.

This puts farmers, rather than Havana-based administrators, in the driver’s seat while avoiding a concentration of land ownership.

Castro summed up Cuba’s alternative to privatisation in the Main Report to the Sixth PCC Congress:

“The growth of the non-public sector of the economy, far from an alleged privatisation of social property as some theoreticians would have us believe, is to become an active element facilitating the construction of socialism in Cuba.

“It will allow the state to focus on raising the efficiency of the basic means of production, which are the property of the entire people, while relieving itself of those managerial activities that are not strategic for the country.”

Translation: Privileges to those who deserve them

2012-03-07T11:09:00.023+11:00

A Cuban youth committed to the Revolution speaks his mind in this Granma letter to the editor.

The emigration of disenchanted Cuban youth to countries such as the US, Spain (where youth unemployment hovers around 50%), Mexico and Ecuador seems to be one of the few remaining taboo topics in the Cuban press.

Many seek higher salaries that would allow them to better support family in Cuba or abroad; some just want to experience more of the world than their Caribbean island and escape its economic hardships; others chase the "American Dream". Not all those who emigrate find what they're looking for, though some do.

The exodus of highly educated youth is not only demoralising, it also has serious economic consequences despite the flow of remittances back to Cuba. Some of Cuba's best young minds in the technical sense are serving capitalist corporations in other countries rather than Cuba's socialist revolution.

The US government's infamous Cuban Adjustment Act aims to deprive Cuba of skilled workers by encouraging risky and illegal crossings of the Florida Straights in small craft, creating the propaganda spectacle of Cubans "fleeing the communist dictatorship". Any Cuban citizen who reaches the US coastline can stay and apply for US citizenship after a year.

Haitians and other Caribbean nationals who land on US shores without authorisation are sent back to where they came from.

A key objective of the "updating" of Cuba's socialist-oriented economic model, though not one that is explicitly stated in the Guidelines, is to make employment for skilled workers more rewarding in every sense, above all in terms of remuneration, so that, for example, a surgeon does not have to drive a taxi on the weekend to make ends meet.

The dedication of such workers in the face of the hardships and privations of the Special Period is what has kept the Revolution afloat in the chilly waters of neoliberal globalisation. Behind the impressive statistics on health care and education are millions of committed human beings imbued with revolutionary spirit.

A substantial minority of Cubans think and act very differently, however, as illustrated in the candid vignette below. The struggle to renew Cuba's socialist project is the struggle of the former to prevail over the latter in the spheres of economics, ethics and ideology. The economy of the socialist-oriented Cuba that is emerging must "privilege those who really deserve it".

Privileges to those who deserve them

Letter to the editor, Granma, March 2, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

I’m one of the many youths who is concerned about the future of their country. I feel proud of its gains and advances in various sectors, thanks to the socialism we’ve defended for 50 years. I consider it to be the most just country and socialism to be the most viable option for saving humanity.

But I’m also the first to acknowledge the mistakes we’ve make in its construction and improvement. With constructive criticism I open the door to the empty minds of those who care only about the good life and who salivate at the American Dream.

I once read a commentary by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro that contained a phrase which made an impression on me. From that time on I’ve carried it with me wherever I may go as a devastating weapon, firing it at point blank range at whoever dares to make a superficial criticism: “Anyone who wants more than what is indispensable in order to live is worth less as a human being.” Most people are speechless at such a magisterial phrase; life shows that this is how it is.

Recently I graduated from law school, and ever since I was a student I’ve read and analysed the letters pages of this newspaper, created so that the people could raise their problems and propose solutions. I’d like to take up an issue, one of many that concerns me and makes me feel uncomfortable: the wholesome recreation of young people, whether students or not, for an affordable and fair price.

For some years there was a scheme organised by the Union of Young Communists in which entry was granted to discos, cabaret tables, swimming pools and camping cabins at a price that, while it was out of reach of most parents, did make them more willing to fork out for it. They could give a treat to their son or daughter, but they’d have to earn it by getting good grades; this is something any honourable family educated by the Revolution should do without hesitation. However, it’s true that it didn’t work well, and neither should granting subsidies be a function of the organisation.

Today, these kinds of activities are organised in some educational institutions, but it’s still insufficient, given that it doesn’t meet the needs of all youth who need this type of entertainment. In addition, while the entry price may be affordable, the prices of drinks and food are unchanged. If you go to a disco, the entry price ranges from 2, 3, 5, 10 and up to 20 Cuban convertible pesos. What son or daughter of a worker or farmer with an average income, what intellectual or official in the armed forces or the police, could pay such a sum of money? The same is true of the products sold in these places.

I’m aware that the world finds itself in a deep economic-financial crisis and that our country is not unaffected by this, so we have to eliminate excessive wastage, superfluous spending and gratuities, among other problems that were addressed in the Sixth Communist Party Congress, but this doesn’t justify these unaffordable prices. Why the difference in prices between the products sold in the chain of convertible currency stores and those in the recreational venues previously referred to? Why double or triple the prices in convertible pesos if wages are static and most of the people who frequent them are young students? Are they higher quality products? We all know this isn’t the case, they say it’s because of the venue and what it offers. It seems to me this justification is for the rich in capitalist societies, and not for a young person of modest means born in a socialist Revolution who burns the midnight oil studying in order to be able to contribute to their country in the future, or he or she who makes sacrifices by working in any state sector that contributes to economic development and they just want to go out with their friends or their girlfriend or boyfriend.

I think that if one of these venues attracted 50, 100 or more people at an entry price of 2 convertible pesos and with reasonable prices for additional purchases, it would be able to cover its costs and contribute to tax revenues.

Despite the high prices you see many youth frequenting the best places and consuming large quantities of the aforementioned products as if they were sold in regular Cuban pesos. There’s no doubt that the great majority of them neither study nor work, they live off the black market which does so much harm to those who really strive to take the country forward. Those who sell their bodies or do all kinds of denigrating acts also abound, as do the kids of the new rich, and I ask myself: is it for them that these recreational venues exist? If so, it’s not in keeping with the truly revolutionary youth in which our top leaders have placed their trust.

It’s hardly gratifying to arrive at work or school exhausted and see how in the corner of any square you meet a childhood playmate who spends the day lazing about, drinking beer, driving around and of course, entering and leaving nightclubs in the fanciest clothes and believing themselves to be the master of the universe. If you ask them what’s happening in Cuba or in the world, they tell you they couldn’t care less what’s going on, that they just want to leave the country, and other things I’m not going to repeat given their obscene and offensive content.

These and other related issues have been the subject of debate on various occasions by university students, revolutionaries, humble people, those willing to give their lives for the country and in honour of those youths that died throughout our history for the cause that the new generations enjoy today. Despite this, we lack things needed by young people that up to know only exist in dreams given the economic situation. If we oriented the social pyramid the way it should be we’d rescue ethical values and incentivise the importance of study and work, but for this we have to begin privileging those who really deserve it.

J. Martos Yapur

Translation: Our kind of dissent

2012-03-06T10:22:00.006+11:00

Imperialism's propaganda war against Cuba shapes our perceptions in subtle ways.

Tiny grouplets of Cuban citizens who receive funding from US subversion programmes aimed at regime change are labelled "dissidents" by the corporate media. They're paid to saturate the blogosphere with diatribes against Cuba's social order, which happens to be different from the one that dominates the planet.

What does Yoani Sanchez, the narcissistic child of US neocolonial aspirations, dissent from? The decaying global capitalism that has given rise to the Arab Spring, the indignados and the Occupy movement? The US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?

Could it be that the millions of Cubans who sustain an epic resistance on their besieged archipelago are the real dissidents?

Here, Juventud Rebelde deputy editor Ricardo Ronquillo Bello touches on several important themes. The internet poses an additional challenge to Cuba's revolutionary media alongside those arising from efforts to overhaul Cuba's socialist-oriented development model.

Our kind of dissent

By Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, Juventud Rebelde, March 3, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

There’s an alluring connection between an editorial in our daily – published on March 13, 1999 – and the 120 year anniversary of the Newspaper of the Homeland that we’ll celebrate on March 14 and the Cuban Revolutionary Party[1] that gave rise to it.

“This paper was and will be a dissident one”, was the heading under which Juventud Rebelde announced its resumption as a daily paper. “We have a moral and patriotic obligation to dissent from those who are ashamed of their past[2], from those who sell themselves for 30 greenbacks, from those who adopt the uncomfortable position of kneeling so they can be blessed by the wind from the north[3]; we dissent from those who don’t believe in dreams, from the docile and the corrupt”, we said back then. “We return in rebellion against the physical and mental idlers, the sloths and the inept, the pessimists and the defeated.”

In that editorial it was also stated that we return to a daily schedule not as an independent newspaper, but one with a great dependence on our history, on our people, on our most genuine and valid traditions, on our Revolution.

The editorial did no more than reaffirm for the readers, during the times in which we overcame the greatest moral blow dealt to socialism, what had been the dilemma of the Cuban press journalists.

We came from a journalistic and revolutionary tradition nurtured by the deepest vocation to serve, passed on from the founders of the nation, among others Father Felix Varella who, when addressing the purpose of and progress towards independence, pointed out that he renounced the pleasure of being applauded for the satisfaction of being useful to the homeland. For Jose Marti, the press should be the guard-dog of the house of the homeland: “It must disobey the appetites of personal welfare and attend impartially to the public good.”

This legacy should also serve those accustomed to the apologetic justifications, the silences and the distortions that were never lacking along the complex path of socialist construction, and as a pillar for the kind of press demanded by almost all the social, political and economic actors in the country, including generations of journalists.

It's not viable to continue encouraging forms of journalism based on reaffirmation that were entrenched in no few of our journalistic spaces, while turning to others to defend the best revolutionary ideas. We need to pass from forms of institutional dependence to independence, or self-regulation, as advocated by those who teach journalism.

Journalistic practices based on reaffirmation and marked institutional dependence often ignore the descent into errors, making the reversal of their consequences more complex and costly.

No few evils that hold back our society persist due to the distortion of the checks and balances functions of the media, together with those of other structures of democratic debate. Voluntarism, combined with apologetics and the absence of institutional self-regulation, ended up being a deplorable trinity.

It’s not coincidental that the press, which had arrived at the most recent congress of the Cuban Journalists Union with updated orientations for its work from the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, is faced with a necessary transformation, as stressed in the debates at the National Conference of the Party and in those we’ve been having in the journalists union branches.

The establishment of clear institutional spaces for the press is unavoidable to block the path of interference and interventions that alter its content and functions, above all in the Cuba that reassesses its structures and in which the Party and the institutions adjust their links and connections with society.

This is happening as the Revolution updates it economic model as the first step towards gradual modifications. Here, the responsibility falls on us to contribute to the necessary political consensus and awaken the professional vigilance needed to avoid distortions of their scope and motivations – as we’re already doing, not without difficulties and misunderstandings.

We cannot ignore the fact that the Revolution is about to enter its most difficult trial by fire: the disappearance of its generation of historical leaders. Meanwhile we are gradually, though inexorably, losing the Cuban media’s monopoly of influence as a result of the rise of the internet.

In this readjustment the Cuban press must clear the way for the promotion of civic debate and revolutionary counterattack. It doesn’t matter who barks, Sancho[4]: conviction in the face of distortion should be our watchword.

__________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] The pro-independence and social justice party founded by, among others, independence leader Jose Marti.

[2] Presumably a reference to revolutionaries who lost heart when the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Cuban Revolution entered its post-Soviet “Special Period” crisis.

[3] The US coastline lies 150km north of Cuba.

[4] From a well-known passage in Miguel Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote: “The dogs are barking, Sancho, it’s a sign that we’re moving”.

Comment: Cuba debates its socialist future

2012-02-27T12:07:00.004+11:00

This is the third instalment of a series of articles written for Australia's Green Left Weekly on the debates and changes in Cuba. Parts 1 and 2 are here and here.

Here is a link to the official English translation of Raul Castro's closing speech to the PCC National Conference in January.

Cuba debates its socialist future

Green Left Weekly #912, February 26, 2012

By Marce Cameron

Two decades after the demise of Soviet bureaucratic “socialism” and the onset of its “Special Period” crisis, Cuba is immersed in an ongoing debate on the future of its socialist project.

When Raul Castro became interim president in August 2006, he called for free and frank debate and launched a series of nationwide consultations in the lead-up to the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in April last year.

Intersecting with these organised debates is a wider discussion in Cuba’s revolutionary press, academic journals and other institutional spaces.

Numerous mass consultations involving millions of citizens in local workplace and neighbourhood meetings have been held in Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

What is different about this debate is its depth, scope and detail ― and the candour with which different viewpoints are expressed in a climate of growing respect for differences.

In other words, Cuba’s culture of debate is maturing.

Cuban political scientist Rafael Hernandez said in November 2007: “When we talk about debate or criticism we often talk about censorship, restrictions, control, but we never talk about our own lack of a ‘debate culture’. We must foster a culture of debate from the start, because our society doesn’t have it.

“We often call a debate ‘good’ when the participants say the same as we think. That’s not debate; debate is disagreement. And it’s very important that in a debate we express divergent positions in a spirit of dialogue, of mutual respect.

“I think [Cuban] politics is going through this stage right now.”

Debate culture

Cuba has been undergoing a deeply popular socialist transition for five decades. Why is it only now developing a culture of public debate?

One reason is US imperialism’s relentless siege. It has not only been subjected to an economic blockade since 1960, but illegal radio and TV broadcasts, sponsorship of subversion and terrorist acts, an immigration policy aimed at depriving Cuba of skilled workers and a propaganda crusade aimed at demonising Cuba as a “communist dictatorship”.

This state of siege has fostered a siege mentality in Cuba. Many people have viewed public criticism and debate as unwittingly aiding the enemy. Others have used the blockade as an excuse to evade responsibility for their own mistakes and wrongdoings.

