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By Paul Becker
"Among the great accomplishments of the
Cuban revolution have been the great
strides made in the education of its entire people.
Education is completely free from primary school
through university. Cuba today has a literacy rate
of over 96 percent, putting it at the top, along
with Argentina and Uruguay, in all of Latin America."
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His
voice was filled with emotion and he gestured emphatically as he told
the story. He was speaking of a young woman he knew in his youthful
days in Havana. It was back in the 1950s and she was a prostitute who
worked in a brothel. But she liked him and he met her at her home a
number of times.
He is a Cuban, now in his eighties. After his encounters with the
woman, time passed. The Cuban Revolution changed the country. About 20
years ago, some 30 years after the revolution, he happened by chance
upon the woman again. They were both older, he was now bald and, as he
phrased it, "She was no longer the nymph from the past."
But something else had changed. The revolution gave her the
opportunity, as it did to several million others, to go to school and
study. And study she did, abandoning her old life and ultimately
earning a degree in literature. She was now a professor at the
university. "What a beautiful thing, this revolution," he said, tears
welling in his eyes. "There are no words to talk about this, no words.
These are the things one would like to bring back."
"But then," he added ruefully, "they blew it."
Rafael Alcides has seen many things in his life. In a five-part
interview, filmed by young Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula, his words
capture the great dilemma facing Cuba today and the monumental choices
it faces in moving forward. Just a brief ten-day visit we made to the
country with a group of independent American filmmakers can serve
to illuminate the current situation. To invoke an old clich� and say
that Cuba today is at a crossroads is to grossly understate the case.
Keeping History in Mind
These choices now come into particularly sharp focus in the wake of
President Obama's apparent change of policy and his historic visit to
the island this month. Apparent because, as of this writing , full
normal economic relations have not yet been restored and because there
is no way of knowing what future administrations will do.
Before going into those choices it is imperative to bear in mind some
history of the past 50-plus years - history that helps to focus on the
present problems the country faces. It is a history that President
Obama did not, or perhaps politically could not, touch upon in remarks
he made during his visit. For all the years since 1959 when Fidel and