Another reason is that during the 1970s and '80s, Cuba assimilated elements of Soviet bureaucratic “socialism”, above all, hyper-centralised decision-making by a vast administrative apparatus that micro-managed almost the entire economy.

Such top-down tendencies were reinforced by idealistic errors, acknowledged as such today by the PCC leadership, which entrenched the negative phenomenon of state paternalism.

Paternalism has two faces: citizens looking to the socialist state to do everything for them, such as fixing a broken window in the home, and provide for all their needs regardless of their labour contribution to society; and officials treating citizens like children who cannot think or decide things for themselves and who do not need to be informed.

This stifles individual and collective initiative that could contribute to Cuba’s socialist project. It also robs people of their sense of social responsibility. It has weakened mechanisms of accountability and sapped the vitality of Cuba’s institutions of socialist democracy.

Revolutionary Cuba has never lacked opportunities to participate in popular mobilisations and in carrying out the tasks of the Revolution. What is has lacked is enough opportunities for involvement in deciding what those tasks will be.

Cuba has developed its own unique institutions of socialist democracy. Cuba's system of popular self-government is based in local communities, where neighbours gather to nominate candidates for election to the municipal assemblies. Delegates must report to their constituents and can be recalled by them at any time. The PCC is banned from backing candidates and all citizens have the right to be nominated.

Despite this, there remains a disconnect between Cuba’s highly educated and politically sophisticated populace, a product of the Revolution itself, and the lack of real participation in decision-making at all levels.

This is felt most keenly by the younger generation who are most susceptible to disaffection and emigration.

The charismatic leadership style and immense personal authority of Fidel Castro ― an indispensable asset to the Revolution in past decades ― tended to overshadow its institutions and institutional forms of consensus-building.

New democratic mechanisms and practices will have to be developed now that Fidel is no longer at the helm.

Currents of opinion

What currents of opinion have emerged in the national debate initiated by Raul Castro?

Since this is a debate about how to save Cuba’s socialist project, not how to end it, the views of those who long for capitalist restoration ― because they have material interests or illusions in it ― lie outside this debate.

Besieged by US imperialism, Cuba does not allow political parties other than the PCC or factions within this party.

Raul Castro told the PCC National Conference in January: “To renounce the principle of a one-party system would be the equivalent of legalising a party, or parties, of imperialism on our soil.”

The debate has unfolded in this context. Whatever differences there may be among the PCC leadership, they have presented a united front to the rest of the party and to the nation around the key principles and strategic objectives of the renewal process.

Within the revolutionary camp, two poles can be identified: a renovationist current and those who defend the status quo in words or deeds.

The renovationist current views Cuba’s socialist development model as having exhausted its ability to move society forward, necessitating an urgent and integral transformation of this model to avoid stagnation and retreat.

It insists on the need for public criticism and debate and a dialectical, rather than dogmatic, conception of the socialist-oriented society in Cuba’s conditions.

This current is led by Raul Castro and other PCC leaders. It is concentrated among the revolutionary vanguard organised in the PCC, among intellectuals and artists and youth who identify with the Revolution.

It does not embrace all PCC members, some of whom are opportunists masquerading as revolutionaries. On the other hand, many revolutionaries are not members of the PCC yet are part of the renovationist current.

Within the renovationist current, there is a spectrum of opinion on the key issues in the debate and on how the changes should be implemented.

There can be little doubt about the outcome of the debates held in the lead-up to the Sixth PCC Congress: a solid majority of Cuban society supports the basic principles and objectives of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines adopted unanimously by the 1000 Congress delegates elected by the party's grassroots.

Leftist critics of the Guidelines worry that too much is being conceded to the market. Some propose a far more sweeping “cooperativisation” of the state enterprise sector than that contemplated in the Guidelines.

They propose radical democratic measures reminiscent of those advocated by the leftist opposition to Lenin and Trotsky’s New Economic Policy in the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

To the right, some economic specialists argue that medium-sized private enterprises should be permitted alongside self-employment and small-scale private and cooperative management of social property. The Guidelines rule out privatisation and the concentration of productive property ownership in private hands.

Opposition

At the other pole are those who are wary of debate and fearful of change, among them many sincere and humble revolutionaries. This conservative current has generational and institutional contours.

It is concentrated among older Cubans and those who zealously guard their administrative prerogatives, and in some cases illicit privileges, from criticism and initiative “from below”.

In a December 2011 interview with Edmundo Garcia, Rafael Hernandez distinguished between “constructive” and “frankly negative” opposition to change.

Constructive opposition is expressed by those unable to directly benefit from the openings to self-employment, small businesses and cooperatives and the projected overhaul of the state enterprise sector. It is also expressed by some of the 20% of the population that, according to some Cuban studies, live below the poverty line.

Among them are retirees dependent on their small state pensions.

These sectors “face these changes with a considerable degree of uncertainty” and “don’t necessarily view the reform process with the expectations, desires and enthusiasm of others”.

There is another kind of resistance that “government leaders have explicitly called the bureaucracy”, Hernandez said. It “doesn't oppose through speeches, it doesn’t oppose the reforms with a document”, but “in its slowness to implement the measures already adopted”.

He said: “It’s very logical that the old mindset, which sees the emergence of capitalism in every expression of the market and in every segment of small-scale private property, should exist, because for a long time... socialism was defined in absolute terms as state-centric socialism.”

Translation: Cuba's new housing subsidies

2012-02-16T01:12:00.004+11:00

This detailed report in Juventud Rebelde announces a new housing subsidy scheme for low-income households. It also stresses the underlying principles: a move away from universal subsidies of products and services to targeted subsidies of people in genuine need of assistance; and the rights enshrined in Cuba's socialist constitution, in particular, "ARTICLE 9. The state... (c) works towards ensuring that no family is left without a comfortable place to live."

It should be noted that the Constitution also enshrines the right to free heath care and education at all levels, as well as other social rights that are left to the whims of the market in capitalist societies, such as the right to employment and access to sports and cultural activities.

Here is my translation of the Guidelines on housing and some introductory comments that may be helpful background reading.

Neither state charity nor a gift, but the fulfilment of a constitutional obligation

The decision of the government to grant subsidies to low-income persons and households is a policy that promotes equality of opportunities in Cuba. It aims to ensure that nobody is left destitute and that the socialist state upholds organised social solidarity.

By Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, Mayte María Jiménez, Margarita Barrios, Alina Perera and Ana María Domínguez Cruz

Juventud Rebelde, January 7, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

With the approval of the subsidy for low-income persons and households, a measure adopted by the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers in December and which will be enacted on January 15, Cuba took the first step towards eliminating subsidies for products and instituting subsidies for those people who really need them.

The essence of this decision is that nobody should be left destitute, affirmed Raquel Rodríguez Gato, head of Working Group 6 of the Permanent Commission for the Implementation and Elaboration of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution.

The decision is in line with Guideline 173, which aims to eliminate undue gratuities and excessive subsidies, based on the principle of compensating those who need it and no longer subsidising products as a rule.

It is also in keeping with Guideline 299, according to which “construction materials for the purposes of preservation, repair and construction of housing will be sold at non-subsidised prices. In cases where it is required, people will be partially or fully subsidised within the planned limits”.

These concepts were explained in a press conference at the head office of the Construction Ministry by representatives of the aforementioned Commission and of the ministries of Finances and Prices, Labour and Social Security, Domestic Trade, the Cuban Central Bank and the National Housing Institute.

Raquel Rodríguez emphasised that it is another way of seeking solutions to the housing problems in the country, while clarifying that it will not resolve all such situations.

This measure is one of a series of actions such as the free[1] sale of construction materials without subsidies, the implementation of a policy for bank credits for the purchase of construction materials and labour and price reductions for more than 122 construction material products. It is now possible for those low-income families who are most in need to organise their own housing repairs or construction, she said.

Miguel Limia David, a member of Working Group 6 of the Permanent Commission, said that the housing subsidy is not a charitable gesture but another means for the socialist state to offer support for the most vulnerable citizens.

The subsidy is not a credit, he stressed, and as such it does not have to be repaid. However, it does imply an elevated sense of responsibility, both on the part of the state and the beneficiaries, that is, those who are going to carry out the work that is to be subsidised.

The press conference turned into an in-depth and clarifying dialogue with the journalists about the implications of this government decision.

Miguel Lozano, Prensa Latina: "Are there reference points in the international context for what Cuba is putting into practice?"

Miguel Limia David: “Yes, there are points of reference but they’re not as comprehensive as what we’re doing, because this is a policy that is social, horizontal, universal, but which is implemented in a democratic way at the local level.

“Perhaps what is specific in our case is that it has to do with the socialist nature of our state, of the social objective of our economic policies. It shows that our state – as part of the process of improving its work as a result of the implementation of the Guidelines approved by the Sixth Communist Party Congress – is not abandoning its constitutional obligations, but looking for for a more efficient and sustainable way of guaranteeing these citizens rights.

“This is a social policy that is not implemented from the top down: the decisions are taken at the local level by the democratic governing bodies, which are the ones that decide on where it will be targeted. It’s a policy that addresses social problems, but democratically through the People’s Power local governments. That is, they identify the problem and make a decision in a transparent, accountable manner. The People’s Power municipal assembly is the body that ratifies the decision, that exercises oversight. It is also obliged to regularly inform people about the process.

“As such, it is a policy that tends to promote equality of opportunities in Cuba, to not leave anyone without support. That is, to uphold organised social solidarity through the socialist state. It’s not state charity nor a gift but the fulfilment of a constitutional obligation, but with an emphasis on individual initiative.

“On this last point there are also international experiences, but of essentially capitalist countries where the individual is left to fend for themselves. In our case the citizen is not left to fend for themselves, they are supported, though in a context in which they take their own initiative to manage credit and, together with their family, improve their housing situation without waiting for someone else to come along and do it for them.

“Such a policy breaks with the notion that you sit around waiting for someone else to come along and resolve your problems.”

Raquel Rodríguez Gato: “This new measure – aimed at assisting low-income people and households, on the basis that nobody will be left destitute – contributes, among others, to going some way to solving the housing problems in the country, in other words the problems of construction, repair and maintenance, which doesn’t mean that the state won’t continue building homes.

“The state continues, fundamentally, with the necessary work of constructing new housing in the country. The current measure is being taken in this context.”

Fidel Rendón, National Information Agency: "Are we prepared for a possible 'avalanche' of people who consider that they have the right and the need for this type of assistance?"

Loida Obregón González, head of Economics at the National Housing Institute: “Currently, the offices of the Institute are processing all of the requests that people submit. Those that have been affected by climatic phenomena have been attended to now by the Institute; there are already many applications that have been taken up by the municipal investment entities.

“We’ve had no option but to establish priorities because there are many in need of assistance. And while the Institute must process all applications, it does not have the authority to approve any of them: every application is passed on to the Municipal Administrative Council. All the requests submitted by the population will be processed.”

Vivian Bustamante, Bohemia magazine: "According to the Official Gazette, people can only make one application for the subsidy. What happens to those who want to partially build or renovate their home, that is, little by little?"

Loida Obregón González: "That’s right, you can only apply for the subsidy once. It can be up to 80,000 pesos[2] and include the purchase of the necessary materials and the hiring of the workforce.

“Subsidies can also be granted for smaller works of up to 5,000 pesos, or up to 10,000 if they are more complex, without having to apply for a building permit. The financing of such grants is based on the tax collected on the sale of construction materials in the various provinces, and is granted for the construction, repair or maintenance of up to 25 square metres, that is, for the basic housing unit comprising a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen."

Miguel Limia David: “The subsidy has nothing to do with bank credits, so it doesn’t have to be repaid. So every application will be evaluated in a comprehensive manner in relation to the socio-economic situation of the family, its incomes, expenses and employment, among other factors; and in accordance with the priorities we’ve established, financing for the works will be granted. This must be audited, supervised and properly administered by the beneficiary.

Ricardo Ronquillo, deputy director, Juventud Rebelde: "How can it be ensured that the decision to grant subsidies does not lead to favouritism in some cases?"

Raquel Rodríguez: “Favouritism cannot occur because there will be a commission charged with supervision and investigation of both the granting and the use of subsidies as part of the auditing carried out by the Municipal Administration Council, which will be given new powers. It will be tasked with evaluating the real needs of people, their economic situation, approval or rejection of the subsidy application and checking up on how the subsidy is spent.

“The Municipal Administration Council must report twice a year to the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power regarding compliance with the process.”

Margarita Barrios, Juventud Rebelde: "In terms of the current prices for construction materials, wouldn’t it be better to sell them at closer to their cost of production to make them affordable for more people?"

Bárbara Acosta Machín, deputy minister, Domestic Trade: “The current prices of the materials on sale in the stores are based on production costs. These prices are the same for all buyers (free sales, bank credits and subsidies). To the extent that production by local industry increases, there will be greater supply and costs will come down, as will retail prices.”

Alberto Loreydi, Radio Rebelde: "It has been explained that the priority cases for the granting of subsidies will be those whose housing was affected by natural disasters and those who are most needy. In terms of the latter, who are we talking about?"

Yusimí Campos Suárez, director of Social Security, Ministry of Labour and Social Security: “This refers to someone who requires the assistance of the state in order to carry out this type of work due to physical incapacitation, old age or something else that prevents them from working.

“The granting of the subsidy has an order of priority, which includes families affected by natural disasters such as cyclones, flooding and fire, among others; families who have suffered the partial or total loss of their homes; and critical social cases, such as the incapacitated and all those individuals who have complicated socio-economic circumstances.”

She explained that the commission that has been set up, together with the municipal branch of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, will assess each family that applies – their financial situation, incomes, as well as their social circumstances – so that they have a comprehensive sense of the realities of life of every household that applies for the subsidy.

“To these we must also add those who suffer illnesses and those who are aging, factors which prevent them from being able to cover their living costs and maintain their home in a habitable condition.

“In this regard, priority will be given to the 3,214 total collapses and the 10,179 partial collapses of homes as a consequence of meteorological phenomena in provinces such as Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Camaguey and Holguin, according to National Housing Institute statistics.”

Although the experts and functionaries stressed that nobody who needed such assistance would be left helpless, they insisted on the need for every citizen to be conscientious and responsible in applying for the subsidy, since only those who really need it should apply.

The money must be used for the purpose specified in the contract and the beneficiary must be an active participant in the solution of their housing problems.

Adalberto Carbonell, director-general of Budget at the Ministry of Finances and Prices, explained that the subsidy is funded from 40% of the proceeds from the sale of construction materials in the provinces.

“The Provincial Administration Councils are now being empowered to distribute to the Municipal Administration Councils the funds transferred to the provinces by the Ministry of Finances and Prices according to the needs of each municipality, independently of the proceeds from the sale of construction materials.”

Carbonell added that the subsidy includes 40% of 2011 sales and those over the course of this year.

Melbys Nicola, Opciones magazine: "When does the subsidy expire? Can someone else be appointed to receive the subsidy on behalf of the applicant? If transport of construction materials is required, is this cost included in the subsidy?"

Raquel Rodríguez: “Once granted the subsidy does not expire. It must be remembered that the recipient signs a contract in which it is specified how, when and where this subsidy will be spent."

She also explained that in those cases where the applicant is unable to do it, they can name a representative to utilise the subsidy.

“Up to 30% of the subsidy that is granted may be used to cover labour costs and the transportation of materials. This labour must be be legal, that is, it must be carried out by registered self-employed workers.

José Hernández, Tribuna de La Habana: What happens to people who need subsidies and have outstanding bank debts?

Raquel Rodríguez Gato: “In each case there will be files kept by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the National Housing Institute, which will have to be forwarded to the municipal government so it can assess each situation.

“The municipal office of Labour and Social Security assesses the household, the problems they have, if they have such debts, and on the basis of this analysis they make a recommendation as to whether or not a subsidy should be granted. The analysis includes the possible reasons for the household having debts. It may be precisely because they need the subsidy. So an assessment will be carried out and a decision is then made by the Municipal Administration Council, which later on, every six months, reports back to the Municipal Assembly and also to the Provincial Assembly.”

In response to the concerns of the journalists present at the press conference regarding the procedures for applying for this monetary benefit, Miguel Limia David confirmed that the country has no precedents for such a process.

He emphasised that a lot of work was done to try to minimise the number of administrative procedures required of beneficiaries, and these were reduced to six.

They make an application and then sign a contract, he explained. They take this to the bank and open an account for the subsidy. They order the materials in the store and request a document that lists the prices of these materials; they then go to the bank and ask for a cheque. The materials are held for them for only five business days during which time the banking process is completed. If they’re not able to pick up the materials within five business days they have to begin the purchasing procedure again.

At the bank they receive two cheques, he said, one to pay for the materials and another to cover labour costs, which must be carried out by a team of licensed self-employed workers.

The process must be transparent and feasible, he stressed, and will be adjusted in response to difficulties that may arise when the subsidy becomes available from January 15.

__________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] In unrestricted quantities at non-subsidised prices

[2] Regular (i.e. non-convertible) Cuban pesos.

Translation: Are things changing in Cuba?

2012-02-11T16:09:00.000+11:00

As promised, here is another of Luis Sexto's recent commentaries, characteristically rich in imagery and metaphor. He draws attention to the fact that the renewal process must be gradual and iterative, adjusting itself as it proceeds, and that what has been initiated or accomplished so far is only the beginning.

A start must be made somewhere, such as in the leasing of agricultural lands to those who are willing to farm it and the conversion of state-run barber salons into small private businesses or cooperatives in the name of efficiency, quality of service and the empowerment of the producers. Yet these measures create an uneasy and unsatisfactory coexistence of elements of the old Cuban socialist-oriented economic model and the new one that is emerging, necessitating further measures and adjustments.

Thus Cuba's socialist renewal recalls a passage from The Communist Manifesto in which Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels describe, with prophetic vision, the broad sweep of the socialist revolution:

The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of [capitalist] property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

This is what happened in Cuba during the early 1960s. Today, a somewhat analogous process is taking place. Cuba's revolutionary government is making inroads — democratic rather than despotic, since the bourgeoisie has long been vanquished as a class — into the old model of socialist development "by means of measures ... which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitat[ing] further inroads" into the existing configuration of concepts, structures, methods and mentalities in order to, as Fidel put it, "change everything that must be changed".

Are things changing?

By Luis Sexto, Juventud Rebelde, December 31, 2011

Translation: Marce Cameron

A common tendency among us Cubans has been to act, or demand action, with the speed of a 100m sprinter. We’re an impatient archipelago these days. It seems that it doesn’t please us when things change with the slow constancy of water dripping onto stone. We prefer the rapidity with which some change from their work clothes into their going-out costume.

To the question of whether things are changing in Cuba, it may be that the negative or doubtful opinion has an appreciable number of adherents. Since transformation or renewal are terms that have in common gradualness and the rejection of eruption, perhaps nothing of importance has been renewed in Cuba to date because “something big” hasn’t happened. And what is this big thing that some say hasn’t occurred? What is this benchmark in whose absence nothing of importance has been decided and legislated in Cuba entailing steps towards improving our society, so that it becomes more inclusive, more open, with more space for the productive forces to develop? Perhaps someone is waiting for an act that would suddenly usher in a new watchword, the “every man to himself” of capitalism in a poor country. Is this the way to breathe life into hope?

The “big thing” that some ask for can, if it is untimely, be like an explosion or an implosion. I don’t think I’m exaggerating. I must caution, if my opinion is worthy of consideration, that to change or renovate an organism in our circumstances means a process that excludes demolition. That is, nothing can be modified by bringing it down all at once. If this were to happen then the change wouldn’t be within the same skeleton but in a new one, and then we wouldn’t be the same.

We must be wary, then, of the inspirations, of the swishes of the magic wand or the solutions of Aladdin, and especially the proposals of those who think more about their own interests, their illusions or their loss of status. Given what sears and contaminates the waters in which Cuba navigates today, let’s take out a compass that would explain our reality and guide us in doing what the times allow. Two or three questions, or many more – I leave it to those who need convincing to decide – would serve to orient us: who are we? Where do we want to go? What do we need? When will we arrive? And above all, let’s ask ourselves what kind of a world our country finds itself in and how much Cuba may be harmed by the global capitalist economic crisis and its natural counterpart — the onslaught of the Western powers, led by the US, whose geopolitics is founded on a bellicose and belligerent institution, mention of which resembles the explosion of a muffled bomb: the United Nations.

Today, as I see it, Cuba is not the feeble little boat to which José Antonio Ramos[1] alluded decades ago; it is no longer that small vessel about to run aground against the cliffs of Florida, as Jorge Mañach[2] also alluded to in a moment of clarity. As see it, there is a genuine willingness to change, to find that point of equilibrium that leaves behind harmful or sterile practices, retarding or irrational practices whose transcendence will allow us to pass from an economy of subsistence to one of growth that would include development within a state of equality and justice as the guarantee of freedom, in a socialism that will have to set out to discover itself in strict accordance with reality. Because the search for a balanced society is found through an equilibrium of actions; theory for its own sake can lead to the same thing that the country has decided to transform. Thus this equilibrium will not be a position, but a struggle against falling into one extreme or another. Extremes are implacable. From extreme positions we can stigmatise ourselves, even corrupt the project of updating Cuban society.

I’m not naive, nor gullible; these are the seemingly benign insults with which some people sometimes try to invalidate opinions opposed to their own. And despite the most important decree laws that increase democratic space (yes, democratic because they go hand in hand with other citizens rights) – such as the right to sell one’s car or home, and others such as the extension of self-employment, agricultural producers being able to sell directly to tourism establishments, bank credits to producers for investments and to citizens to build their homes – in my opinion, without deluding myself too much, one can foresee a period of contradictions and paradoxes. Because if we’re talking about a process, about gradualness in applying the strategy approved by the Sixth Communist Party Congress, which was based on more than 700,000 suggestions by the citizenry; if we’re talking about a process, then what has been legislated so far is only a minimal part of the programme. So naturally, we still suffer contradictions.

One example suffices. Someone who is very intelligent commented to me that now the barbers, being self-employed, charge ten pesos for a haircut. Before, their prices were set at 80 centavos. Almost all of the customers gave more, but they couldn't charge more, at least not according to strict compliance with the legally established prices. Yes, it’s a paradox. A typical barber earns enough in four days to cover taxes, rental of the premises and the cost of inputs. How much more does he make than the minimum wage for workers? It’s a paradox, they told me. I agreed, and there are many more such examples. Because for incomes to be fair we’ll have to adjust wages, increase productivity, discard one of our two currencies, reorganise state enterprises, really pay according to results... all in all, we’ll have to suffer more or less contradictions – that are incomprehensible at first glance – until such time as the system is established and consolidated. Or do we want to move into the house with only the foundations laid?

Let’s suppose, what’s more, that along the way, modifications and adjustments will necessarily arise with the aim of adapting its evolution according to the criterion of practice. Flexibility becomes the baton of this orchestra so that its instruments sound harmonious. A baton that does not hesitate to allow the screech of a note that tries to show off its orthodoxy. And before hearing such a subtle sound, to cite an example, Decree Law 259 will have to allow agricultural leaseholders to settle and build a home on the land they work, because who is going to feel encouraged when their crops are two, three or more kilometres from home?[3]

We’ll see the central government tackle distortions. It’s of no minor importance the fact that many of those who implement the update on the ground and at the intermediate level do not understand, do not interpret it aptly, or that the mentality of some resists abandoning their permissiveness and introducing a demanding order in which accountability and honesty will not be more sequins in a theatrical performance.

Are things changing in Cuba? If I were to doubt this, it would be due to my pessimism, my short-sightedness or interests that are incompatible with the dominant interests[4], and in order to understand and support the most creative tendencies, those most committed to change, I myself would have to change. But as I see it, with the experience of more than 40 years accompanying the hard-fought, irregular, audacious history of the Cuban Revolution, it seems Cuba is not the same as yesterday while, in essence, it continues to be the same. This paradox is not difficult to interpret. Every time, I am surprised by what appears in the Official Gazette[5] of the republic; I may be especially surprised by laws that have still not appeared, nor been drafted, and which, surely, we’ll have to draft. And I realise that hope is built with small big things. Day by day.

__________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] Presumably a reference to the Cuban playwright (1885-1946) whose theatrical works took up social and political themes, including the threat of US intervention in Cuba.

[2] Cuban writer and attorney (1898-1961) who studied the life and work of Cuban independence hero Jose Martí. Readers unfamiliar with Caribbean geography may miss the irony in the reference to “Florida’s cliffs”. Florida does not have cliffs but swamps and low-lying quays; its “cliffs” are the treacherous politics against which Cuba could run aground.

[3] A 2008 law that allows individuals, agricultural cooperatives and state farms to lease rent-free from the state, on a medium or long-term basis, farmland that is not in use, an arrangement known as usufruct. (The collapse of the sugar industry during the Special Period has left much of Cuba’s prime agricultural land overrun with maribu, a woody weed that has proved extremely difficult to eradicate. The good news is that Scottish scientists have recently discovered that maribu can be turned into high-quality activated charcoal for specialist applications from water purification to electricity storage.)

[4] In Cuba, the dominant class interests are those of the working people whose political vanguard holds state power.

[5] The official publication in which new laws and modifications to existing laws first appear.

Translation: The hypothetical country

2012-02-05T16:34:00.006+11:00

The first National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) has concluded. The final version of the resolution on the PCC's work, adopted by conference delegates, has been published in Spanish on the PCC website.

There are amendments to most of the draft paragraphs and five new paragraphs have been added. I've translated the draft document and will now compare the draft with the final version word for word. When I've finished I'll post a translation of the final document to this blog. Meanwhile I'll continue to post other translations now that I've settled into my new home.

I'll start by translating a few excellent commentaries by Luis Sexto that have appeared in Juventud Rebelde in recent weeks (Sexto also wrote a commentary on the PCC Conference for the Progreso Weekly website for a mainly Cuban-American audience. You can read it here). Below, Sexto takes issue with leftist critics of the PCC leadership's political line.

Some Cuban revolutionaries both within and outside the PCC think the PCC leadership is conceding too much to market mechanisms when it should be looking to radical alternatives to hyper-centralised, top-down economic management, such as a far more sweeping "cooperativisation" of the state enterprise sector than that foreshadowed in the Guidelines adopted by the Sixth PCC Congress (though it should be noted that the Guidelines, sensibly, leave much room for interpretation — and experimentation — in this regard).

The mood of the majority of Cuban revolutionaries seems to be much closer, as far as can be judged from Australia, to Sexto's opinions here than, for example, those of Pedro Campos, a Havana-based former member of the PCC who left the party on his own initiative. After decades of idealistic experimentation, many are wary of placing hopes on somewhat speculative, if not utopian, visions of the transitional society in Cuba's conditions. "Principled pragmatism" is probably the best way of describing the centre of gravity of revolutionary opinion in Cuba today.

Yet the Guidelines cannot be implemented without a big dose of experimentation. Unlike in the 1970s, when Cuba turned to the Soviet bloc for assistance, there are no manuals to turn to. Cuba has only its own experiences and what can be gleaned from others without falling into the error of mechanical copying. Within this necessary experimentation there will be room, though not as much as some would like, for local initiatives that combine dreams with practicalities in an alchemy of socialist construction out of which a chemistry may emerge.

The hypothetical country

By Luis Sexto, Juventud Rebelde, January 12, 2012

Translation: Marce Cameron

On the first of January[1] some friends and I raised our glasses and one of them, stepping forward, proposed a toast to the country we’d like Cuba to be. Another, however, outstretched his arm as if to restrain the collective gesture and issued a correction: “Let’s toast the country we need.” We obliged. It was a most apt suggestion. Because “the country that we want” is as numerous and contradictory as the desire that it expresses. As diverse as the ideas and the proposals of each and every one of us.

This is readily apparent. As one can read on certain web pages, Cuba has taken refuge in the land of the hypothetical, of conflicting hypotheses. That’s to say – and here I’m just repeating what nearly all of us are aware of – some wish Cuba to be ruled by capitalism and others imagine it as in the lullabies of petty-bourgeois nationalism. On the other hand, an extreme left – an extreme that implicitly defines itself as intransigent and discontented – wants Cuba to be a laboratory of a socialism as theoretical and it is hectic, ignoring the material and political conditions in which Cuba strives for the updating of its economy and society and disregarding, above all, the fact that this “deep socialism”, “ultra-socialism”, has never been put into practice, or at least it does not seem to have survived the experiment.

In contrast, “the country that we need” is a category that, despite its imprecision, corresponds more unanimously to the objective urgencies, to the general internal deficiencies and the global geopolitical situation. Let’s ask ourselves if it’s not pertinent, then, to promote a social order that, as well as sustaining the basic principles of social justice and independence, sets out, at the cost of risks and audacity, to provide the means and the spaces for society as a whole to overcome its economic urgencies.

Without any pretense to being an expert in complexities, I suggested some months back that our society, faced with the wear and tear of the Special Period and the survival of methods that had proved ineffective or erroneous even before this period, needed a “period of transition” towards socialism[2]. A socialism that, what’s more, nobody has managed to define nor definitively achieve in practice. Because of this, it will have to continually adjust itself to the demands of reality. Or does anyone think it possible to perpetuate the model, the interpretation of socialism that fell apart with the collapse of the Soviet Union? Let’s take into account that Cuba is not only surrounded by water along its coastline, it is also encircled by the hostility of voracious powers for which war is second nature.

This is a necessary period of transition during which, without renouncing social justice and independence – for me, two non-negotiable conquests – the country can develop its productive forces, even adopting market mechanisms while being conscious of their limits. This shocks both bureaucratic ideology and that of leftist intransigence. And, in parallel, the decentralisation of society, in such a way that the state continues to be the guarantor of an equilibrium between individual and collective interests.

The above is understood. I acknowledge that each has their own point of view and expresses it. I don’t think it wise, however, to disregard truths that have been verified theoretically and practically. Poverty, shortages, deficiencies, immobility, improvisation and voluntarism are not the premises upon which to construct socialism at one blow. Pure socialism, adhering to the most revolutionary ideals without developing the productive forces, without economic growth? We’d have to speak about the ideas and affirmations of Marx, who refrained from subscribing to extremes and the absolute.

The country that we need, then, is the country that we need in order to – without falling into a vicious cycle – resolve necessities and ingrain in every citizen the idea that socialism does not mean giving away everything, nor equalising everything. It is a permanent and gradual conquest from “the realm of necessity[3]” towards the “realm of freedom”. And for this, every one of us will have to have the space to contribute to the satisfaction of our own needs and, in a solidaristic and creative conjunction, collaborate to resolve those of others. Perhaps in this way we might be able to move toward what amounts to a superior society, and achieve the economic legitimacy that would make it easier to keep in check those who want the country to fragment into classes, divided between a few rich people and those who are left with nothing.
_____________________
Footnotes to the translation

[1] New Year’s Day in the Christian calendar, but also the anniversary of dictator Fulgencio Batista’s flight from Cuba in 1959 as the people rose up in revolution.

[2] In Cuba, “socialism” refers not to a fully communist society but to either the post-capitalist, socialist-oriented society in general (such as Cuba today) or a relatively developed and consolidated form of such a transitional society. It seems Sexto is using the word in the latter sense. Such a society has been anticipated by Marxist theory but, as Sexto points out, has yet to be achieved in practice. Cuba is still a long way from socialism in this sense.

[3] This is an allusion to a passage in Marx’s Capital (Vol. 3, Ch. 48) in which he contrasts the “realm of necessity” of class society with the “realm of freedom” he envisaged in a fully communist society: “[T]he realm of freedom actually begins only where labour which is determined by necessity and mundane considerations ceases; thus in the very nature of things it lies beyond the sphere of actual material production. Just as the savage must wrestle with Nature to satisfy his wants, to maintain and reproduce life, so must civilised man, and he must do so in all social formations and under all possible modes of production. With his development this realm of physical necessity expands as a result of his wants; but, at the same time, the forces of production which satisfy these wants also increase. Freedom in this field can only consist in socialised man, the associated producers, rationally regulating their interchange with Nature, bringing it under their common control, instead of being ruled by it as by the blind forces of Nature; and achieving this with the least expenditure of energy and under conditions most favourable to, and worthy of, their human nature. But it nonetheless still remains a realm of necessity. Beyond it begins that development of human energy which is an end in itself, the true realm of freedom, which, however, can blossom forth only with this realm of necessity as its basis. The shortening of the working-day is its basic prerequisite.”

Comment: Cuba — towards a new socialist model

2012-01-28T18:23:00.007+11:00

Regular readers of my blog deserve an explanation for my not having posted anything since January 18. I had to move house. I'm closer to the ocean now; from my new kitchen window I can see container ships creeping to and from the freight terminal at Sydney's Botany Bay.

A reminder of the intricately interconnected global economy that could be the basis for a planetary socialist society... if we put an end to capitalism before the ecological crisis overwhelms us.

Perhaps the 200 million Chinese industrial, construction and mining workers — concentrated in a few giant metropolises and resembling more the Russian industrial proletariat of the early 20th century than the privileged, sedated "labour aristocracy" of developed capitalist societies — will decide the fate of humanity? If that sleeping giant awakens...

Meanwhile, I hope to return to posting regular translations soon.

Here is a commentary I wrote for Australia's Green Left Weekly, the second in a series of articles on the debates and changes in Cuba. A slightly edited version has been published on the Green Left website here.

Cuba: towards a new socialist model

By Marce Cameron

As reported in GLW #905, the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), held in April, “endorsed for the first time a fundamental change in the political and economic model”, according to respected Cuban political scientist and Temas magazine editor Rafael Hernandez.

This does not mean the abandonment of Cuba’s socialist project, but the renewal of this project after two decades of the post-Soviet “Special Period”, a deep structural crisis of Cuba’s post-capitalist, centrally-planned economy and an ideological and ethical crisis of the nation’s socialist vocation.

The changes underway in Cuba point to a socialist-oriented society purged of excessive idealism, elements of Soviet bureaucratic “socialism”, the crisis-driven improvisation of the Special Period and the pernicious habits engendered by the survival imperative amid this systemic crisis.

Contrary to the notion that political processes are either “top down” (as in the Greek austerity measures) or “bottom up” (as in the Arab Spring), Cuba’s socialist renewal unites revolutionary leaders and masses in a common struggle to “change everything that must be changed”.

This common struggle is the fruit of a democratic national debate of unprecedented candour, depth and detail on the draft Economic and Social Policy Guidelines.

The final version of the Guidelines, adopted by the Sixth Congress and subsequently by Cuba’s national assembly, bears the imprint of this consultative process.

Special Period

In the late 1980s, Cubans enjoyed the highest living standards in Latin America thanks in part to Soviet fair trade. Then the USSR and its satellite states – and the dogmatic certainties of Soviet “Marxism-Leninism” – abruptly crumbled.

A bitter truth was revealed: Soviet bureaucratic “socialism” was a brittle caricature of the real thing. As the Berlin Wall fell and Czechs, Poles and Romanians smashed statues of Marx and Lenin in public squares, Cuban leader Fidel Castro invoked the heroism of the young Soviet republic under Lenin’s leadership.

The Fourth PCC Congress, held in 1991, resolved to continue the “Rectification” process launched at the Third Congress in 1986. At the heart of Cuba’s “recification of errors and negative tendencies” was the abandonment of elements of the Soviet “model” that had been uncritically assimilated.

But the search for a new Cuban model of socialist development, free from both idealistic errors and the malign influence of Soviet Stalinism, was overtaken by the need to survive. The collapse of Cuba’s foreign trade with the Soviet bloc meant industrial paralysis, severe shortages and long queues.

Cuba’s communist leaders were preoccupied with ensuring that what little there was was shared as equitably as possible; that no schools or hospitals closed; that idled workers were not left destitute.

In a word, that social solidarity prevailed over selfishness.

They had to ensure, for example, that every Cuban child continued to receive a litre of highly subsidised milk each day. Cuba had bartered its lobster for the powdered milk of East German cows.

With East Germany absorbed into the capitalist West and the simultaneous tightening of the US economic blockade, milk had to be bought at market prices from as far away as New Zealand.

The concessions to the market made during the 1990s to stimulate economic recovery, from the opening to foreign tourism to turning huge state farms into cooperatives under state tutelage, were essentially emergency measures rather than the building blocks of a new socialist model.

During the Special Period the building of socialism had to be put on hold. The Cuban Revolution had to strive to preserve its core social achievements, above all free and universally accessible health care and education at all levels, and adjust to the new world in which US imperialism had emerged as the hegemonic superpower.

Cuba’s revolutionaries would have to come to terms not only with the Soviet debacle and its political lessons for Cuba, but with the Revolution’s own errors, some of which date back to the 1960s.

The spectacular rise of capitalism “with Chinese characteristics”, and Vietnam’s tightrope walk between socialist commitment and capitalist restoration, would also have to be studied critically.

Finally, no overhaul of Cuba’s socialist model – a configuration of concepts, structures, methods and mentalities that seeks to embody the nation’s socialist objective – could proceed without striving for political consensus, first among the PCC leadership and then among its broad social base, the big majority of Cuba’s working people.

All this has taken two decades.

Persuasion

Contrary to the nonsense peddled by the corporate media, revolutionary Cuba is not a police state; its repressive forces have never been used against the people. It is the force of persuasion, rather than the persuasion of force, that is the outstanding feature of Cuban politics since 1959.

This is in stark contrast to both Stalinist totalitarianism and capitalist “democracy”.

Unlike capitalist politicians, who may resort to state violence to persuade citizens to accept “what’s good for the country”, Cuba’s communist leaders have to explain and convince. This is why Fidel used to give such long speeches, interrupting baseball telecasts and soap-operas for hours on end. As Havana University’s Jesus Arboleya has observed, Fidel has been the Revolution’s sternest loyal critic.

Striving for consensus, while acknowledging that differences of opinion are healthy and inevitable, will become even more important in the approaching post-Fidel era, when Fidel’s generation of revolutionary leaders – with their unique personal authority forged in heroic deeds in the Sierra Maestra mountains and in the prisons of the Batista dictatorship – are no longer around.

Cuba today is not the same as in 1989. The market concessions have succeeded in stimulating a partial economic recovery amid a growing social differentiation based on access to convertible currency.

A substantial minority of Cubans can live relatively comfortably thanks to remittances, theft from the socialist state and other black market activities and employment in sectors linked to tourism and foreign investment. With state salaries insufficient to cover all basic living costs, most Cubans have had no choice but to turn to the black market to make ends meet.

When workers are obliged to steal from their workplaces in order to live with dignity, they tend to turn a blind eye to corrupt administrators. How to instill a sense of individual and collective responsibility for socially-owned productive property when it has come to be viewed by many workers and administrators as a source of illicit personal enrichment?

Convergence

This touches on an old problem that predates the Special Period. Hyper-centralised management of Cuba’s centrally-planned economy reduces the scope for worker participation, while excessive egalitarianism in the sphere of wages tends to breed contempt for social property: less politically conscious and committed workers may think, “Why bother working hard when I’ll get paid the same low wages?”

This is one example of the convergence of elements of Soviet bureaucratic “socialism” with excessive revolutionary idealism.

Others are Cuba’s wholesale expropriation of urban small businesses in 1968, a policy that is now being reversed, and the all-pervasive nature of the socialist state, which is now retreating to its appropriate functions and dimensions in a society that envisages its eventual “withering away”, as Karl Marx put it.

“For the worker to feel like the owner of the means of production, we cannot rely solely on theoretical explanations – we have been doing that for about 48 years – nor on the fact that their opinion is taken into consideration in the workplace meetings.

"It is very important that their income corresponds to their personal contribution and to the work centre’s fulfilment of the social objective for which it was constituted”, Cuban president Raul Castro told the National Assembly in July 2008.

In a panel discussion on work in Cuba published by Cuba’s Bohemia magazine on October 13, 2010, Cuban researcher Jose Ramon Fabelo asked:

“If I'm not able to decide what is produced, nor to what end, nor participate in management, in planning, and much of the time what I earn is not related to what I do, what sense of ownership am I going to have, am I going to extract this out of pure ideology? Sometimes yes, but not in the majority of cases...

“We've often debated between these two extremes, between moral or material incentives, consciousness or money. I consider this contraposition to be very anti-dialectical.

"We need to harmonise the two, and I would caution: today we cannot go to the extreme of hoping that economic mechanisms by themselves will stimulate and restore the value of work to its rightful place. Educational, pedagogical, political and juridical work is very important in the here and now.”

Translation: PCC Conference document (5)

2012-01-18T09:33:00.001+11:00

Here is the final instalment of my translation of this draft document.

For more on the PCC's work among youth, see Raul Castro's speech to the closing session of the Union of Young Communists (UJC) Ninth Congress in April 2010.

First National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party

Draft basic document

Translation: Marce Cameron (Part 5 of translation)

Chapter 4: The Party’s relations with the UJC and the mass organisations

Union of Young Communists (UJC)

80. Ensure that the Party’s structures are linked systematically with those of the UJC at all levels, devising more effective work styles with a view to strengthening the capacity of the UJC to carry out political work through its militants.

81. Focus the work of the UJC on attending to the Pioneers[1], adolescents and youth to contribute, without improvisation and with objectivity, to the formation of values and convictions. Carry out activities, free from schemas and dogmas, with the aim of them adopting a correct social conduct.

82. Ensure that the method and forms of selecting cadres as well as the functioning of its structures, in particular its base organisations, are the lifeblood of the UJC’s communication with and influence among the youth, based on the personal example of its militants and their contribution to defending the Revolution in the sectors in which they carry out political work.

83. Improve the quality of the ordinary meetings of the UJC base committees. The evaluation of essential matters based on its own perspective and approaches must be encouraged, so that the members involve and motivate as many youth as possible.

84. Prioritise work in the education sector, including specific actions in the academic and intellectual sphere, the universities and the study centres. Ensure that the talent that is cultivated in these sectors is put at the service of the people.

85. Transform, with new methods and greater flexibility, the UJC’s work with the Pioneers organisation, the high school students federation and the university students federation. Facilitate them taking up their respective missions and earning the necessary greater recognition of students, so that students feel that these organisations represent, support and accompany them in their studies.

86. Evaluate the benefits of raising the minimum age for UJC membership to 16 years, with a view to future members being better prepared for admission. Likewise, extend the maximum age of membership to 35 years.

87. Assist the enrollment of youth in the technical and trades schools. Attend to those who are beginning their working lives and those who work in the non-state [i.e. self-employment, small business and cooperative] sector.

88. Strengthen the work of the UJC in the productive sector, identifying and attending to youths who may be prospective members. Achieve membership growth as a result of this approach.

89. Promote recreational spaces with the participation of the Pioneers and student organisations, taking into account the available resources. Forms that contribute to the development and wholesome recreation of children, adolescents and youth will be favoured.

90. Improve the youth publications, so that their articles and materials are more influential among children and youth and respond to the needs, tastes and interests of these age groups.

91. Evaluate the calls to participate in national events promoted by the UJC and the student federations and limit them to those that are essential.

Mass organisations

92. Redouble the attention given by the Party to these organisations, with a more rounded influence on their cadres and structures. Emphasise the responsibility and training of the base committees in order to carry out their tasks in the workplaces and communities.

93. Achieve a relationship between the Party and these organisations that is free from formalism, with ongoing feedback regarding the interests, viewpoints and proposals of their members on issues of paramount importance and priority at the national level.

94. When undertaking tasks of a strategic nature for the country or a region or locality, the Party should consider providing information to and involving the corresponding mass organisations in these tasks.

95. Encourage and support the participation of the trade union and National Association of Small Farmers cadres in the assemblies of members and associates. Contribute to these assemblies through the active role of the Party militants.

96. Support the work of the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution and the Federation of Cuban Women and that of their neighbourhood committees through the active participation of the local Party militants.

With regard to the paragraphs above in relation to the mass organisations, it should be clarified that, as part of the preparatory work prior to the Conference, the national leaderships of these organisations carried out a consultation process on their content, structures and functioning. This entailed a broad exchange with their cadres and members down to the base level, after which they will undertake to carry out the necessary transformations and changes.

97. The militants of the PCC and the UJC, as members of one of more of these organisations, are in a position to contribute their opinions in this regard. In this respect, they should refer in their interventions to the issues relating to the content, practices, work methods and responsibilities of each of the mass organisations in the current conditions, so that these organisations are better able to fulfil their functions in relation to the social sectors they represent.

________________

Translator's footnote:

[1] Socialist Cuba’s mass organisation of children and young adolescents

Translation: PCC Conference document (4)

2012-01-14T00:08:00.007+11:00

First National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party

Draft basic document

Translation: Marce Cameron (Part 4 of translation)

Chapter 3: Cadre policy

68. Ensure that cadres have solid technical-professional training; proven ethical, political and ideological qualities; and that they uphold the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and in the Party’s policies, whether or not they are members of the PCC or the UJC.

69. Promote the emergence of cadres from the grassroots though direct contact with the masses and experience in the workplace. Promotion to higher responsibilities must be gradual, taking into account their performance.

70. Achieve a progressive and sustained increase in women, blacks, mestizos and youth in leadership positions based on the merit, performance and personal qualities of those proposed.

71. Project the gradual renewal of leading personnel and define the limits of office in terms of duration and age, according to the functions and complexities of each post. Limit the holding of the highest political and state posts to a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.

72. Encourage, in the leadership style of the cadres, greater agility and initiative in decision-making; intransigence in the face of violations [i.e. of legality and ethical conduct] and breaches of discipline; systematic contact with the masses; and a high degree of political and human sensitivity in their conduct.

73. Systematically ensure the selection and training of the cadre reserve. Demand responsibility on the part of those whom it is incumbent upon to train their subordinates, on the basis of their personal example.

74. Demand that cadres comply with the law and, where applicable, that those who breach the law be brought to justice.

75. Facilitate the selective rotation of political cadres with a view to rounding out their training through exercising administrative and governmental responsibilities. Also facilitate administrative and government leaders moving on to political responsibilities, to the same end.

76. Improve the Party’s attention to and supervision of the application of the cadre policy for state and government cadres, respecting the authority and responsibility of leaders and their leadership bodies in adopting the decisions that fall within their jurisdiction.

77. Ensure that cadres have the indispensable working conditions for carrying out their functions. Promote their social recognition and implement measures to make possible their relocation when they conclude their professional duties in the political or mass organisations or in elected government leadership positions.

78. Ensure that the cadre evaluation system makes an objective assessment of the personal conduct of cadres, the results they obtain in their areas of responsibility and their degree of political development.

79. Strengthen the role of the Party Schools System, prioritising the work of the municipal schools in the education of political cadres and the pool of reserve cadres. In the improvement strategy to be drawn up the indispensable prior training of those who occupy posts, in accordance with the requirements and functions of these positions, will be considered.

[Translation to be continued]

Translation: PCC Conference document (3)

2012-01-12T11:54:00.009+11:00

This chapter of the draft PCC National Conference document includes several paragraphs that are worth drawing attention to.

Paragraph 34 is an example of what Temas magazine editor Rafael Hernandez pointed out in his radio interview that I translated: the political implications of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, one of which is that the decentralisation of economic management towards the state enterprises and the municipalities permits, and at the same time necessitates, a political revitalisation of the People's Power local governments.

Point 45 about the need to combat prejudices against the "non-state" (i.e. small-scale private and cooperative) sector is aimed primarily at those within the PCC who think that opening the door to small-scale private and cooperative enterprise is incompatible with socialist construction, a dogmatic misconception that flows from decades of socialist state ownership and centralised management of almost the entire economy.

Hence the importance of paragraph 60, which calls for opening up spaces for debate on Marxism-Leninism to clarify what it is and isn't, and paragraph 62, which specifies the need to "work in particular on the conceptualisation of the theoretical foundations of the Cuban economic model". In December, Marino Murillo, chair of the permanent government commission charged with coordinating the implementation of the Guidelines, told the National Assembly that progress had made on the elaboration of such a document.

Also noteworthy is paragraph 54 on combating prejudices of various kinds. This is the first time a PCC document of this kind makes an explicit reference to the need to combat prejudice in the area of sexual orientation. Paragraph 65 takes up the need to reflect "the Cuban reality in all its diversity" on TV and in film. Again, sexual orientation is specified. See my translation of a recent interview with Mariela Castro for more on this.

First National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party

Draft basic document

Translation: Marce Cameron (Part 3 of translation)

Chapter 2: Political and ideological work

37. Strengthen national unity around the Party and the Revolution to preserve the Cuban nation and the socio-economic achievements of these years, on the basis that the homeland, the Revolution and socialism are indissolubly fused.

38. Stimulate the conscious participation of the people in the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution because the sustainability and preservation of our socialist system depend on their implementation.

39. Enhance the ethical and productive character of work as a means of contributing to society and the satisfaction of personal and family needs.

40. Systematically evaluate the impact of the economic and social measures and draw timely attention to distortions in their implementation that hinder the attainment of the stated objective.

41. Raise awareness of the fact that saving resources of all kinds is one of the principal sources of income for the country.

42. Promote care for goods and resources, the practice of internal monitoring and quality of productive processes and products in enterprises, the budgeted sector and other social and economic entities.

43. Encourage real and effective participation in the execution of projects that stimulate initiative and provide tangible benefits in terms of local development.

44. Promote economic, legal, taxation and ecological awareness among the people. Strive for knowledge of and respect for the law, and for honest and administratively responsible conduct.

45. Improve political attention to those involved in various forms of non-state [i.e. small-scale private or cooperative] economic management and combat the existing prejudices towards them.

46. Carry out political and ideological work in a differentiated, personalised and continuous manner, based on the specifics of each locality, with the use of more diverse and effective methods, forms and means of communication.

47. Perfect political and ideological work among youth in order to fully involve them in the economic and social transformations, using attractive and participatory methods in accordance with their needs, interests and expectations.

48. Develop strategies aimed at preventing and dealing with the enemy’s [i.e. US imperialism’s] campaigns and actions, open or covert, that attempt to undermine revolutionary ideology, exacerbate selfishness and erode values, identity and national culture.

49. Make the most of the advantages of information and communications technologies as tools for the development of knowledge, the economy and ideological activity. Convey Cuba’s image and its reality, as well as combating subversive [propagandistic] actions against our country.

50. Combat energetically every manifestation of corruption, indiscipline[1] and unethical or illegal action. Strengthen popular control and collective action in the face of any manifestation of impunity.

51. Promote an attitude and conduct consistent with the values espoused by the Revolution, on the basis of achieving greater coherence between the contributions of the family, the educational and cultural institutions, the community and the mass media.

52. Better instruct parents and reinforce the paramount role of the family in childhood education. Cultivate dignified and solidaristic attitudes. Confront gender violence, violence within the family and in the community.

53. Reaffirm that the educational institutions are centres for the cultivation of ethical values and of respect for institutionalism and the law, where the example set by the teaching personnel is decisive. Promote love for work as one of the fundamental values, as well as civic, moral and aesthetic education.

54. Confront racial, gender, religious, sexual orientation and other prejudices that may give rise to any form of discrimination or limit the exercise of people’s rights, among them those with public positions and those who participate in the political and mass organisations[2] and in the defence of the country.

55. Consolidate the Revolution’s cultural policy, defined by Fidel from since his 1961 “Words to the Intellectuals”[3] and characterised by the democratisation of access to culture, the defence of identity and heritage, and the active participation of intellectuals and artists in a climate of unity and freedom [of expression].

56. Ensure that cultural projects, aimed at the spiritual enrichment of our people, exclude commercialism and other approaches of a different kind that depart from cultural policy.

57. Promote frank and open artistic and literary criticism, with an emphasis on the weakness and virtues of the cultural work, so that criticism contributes to achieving the quality that is aspired to and preserves our identity and respect for traditions.

58. Work in conjunction with the cultural institutions, the mass media, programme directors and audiences and artists and intellectuals to avoid cultural expressions that offend the dignity of people or the sensibilities of our population. Taking into account their aesthetic tastes, influence them so as to promote, on a massive scale, the capacity for artistic and literary appreciation, as well as to cultivate ethical and aesthetic values.

59. Stress the ethical, humanistic and anti-imperialist legacy of Jose Martí as an essential foundation of revolutionary practice.

60. Adapt the teaching of Marxism-Leninism to the present conjuncture and to the requirements of the various levels of education; promote spaces for debate on Marxism-Leninism.

61. Perfect the teaching of and the diffusion of understanding about Cuban history, in the strategic interests of strengthening national unity and promoting awareness of the origin and development of the nation; an in the interests of the consolidation of the Cuban intellectual tradition, guided by the notion of justice and the patriotic, solidaristic and internationalist tradition of our people.

62. Develop and make greater use of social research and socio-political and opinion studies in every sphere and sector of national life. Work in particular on the conceptualisation of the theoretical foundations of the Cuban economic model.

63. Transform the current system of training and political information for PCC cadres and militants, workers and the population. Ensure content relevant to the needs of the different social sectors or groups, in accordance with current social conditions.

64. Confront manifestations of formalism, lack of creativity and obsolete criteria in the fields of journalism and propaganda. Give particular attention to the diversity of audiences.

65. Reflect, in audio-visual media [e.g. TV, cinema], the Cuban reality in all its diversity with regard to the economic, work and social situation and that of gender, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

66. Communicate in an opportune, objective, systematic and transparent manner the Party’s policy on advancing the revolutionary project and the difficulties, weaknesses and adversities that we must face up to, doing away with the harmful expressions of secrecy.

67. Encourage the mass media to be an effective stage for culture and debate, to open the doors to knowledge and to offer analysis and the permanent expression of opinion. Cultivate a journalism that is objective and investigative and that stamps out self-censorship, mediocrity, bureaucratic and saccharine language, facileness, rhetoric, triumphalism and banality.

[Translation to be continued]
_________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] Presumably in an institutional context

[2] In official discourse, “the political organisations” refers to the PCC and the UJC. “Mass organisations” refers to sectoral organisations such as the trade unions, the Federation of Cuban Women, the National Association of Small Agriculturalists, and so on.

[3] A reference to a well-known speech in which Fidel Castro summarised the Revolution’s cultural policy as follows: “Within the Revolution, everything; against the Revolution, nothing”. This was interpreted rather narrowly in the 1970s during the height of Soviet influence, when there was heavy state censorship. Today, intellectuals and artists enjoy greater freedom of expression than ever before in revolutionary Cuba.

Translation: PCC Conference document (2)

2012-01-08T23:30:00.003+11:00

First National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party

Draft basic document

Translation: Marce Cameron (Part 2 of translation; Part 1 is here)

Chapters

Below are the objectives that must be prioritised in Party activity with a view to resolving the fundamental problems and deficiencies of its work, together with others that flow from the new challenges faced by the Party.

Chapter 1: Functioning, methods and style of Party work

1. Promote the members of the Party committees at all levels playing a decisive role in the discussion and adoption of the most important decisions that are the Party’s responsibility. Ensure that they have prior knowledge of the issues and that they play an active role in the analysis carried out by the party body, and that they have the information to allow them to discharge their duties and responsibilities effectively.

2. Introduce the principle that the members of the Party committees at all levels must tender their resignation from the committee in question when they judge that the reasons for which they were elected no longer exist, without this being considered a reprehensible attitude or cause for disrepute.

3. Ensure that in the ordinary meetings of the Party bodies and the base committees, matters related to the implementation of and compliance with the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, and the execution of the economic plan or the assigned budget, are addressed as a matter of priority and are dealt with systematically, and that the role of the Party itself in this regard is critically appraised.

4. Promote and require a better understanding and observance of the documents that regulate the party’s activity by its bodies, base committees and militants.

5. Provide more information to the militants, workers and the population about the analyses and decisions of Party bodies regarding the economic and social life of the provinces and the municipalities.

6. Evaluate, with a view to rationality, the reduction of the number of matters or topics referred to the various levels of the Party for discussion in meetings, as well the entire existing system of information and documentation from the Central Committee to the base.

7. Strengthen, in the Party structures, measures aimed at preventing and confronting instances of social misconduct, illegalities, corruption and other crimes.

8. Reduce the number of permanent commissions of Party bodies to what is strictly necessary. This does not exclude those that are established temporarily to deal with specific issues.

9. Improve the system for planning the work of Party bodies, their cadres and the base organisations, ensuring that it is adjusted to the characteristics, specific content and responsibilities of the various levels of leadership.

10. Comprehensively revise the supervision and advisory system used by the Central Committee and the provincial and municipal committees with regard to subordinate levels of leadership.

11. Confront the tendency to carry out supervision and follow-up of the tasks that are the Party’s responsibility though meetings. Encourage direct contact with those responsible and other workers at the coalface.

12. Foster in the Party and other institutions an appropriate work environment that facilitates and promotes respect and mutual confidence as prerequisites for dialogue, debate and criticism, and ensure a work style that is ever-more participatory and democratic in terms of decision-making.

13. Encourage criticism and self-criticism, based on the principle that everyone in the Party has the right to criticise and nobody is above criticism, and eliminate the practice of accepting self-criticisms that are in reality attempts to justify the unjustifiable. Disciplinary measures should be in accordance with the concept expressed by Fidel that we should be neither tolerant nor implacable.

14. Demand that in the [public] institutions and within the Party itself, the complaints and denunciations of the population are given due and timely attention, and that the responses are furnished with the required swiftness and rigour.

15. Uphold the time-frame established in the Statutes for the convening of Party Congresses[1]. Their postponement due to the threat of war, natural disasters and other exceptional circumstances must be approved by the Central Committee Plenum and reported to the militants.

16. Hold Central Committee Plenums at least twice a year. Among key agenda items must be the analysis and implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, the fulfilment of the economic plan and the state budget in the corresponding period, matters relating to the Party itself, defence preparations and other topics of national and international interest.

17. Review the concepts and methods pertaining to leadership and to organisations at the base level, especially the work of the instructor.

18. Improve the organisation and content of the meetings of the executive bureaux of the municipal Party committees with the general secretaries of the base organisations.

19. Continue developing and improving the attention given by activists to political processes and other tasks, outside of work hours as a rule.

20. Consolidate the system of activists who attend to the militants in their residential areas, with a view to increasing their participation and influence in the neighbourhood, and enhance the role of the professional cadres in the guidance and oversight of this work.

21. Improve and streamline the Auxiliary Structure of the Central Committee and the intermediate leadership organisations, in accordance with the content of their work in the present and future conditions.

22. Strengthen the role of the Party committees in the workplaces and the attention they receive from the higher Party bodies, so that the workplace committees lead and oversee the cells[2] that are subordinate to them in a more comprehensive and effective manner, together with their other responsibilities.

23. Ensure that the Party base organisations concentrate their efforts on the efficient fulfilment of local activities. To this end they should organise and develop their core political-ideological activities and be directly responsible for demanding the exemplary conduct of their militants, regardless of the office they may hold.

24. Require that the key problems that arise in the workplaces or communities are given immediate attention by the militants in these places, without them having to wait for directives or the intervention of higher Party bodies.

25. Ensure that the general secretary of the base organisation is the most suitable person for this post. Make use, where necessary, of the right of the municipal Party organisation to submit proposals in this regard.

26. Ensure that, as a rule, the militants carry out Party tasks in their respective Party cells, based on a rational assessment of their responsibilities and abilities.

27. Maintain accountability sessions for militants as means of evaluating, in a rational manner, their conduct in the labour, political and social spheres.

28. Improve the running of coordination meetings, called by the Party, that involve the administrative, trade union and UJC leaderships of the workplaces in order to join forces for the fulfilment of the plans or other activities of common interest.

29. Step up direct political attention by the Secretariat, the Auxiliary Structure of the Central Committee and the provincial Party committees, where applicable, to the Party base organisations of the Central State Administration Agencies and other institutions at the national and provincial levels, as well as those of the UJC leadership bodies and the leaderships of the mass and social organisations. The tasks related to the internal life of the Party will continue to be taken up by the municipal committees in which these base organisations are located.

30. Establish mixed cells (that include Party and UJC militants) in centres where there are few UJC militants or where it is considered useful in order to strengthen political and ideological work. The student sector is excluded.

31. Empower the executive bureau of the municipal committee to authorise a different frequency of ordinary meetings in regional cells, where necessary due to the nature of the localities in which they operate or the personal limitations of the militants.

32. Eliminate the practice of entrusting locality-based cells with tasks that are the responsibility of other organisations and institutions, as well as the tendency for the cells to assume these tasks on their own initiative.

33. Reaffirm that admission to the Party is voluntary and is based on the principles of exemplariness and always consulting with the masses, where the quality of this consultation is paramount in ensuring that it is recognised by the people.

34. Deactivate[3] militants who are obliged to join a locality-based Party cell but due to retirement or work, personal or family circumstances decline to do so.

35. Grant Party base organisations with seven or more militants the power to issue a caution as a disciplinary measure, without the need to seek ratification from the higher Party body.

36. Empower the municipal committee executive bureau to ratify expulsion from the Party in cases of proven betrayal of the country.

[Translation to be continued]
_________________
Translator's footnotes:

[1] According to the PCC Statues, national Congresses are supposed to be held at five year intervals. Since the founding Congress in 1975, a further five Congresses were held in 1980, 1986, 1991, 1997 and 2011.

[2] The núcleos, cells, are the smallest units in the PCC’s hierarchical structure. Base committees in workplaces, study centres and neighbourhoods comprise numerous cells. The party is also organised at the municipal, provincial and national levels.

[3] According to the PCC’s Regulations document (Introduction, p. 31), “deactivation” is a category of honourable termination of membership when a militant is judged to no longer possess the qualities that were the basis for their admission to the PCC and they have lost the “drive” to carry out the Revolution’s tasks.

Translation: PCC Conference document (1)

2012-01-06T18:39:00.008+11:00

From January 28 the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) will hold its first National Conference. This important gathering will complement the Sixth PCC Congress, held in April, that adopted the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines.

The Sixth Congress, the highest decision-making body of the PCC, focused on the "updating" of Cuba's socialist-oriented economic model and tasked the Conference with reviewing and improving the Party's methods and work style, in terms of both its internal functioning and its relationship with other revolutionary organisations and with Cuban society as a whole.

In the lead-up to the Conference the PCC leadership has submitted the following document for consideration by the Party's ordinary members or "militants". The PCC has more than 800,000 members. In addition, the PCC invited the communist youth and the mass sectoral organisations — such as the trade unions, the Federation of Cuban Women and the neighbourhood-based Committees for the Defence of the Revolution — to analyse the draft document and contribute to its refinement.

Given that the vast majority of Cuban citizens belong to one or more of these organisations, the PCC leadership has initiated a consultation process that is open to both PCC members and non-members who are part of its broad social base. However, it appears that Cuban media coverage of these debates and the issues under discussion has been minimal in comparison to coverage of the public debates on the Guidelines.

Comparing this draft document with a final version that will be put to the vote of Conference delegates will reveal more about the content of these debates and how they shaped the outcome of the Conference.

A few introductory comments on the PCC itself.

Article 5 of Cuba's socialist constitution, adopted by referendum in 1975, establishes the PCC's role in society as follows:

The Communist Party of Cuba, Martían [i.e. inspired by Jose Martí] and Marxist-Leninist, organised vanguard of the Cuban nation, is the highest leading force in society and the state, organising and guiding common efforts towards the lofty goals of building socialism and progress toward a communist society.

The PCC embodies Jose Martí's dream of uniting Cuba's revolutionary vanguard in a single party, thus overcoming the divisions among revolutionaries that contributed to the failure of Cuba's 19th century independence struggles to achieve real national sovereignty.

From Lenin's ideas and example the PCC derives the notion of a voluntary, selective organisation of the most capable and committed revolutionaries; a disciplined party that combines democratic discussion and decision-making with a united approach to the implementation of party decisions; and a party based not on bureaucratic privilege and authoritarianism but on moral authority, persuasion and the power of example.

This is the Leninist spirit in which the PCC leadership has called upon the party as a whole to rise to the new, complex and exceedingly difficult challenges posed by Cuba's socialist renewal.

Here is the first instalment of my translation of this 97-paragraph resolution (excluding the introductory paragraphs below). Footnotes follow the text. I'm not aware of any other English translation of this document. If you know of one, please let me know.

Cover of the Spanish version

First National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party

Draft basic document

Translation: Marce Cameron (Part 1 of translation)

* * *
Contents:

Basis of the Party

Chapters:

I. Functioning, methods and style of Party work

2. Political and ideological work

3. Cadre policy

4. The Party’s relations with the Union of Young Communists (UJC) and the mass organisations

* * *
Basis of the Party

The Cuban Communist Party (PCC) is the legitimate fruit of the Revolution and at the same time its vanguard that ensures, together with the people, its historical continuity. Comrade Fidel Castro, Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, set out his conception of the Party during the First PCC Congress[1] when he said:

The Party brings everything together. In it are synthesised the dreams of all the revolutionaries throughout our history; in it are concretised the ideas, the principles and the strength of the Revolution; in it our individualism disappears and we learn to think in terms of the collective. It is our educator, our teacher, our guide and our vigilant conscience when we ourselves are unable to see our errors, our defects and our limitations. In the Party we join our efforts and we make of each one of us a Spartan warrior of the most noble of causes, and together we become an invincible giant.

These concepts sum up our thinking and action and guide us in our determination to build a fully free and sovereign society, as expressed in our Constitution of the Republic.

The principles of democratic centralism, collective leadership and individual responsibility retain, as pillars of the Party and its structure, their full validity and underpin the will to perfect it.

As the sole party of the Cuban nation, the Marxist, Leninist and Martían[2] Cuban Communist Party draws strength from, and has as its principal mission, the unity of all patriots and the linking up of their efforts towards the lofty objectives of building socialism, preserving the achievements of the Revolution and continuing to struggle for our dreams of justice for Cuba and for all of humanity.

1. Introduction

1.1 The National Party Conference, convened by the Sixth Party Congress[3], is tasked with evaluating the work of the organisation objectively and critically, as well as defining, with a will to renewal, the necessary transformations so that it is equal to the demands of the present circumstances.

1.2 The Main Report to the Sixth PCC Congress stated: “[...] we must reflect on the counterproductive effects of old habits that have nothing to do with the vanguard role of the organisation in society, among them the superficiality and formalism with which political-ideological work is conducted; the use of antiquated methods and terms that do not take into account the level of education of the militants; and the holding of unnecessarily long and frequent meetings that often take place during the work day, which must be considered sacred, first and foremost by the communists; meeting agendas that are often inflexible, set by the higher Party body without reflecting the concrete reality of the militants; the frequent calls to attend formal commemorative activities, with speeches that are even more formal, and the organisation of voluntary work on days off without real content nor proper coordination, generating expenditures and spreading dissatisfaction and apathy among our compañeros”.

1.3 The Sixth Congress endorsed the idea that the first thing we are obliged to modify in the life of the Party is the mentality that, as a psychological barrier, will be the most difficult thing to overcome as it is bound up with dogmas and obsolete criteria.

1.4 It is important to recognise that at different times the Party involved itself in tasks that did not correspond to it, which limited its leadership role and compromised its political and ideological work. We also have to deal with problems such as ignorance, disregard for the guiding documents of the Party and deficiencies in the exercise of the Party’s functions and powers, lack of analytical rigour and inconsistent application of the adopted policy, which prevents the Party from achieving the hoped-for results of its work.

1.5 The present challenges demand, above all, the linking up of all the means and forces at our disposal in order to strengthen the patriotic and moral unity of the people; to cultivate revolutionary values and conduct; to open up to legitimate individual and collective aspirations; and to confront prejudice and discrimination of all kinds that still persist in society.

1.6 The imperialists pin their hopes on the supposed vulnerability of the new generations and on certain groups or sectors of society. They try to foment division, apathy, discouragement, emigration and lack of confidence in the leadership of the Revolution and the Party. They try to paint us as a society without a future in order to turn back socialism and snatch away our independence and the gains of the Revolution. These intentions make it crystal clear that the sphere of ideas continues to be a decisive battlefront.

1.7 These circumstances, to which must be added the manifestations of the new interventionist policy, an aggressive policy that justifies the use of force by the US empire, make it necessary to continue to give maximum attention to defense preparations and to strengthening political-ideological work in the armed institutions.

1.8 Against this backdrop we must foster a climate of maximum confidence and create the necessary conditions at all levels for the broadest and most sincere exchange of opinions, both within the Party and in its relations with the workers and the people. This would allow the expression of diverse ideas and concepts in a framework of respect and compromise[4], such that disagreements are seen as something natural.

1.9 The Main Report to the Sixth Congress took up the errors and weaknesses in the cadre policy, referring essentially to the lack of foresight and intentionality in its handling and consistent application; the lack of rigour and vision that led to the rapid promotion of immature and inexperienced cadres; the lack of political will and of a sufficiently systematic approach to the promotion of women, blacks, mestizos[5] and youth to key leadership posts, on the basis of merit and personal qualities, as well as deficiencies in the selection and preparation of a reserve of cadres.

1.10 Lack of foresight, irresponsibility and sluggishness in the search for solutions to the disparate problems that have to be dealt with on a daily basis can be seen in the work style of no few cadres, as well as lack of creativity; poor links with the masses; lack of a demanding attitude in the face of violations and indiscipline; and bureaucratic methods of leadership and the consequent loss of authority and exemplariness due to negative, on occasion corrupt, attitudes.

1.11 Priority must be given to targeted, direct, person-to-person work, and to the role of the mass media in political and ideological work; to tackling deficiencies in the training of Party militants and to the deterioration of certain fundamental values as revealed in their conduct, together with the insufficient utilisation of the various educational means at the Party's disposal.

1.12 On the other hand, the population that the Party interacts with is older and more heterogeneous. Today's youth did not experience the old capitalist society and have only known the exceptional conditions of the Special Period. The majority of them have an elevated educational and cultural level and are better trained politically, so communication with this generation must be more creative, systematic and targeted.

1.13 The Party must step up its efforts to confront the causes and conditions that favour instances of social misconduct, illegalities, corruption and other crimes, phenomena which — together with bureaucratism and negligence — undermine the foundations of our society.

1.14 A review of the concepts and work methods of the Party in its relations with the Union of Young Communists (UJC) and the mass organisations is also an objective of this Conference.

1.15 Given the role played by the UJC and the mass organisations, and their present and future importance, the Party’s attention to these organisations must be redoubled. At times, the Party’s methods in this regard have been paternalistic and the relationship has been one of Party tutelage; at other times we have incorrectly assigned them shared tasks and functions that do not correspond to them. In this regard, it is reaffirmed that the Party must exercise its leadership role on the basis of respect for their democratic and autonomous functioning.

1.16 In evaluating the work of these organisations, it is evident that it was distorted and that work at the grassroots level ceased to be prioritised. The participation of these organisation's cadres in an excessive number of commissions and meetings limited their work at the grassroots. To this must be added the lack of creativity and a systematic approach to the carrying out of their responsibilities, and excessive calls on members to participate in activities at the expense of their free time, to the annoyance of the population.

1.17 The opinions and proposals arising from this consultation will enrich the draft document, which will be submitted for consideration of the National Conference, after which an implementation process will be drawn up with the aim of improving the Party’s work and making it more effective.

[Translation to be continued]

_________________

Translator's footnotes:

[1] The First PCC Congress was held in 1975

[2] Meaning: inspired by Jose Martí, a leader of Cuba’s 19th century independence struggles and an initiator of the pro-independence Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892.

[3] Held in April 2011

[4] "Commitment" is an alternative, and also equally plausible, translation of compromiso here

[5] Mestizo: a person of "mixed race"

Translation: Viability of socialism debate

2012-01-04T09:58:00.006+11:00

Here is a further contribution to the debate on the viability of socialism. It follows from the previous post. Omar Alvarez Dueñas is a professor at Sagua la Grande University, Villa Clara Province, Cuba.

On the “unviability of socialism” debate

By Omar Alvarez Dueñas

Temas magazine, October 20, 2011

Translation: Marce Cameron

I’ve read with great interest the debate in Temas No. 65 on the Special Period and the resulting controversy between Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago – I’ve read other recent works of his – and the economist Jose Luis Rodriguez, economy minister during those years. I’d like to offer my modest opinion on this debate.

One issue in the debate concerns central planning, decentralisation versus centralisation, and the market. In an economy such as Cuba’s, with a history of dependence on Spain as a colony, on the US as a neo-colony and attachment to the USSR and the socialist camp (for better or worse) during the first 30 years of the Revolution – and consequently a distorted, underdeveloped and technologically backward economy with an economic and social legacy in 1959 as described by Fidel Castro in History Will Absolve Me, and known by everybody – how could this problem be resolved? Who in the recent history of humanity has done it without planning?

Much criticism has been levelled at the leadership and the socialist economy of the Revolution based on planning. Little has been said about the great merit of having lifted millions of Cubans out of poverty and achieving the social indicators of Cuba today, thanks to central planning, despite the mistakes that have been made.

Thus for a poor, backward and blockaded country such as Cuba, centralised planning of its principal economic resources and activities is vital for survival as a nation and for advancing along the path of development. So I agree with the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines approved by the Sixth Communist Party (PCC) Congress that reaffirm the necessity for planning in economic management.

Now, another controversial issue is how much planning and how much market. It’s clear that in the present historical circumstances monetary-mercantile relations, and hence the market, have an important role to play in the country’s economic development. I concur with the necessity for us to utilise the market in our socialism whenever it acts as a stimulus to the development of the productive forces, to productivity and work efficiency, but it must be strictly regulated given its inherent dangers which can harm the Revolution itself.

In terms of centralisation and decentralisation, the key thing is to achieve the right balance. In the present historical conditions there are important economic policy decisions that should be centralised, and the [national] Economic Plan must be the axis around which all the economic forms [i.e. the state sector, joint ventures, cooperatives, small businesses, self-employment – translator’s note] are brought together. The real and difficult task for those that lead the country is to achieve a harmonious relationship between the plan and the market, between centralisation and decentralisation, in such a way that they complement each other for the development of the country.

I think that the participation of the regions, especially the municipalities, in economic management must be strengthened to stimulate the economy. This is where the economic actors live, where the economy of the country is materialised, and during these years their hands have been tied in many respects, awaiting decisions “from above” to improve the living standards of their inhabitants. The updating of the model must keep this premise in mind if the desire is to successfully guide the Revolution through the new era it is now entering.

Another issue in the debate is what type of socialism. Professor Mesa-Lago begins with the following proposition: “History has demonstrated the unviability of the socialism of the URSS and the Eastern European countries until the end of the 1980s”. What Professor Mesa-Lago forgets is also forgotten by others both within and outside Cuba: this socialism become the second biggest economic power in the world, defeated fascist aggression, and played a decisive role in the world revolutionary movement in Asia, Africa and even Latin America.

Many criticisms of this socialism can be made from the economic, political and social point of view, but what we cannot forget is that what failed was not socialism as a system, but the people who built it, who distanced themselves more and more from the foundational ideals of socialism and were unable to reorient socialist construction through the criticism of errors, something that was perfectly possible. This would have had better results than the restoration of savage capitalism, which has resulted in the former USSR and the Eastern European countries being worse off than they were in the socialist era. Of course, the socialism that failed in the former USSR and Eastern Europe is not the socialism that we aspire to in Cuba.

Professor Mesa-Lago continues: “I consider this socialism to be economically viable”, referring to that of China and Vietnam. The suspiciousness of the words “economically viable” may be missed if one reads this phrase in isolation, given that he goes on to say: “though I personally would like them to include more democratic methods and greater respect for human, civil and political rights”. Does this mean that in terms of political, civil and human rights the socialisms of China and Vietnam are not viable? Doesn’t a society have to be viable in all respects? What would Professor Mesa-Lago consider viable about the capitalism of the so-called Third World and that of the poorest countries in the world?

The Chinese and Vietnamese experiences are worth taking into account and we should apply what is applicable. Important studies have been carried out in Cuba in this regard but the economic, social and political conditions in these countries are completely different to Cuba’s. Moreover, in our revolutionary history we have already copied too much of the European experiences and it didn’t do us any good. Let’s take foreign experiences into account, but without copying.

I agree with Jose Luis Rodriguez when he says: “Socialism aims for a political transformation that allows people to achieve a more rounded development in which social justice and solidarity are inherent features of the society that is aspired to.” I emphasise here that socialism is a new society that often advances by trial and error, and with backward steps, from capitalist society in crisis – I hope this is clear to everybody – but not defeated, with great economic, political and military strength and with the mass media in its hands. It benefits from the effects of globalisation, conspiring against the consolidation of the new social regime. Let’s not forget that the same thing happened with nascent capitalism, with significant reversals and monarchical restorations until the new, revolutionary regime imposed itself on the then outmoded feudalism.

Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba

I share Jose Luis Rodriguez’s vision of society above and I am convinced of the necessity to update the Cuban economic model in order to preserve and improve our socialism, but every change that is made that gives more scope to the market and private economic activity comes at a price and involves political and social risks. It’s the task of researchers to delve into their causes and consequences and to contribute to solutions, and the country must come up with strategies to deal with or minimise them in keeping with the society that we aspire to.

It is evident Cuban society is undergoing a polarisation, which began in the 1990s. A petty bourgeoisie is emerging that always expressed itself ideologically, but is now being strengthened economically as a result of the changes that are underway. There are self-employed activities that generate considerable incomes, such as food services, the leasing of rooms and homes, and transport – now facilitated by the easing of restrictions on the buying and selling of motor vehicles and homes. There is also a small sector of professionals working for foreign firms, joint ventures or in areas with significant “leakage” [of convertible currency to workers, e.g. via tips for services] – as in tourism – who join this nascent petty bourgeoisie.

The present stage of our socialism is not altogether incompatible with this social sector, as long as the vital interests of the nation prevail over those of individuals. The same is true of the well-off peasants, who are necessary because of their efficiency. Above all, the country needs efficiency, productivity and production today, and these sectors can contribute to the country’s economic development. So we need to change our mindset and accept that the Cuba of the near future will not be the same as the Cuba we built for more than 50 years, but nor can we lose sight of the ultimate objective: the construction of socialism as the only way to live in a better world.

The challenges faced by socialist Cuba in the short term are associated with the increase in poverty[1], marginalisation and crime, administrative corruption[2] as a consequence of the role of monetary-mercantile relations and the impact of the economic crisis itself. Moreover, individual and social values are evolving towards a greater emphasis on the material and money, which necessitates a stepping up of educational efforts regarding all the social factors in order to consolidate those that are an integral part of the socialist society.

Finally, I consider viable the socialism that Cuba aspires to build. In my opinion the options for Cuba to survive as a nation and achieve the much-desired development lie within socialism, but a socialism stripped of dogmas, flexible and non-voluntarist in its economic management, one that places human beings and their integral development front and centre, one that adapts to the historical conditions in each moment, where the economic, the political and the social are in balance.

______________________

Footnotes to the Spanish text:

[1] Cuban researchers accept that poverty and [economic] vulnerability intensified at the beginning of the 1990s as a consequence of the tightening of the US blockade of Cuba, the political and economic changes that occurred in the former USSR and Eastern Europe and the crisis of the Cuban economic model itself. For example, Lia Añe suggests: “Poverty in the capital [Havana] is characterised by insufficient monetary incomes, that limit the consumption of food and other essential goods and services. Poverty is also revealed in lack of housing [leading to overcrowding rather than homelessness in socialist Cuba – translator’s note] or the deterioration of housing or its facilities and of public transport. It is estimated conservatively that 20% of the population live in poverty” (Lia Añe Aguiloche, “Contribución a los estudios de pobreza en Cuba. Una caracterización de la capital”, see <www.focal.ca>).

[2] Ramón de la Cruz Ochoa recognises the following regarding corruption: “We Cuban revolutionaries know that it is a grave reality that confronts our country, that it's a widespread phenomenon in our society and is not only a problem of corrupt managers and functionaries”. See “Acotaciones al texto del Dr. Fernando Barral sobre la corrupción en Cuba”, Catalejo section, Temas, May 20, 2010 [see my translation of de la Cruz Ochoa’s commentary here – translator’s note].

Translation: Socialism: what unviability?

2011-12-31T16:59:00.001+11:00

The website of Cuba's Temas magazine has a section titled "Catalejo" (Telescope) that solicits commentaries in the form of short essays on a variety of topics. Many of these commentaries respond to longer articles in the magazine itself, and some have sparked debate among contributors.

One of these debates has been initiated by Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Jose Luis Rodriguez. Mesa-Lago is a Cuban-born US economics professor who has written extensively on Cuba. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Jose Luis Rodriguez was Cuba's Minister of Economy and Planning from 1998-2009. An economist, he is now a consultant at Cuba's Centre for Research on the World Economy (CIEM).

The debate was sparked by the publication in Temas No. 65, January-March 2011, of the transcript of a Temas public forum titled "The Special Period 20 years on", in which Rodriguez was one of the featured speakers. Mesa-Lago responded to Rodriguez's comments in Catalejo.

According to Mesa-Lago, "A number of forum participants expressed their support for decentralising economic management, the position taken by President Raul Castro and the decisions of the Sixth Cuban Communist Party Congress, but Jose Luis Rodriguez seems to disagree with this and defends the current central planning. During the terrible crisis of the 1990s, the then newly appointed minister of Economy and Planning was one of the architects of the mild but important reforms in the use of market mechanisms, along with decentralisation, that achieved at least a partial economic recovery. But at the beginning of the 21st century, when Fidel Castro launched the Battle of Ideas and pushed for recentralisation, Jose Luis Rodriguez was a supporter of this reversal."

History has demonstrated the "unviability" of the "socialism" of the USSR and its Eastern European allies, says Mesa-Lago. By contrast, "the Chinese and Vietnamese models of market socialism (with a greater role for the market and the private sector) have been successful for decades" and are viable, as is "the social-democratic socialism of the Scandinavian countries".

"It's not clear to me what kind of socialism Jose Luis Rodriguez supports: Soviet-style centralised socialism, that of Cuba or China during their idealist periods or the current market socialism of China-Vietnam (I assume he rejects that of social democracy), or if he is in agreement with the 'updating' of Cuban socialism that is underway", wrote Mesa-Lago.

Below is Rodriguez's succinct reply.

Socialism: what unviability are
we talking about?

By Jose Luis Rodriguez, Temas magazine website, September 1, 2011

Translation: Marce Cameron

Following the publication in Temas No. 65 of the results of the debate on “The Special Period 20 years on”, Dr. Carmelo Mesa-Lago made a number of comments on my participation in this debate.

As he himself pointed out, this is not the first time that we’ve had a debate on various aspects of the Cuban economy, and I think it would be timely to enter the fray once again to put forward my own views. Neither is this the first time that I disagree with a number of the judgements of Professor Mesa-Lago.

First of all, we cannot assess the different epochs of the Cuban Revolution’s economic policy without locating them appropriately in the historical context in which they have been implemented, considering not only the economic factors but also the political elements that operate in our society.

In this connection, I should point out that socialism is not just a menu of options for choosing an economic model in which there is a greater or lesser presence of market mechanisms or a more or less centralised decision-making process, among other decisions. Socialism [i.e. the socialist-oriented society – translator’s note] aims for a political transformation that would allow people to achieve a more rounded development in which social justice and solidarity are inherent features of the society that is aspired to.

Attaining the appropriate combination of the economic and political components in a socialist model is no simple matter, and history shows that the disproportion of one of these factors can lead to failure. This can be seen in the sad experience of what happened to the models of market socialism of the Gorbachev era in the USSR that bet on the market and neglected the factors of political mobilisation inherent in any socialist project, and ended up submitting to the most orthodox neoliberalism such that they are now second-rate capitalist countries.

I don’t support this model of “socialism”. However, it should be pointed out that in evaluating this model, many criticise its multiple characteristic deficiencies of hyper-centralisation, bureaucracy and the lack of worker participation in decision-making that it suffered from, but it is forgotten that market socialism tried to rectify these errors with a cure that was worse than the sickness.

Cuba didn’t make these mistakes, and because of this we survived the most difficult moment [1992-4] of the Special Period and we are now weighing up our options in order to continue advancing.

In the most recent period of our economic history, the process of “Rectification” of errors and negative tendencies [launched in 1986] fulfilled its function of rescuing the political mobilisation factors that had been seriously eroded by the mid-1980s. While it may not have advanced much in terms of concretising a more efficient economic model – to which must be added the internal deficiencies that impacted on it – we cannot forget that it had to confront the drying up of credit in convertible currency and the gradual disintegration of the model of socialist [state] collaboration that existed at the time. This collaboration was the only way of obtaining the necessary resources for an intensive economic development to deal with the exhaustion of the extensive growth that had been projected.

Of course the Cuban socialist project has not been perfect, but nor is it a question of wiping the slate clean of everything done before and, above all, of ignoring realities such as those that generally confront any underdeveloped country in the world today. To this must be added the permanent hostility and economic aggression of the US blockade against our country, which not only has an economic cost in terms of resources, but also often obliges us to make decisions under pressure, putting to one side the most efficient options.

In each historical moment of the Revolution I think we did what we could to advance the economic and social development of the country, in line with the prevailing circumstances in each one of them. This is true of the present moment.

The Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution, adopted by the Sixth Cuban Communist Party Congress in April, are a project for the improvement of socialism, not for a transition to capitalism. Given this, it isn’t necessary to define a new model – the model continues to be socialist – but we’re talking about the updating of the economic model based on social ownership of the fundamental means of production in which planning predominates, which will certainly have to take into account market trends.

I see no reason for confusion. If more space is ceded to the market and its inherent laws, these will not be preponderant. It is therefore understandable that the concentration of private [productive] property [ownership] will not be permitted, that foreign investment will be regulated and that the centralised setting of prices will be maintained where desirable. These are among the fundamental elements that determine the functioning of the Cuban system of economic management.

Nor are we talking about insignificant changes. I draw Professor Mesa-Lago’s attention to the fact that the country’s economic strategy is changing. From a strategy focused on confronting the Special Period crisis at minimal social cost and on the reinsertion of the Cuban economy in the world market in the new [i.e. post-Soviet] conditions, it is shifting to a strategy for the establishment of the bases for a sustained development of the country, through an economic policy that promotes state property together with non-state property forms to overcome the two fundamental obstacles to Cuba’s economic development for many years: the external financial disequilibrium and the inefficiency of economic management.

Overcoming the obstacles in the path of the Cuban economy can be done without renouncing socialism. Firstly, the economic policy elaborated in the Guidelines projects a greater space for the utilisation of market mechanisms within a strategic context that would ensure – through planning – the macro-economic proportions that are needed for economic growth.

Secondly, the decentralisation of the state’s economic management towards enterprises and municipalities, with the participation of the workers in decision-making, is feasible with the rational allocation of resources via planning. Centralised planning does not necessarily imply centralised management, but it does mean projecting the allocation of resources globally so that their use can then be decided by other economic actors, according to various alternatives.

Thirdly, in socialism, social ownership of the fundamental means of production is decisive, but this does not exclude spaces for other types of property such as cooperatives or other forms of non-state property such as peasant farming, the small-scale property of the self-employed and mixed property with foreign capital.

Finally, the experiences of other socialist countries such as China and Vietnam have been taken into account, but this does not mean that they should be copied. It should be remembered that while we share with these peoples common political aspirations, we also differ historically and culturally. Moreover, differences in relative levels of development, as well as in endowments of natural and human resources, make Cuba different to these countries, to which we’d have to add the [degree of ] insertion of China and Vietnam into the world economy – for at least the past 20 years – without them having suffered the economic war that Cuba is subjected to.

For Cuba, the changes that are being carried out today are neither an easy process nor a short term one. Consequently, I think it is correct to talk about the “creation of the bases for a sustained economic development”, which will probably take us longer than the projections for the current five-year period to achieve, but I'm sure that it will be successful.

In this sense, I don’t agree with the idea of the unviability of socialism that Professor Mesa-Lago expounds in his commentaries. At the same time, I am convinced that the Cuban socialist model, as it is understood by the majority of Cubans today, is the only option for our development.

Cuba's Socialist Renewal turns 1

2011-12-29T23:10:00.002+11:00

Dear Cuba's Socialist Renewal readers, a year ago today I launched this blog in the hope that it could make a unique, though very modest, contribution to the Cuba solidarity movement and to the wider cause of understanding the socialist renewal process underway on the archipelago.

It seemed to me that there was an unfilled niche for an online publication that would make available to English-speaking audiences more of the Cuban debate. I'm pleased with what it has accomplished in its first year. For me, it has been an immensely rewarding labour of love and I look forward to keeping up the translations and commentaries in 2012.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, the readers of this blog, for the encouragement and support that many of you have contributed to this project in different ways. To those of you who have sent encouraging emails or reader's comments, each and every one is appreciated. Cyberspace can be a lonely frontier; sometimes it feels as if one is casting into the void. These supportive messages are the spiritual fuel that keeps me going.

I'd also like to thank those of you who have contributed constructive criticism, which is most welcome and also appreciated. If there's something you don't like, or some way that you feel this blog could be improved, please let me know.

In particular, I'd like to thank Maria Voukelatos for her constant encouragement and for putting up with my late-night translation indulgences; my Jack Russell terrier Chocolate for her super-canine patience; and David Cameron for pointing out grammatical and typographical errors in some of the published translations.

I'd also like to give special thanks to Owen Richards, Barbara Rojas, Walter Lippmann, Terry Townsend, Norman Girvan, Arnold August, Camila Piñeiro Harnecker, Michael Lebowitz and Paul Greene for their support and encouragement.

And to all of Cuba's revolutionaries, the ultimate source of my inspiration.

Marce Cameron

Sydney, Australia

Translation: Rafael Hernandez interview Part 2

2011-12-29T21:06:00.002+11:00

Here is Part 2 of my translation of Edmundo Garcia's interview of Cuban political scientist and Temas magazine editor Rafael Hernandez (Part 1 is here). The translation is abridged: it is complete up to the end of the text below but subsequent questions and responses on other topics, such as the papal visit to Cuba in 2012, are omitted.

Rafael Hernandez: “The collapse of socialism is beyond the present horizon”

Interview by Edmundo Garcia, December 20, 2011

Spanish transcript published on the Cubadebate website, December 23

Translation: Marce Cameron

Edmundo Garcia: Let’s move on now to the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) National Conference in January 2012. This has almost become another cliche, and I’d like to know your opinion. There are analysts, the so-called Cubanologists and Cuba observers, who take it as a given that the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines adopted by the Sixth PCC Congress is the key document that sets out the transformations, the updating of socialism, and that its proposals are sufficient for the updating of the socialist model. However, they are more critical of the [draft] National Conference document; some say the proposals are not similar. My specific questions are, do you perceive a distance between the two documents, between the Congress document and the Guidelines? Do you think the PCC is advancing in its own democratisation process? And finally, what do you anticipate will be the outcome of the PCC Conference in January? There you are, three questions in one.

Rafael Hernandez: I think that naturally, there are things missing in the content of the Guidelines as adopted by the Congress, there are empty spaces, and these gaps sparked discussion during the debates on the Guidelines that several million people participated in over a number of weeks. I don’t think you can understand what is projected in the Guidelines unless you read them together with the Main Report to the Sixth PCC Congress delivered by Raul Castro, who made it clear that without a change in the style of political work, without a change in the conception of the Party’s role, in participation, in the style of Party work in relation to the population, unless we change all this then the reforms won’t succeed.

This, obviously, draws attention to the fact that – to use a mathematical analogy – the axes that these economic and social Guidelines cross are political axes. Most analysts take the view that they deal with a series of strictly economic measures, as if in a country like Cuba, with the kind of political and social system we have, one can make far-reaching economic changes that structurally modify the existing order in the economic sphere, without changing the others.

If you read the Guidelines closely, you’ll find the themes of decentralisation, de-statisation, de-bureaucratisation and the rule of law – the use of legality a tool of change, as a framework within which the changes are not only adopted but are consolidated and made permanent, which is very important. These changes, then, are political changes. They are obviously political changes, changes that have to do with the redistribution of power, with taking power away from the central structures and giving the base structures, the local bodies, more power. This is related to the democratisation of the system.

Perhaps many of those who criticise the [draft] PCC Conference document hoped that this issue of democratisation – or the gaps, the omissions in the Guidelines, such as the role of the trade unions, the role of the workers in the workplaces, in workplace decision-making, etc. – would be the key axis of the document. Given this, I think the PCC Conference can take up and elaborate on these problems that we have, which are at the very heart of the Cuban political problematic. I say this because one of the things that was truly admirable about the Party Congress is that it was a real congress, there was a debate; we saw it on TV, Cubans and non-Cubans could see in the telecast that there was a real debate on the draft Guidelines, which had previously been subjected to a popular debate.

The Congress had a content, it was not simply a ritualistic exercise to rubber-stamp a policy that had already been decided. Real decisions were made by the Congress, changes were adopted that were not in the draft Guidelines. It is to be hoped that the Party Conference will make changes likewise, that it responds to the expectations of the population and that it changes, of course, what I said a moment ago would be the most difficult thing to change, perhaps the greatest challenge, which is to change the political style [of the PCC’s work].

The political style, and I don’t mean style in the sense of a way of doing things, it has to with the whole conception of what politics is, with what is meant by the participation of the citizens, and what is the relationship between what Che Guevara called the vanguard and the mass. Today, this is more about the relationship between the leaders and the led, between the institutions of political representation of the population, it’s about the interests and desires of the population and the responses of the political institutions to these interests and desires; the ability to engage in a dialogue, to govern in a way that responds to the people, not with a package of policies that must be implemented regardless of what people think.

A measure was adopted [in the 1960s], that of nationalisation, of employment [in the state sector], and there are a million surplus workers according to an economic analysis. However, the delay in implementing [the rationalisation of state-sector employment] has obviously been the result of the realisation that the population was anxious, that there was anxiety among the people in relation to the issue of unemployment; an understandable anxiety, an understandable concern.

I think the government itself, in delaying the implementation of these measures, has displayed a great deal of political sensitivity. One thing that distinguishes the Cuban leadership is its political sensitivity regarding what the population thinks and feels. It’s hard to believe, though there are those who do believe it, that the top Cuban leadership is not aware of what the person in the street thinks and feels. At a time like the present, when Cubans are expressing themselves in different spaces, putting forward their ideas, interests and opinions which are obviously not homogeneous – we’re talking about debate, and whenever we talk about a space for expressing interests and ideas we’re talking about differences, disagreements, but listening to them and reflecting on them and taking on board, in a responsible way, these interests and desires of the population – I think this is at the heart of the current Cuban government’s concerns.

What will be implemented, including the Guidelines adopted by the Congress, is not a magic wand, it’s not going to be a straight-jacket, a plan that’s going to be carried out as it it were a little book, a Bible. It's a working tool that’s going to be modified to the degree to which it is implemented in the months ahead, without haste, without rashness, but without pause.

[Abridged]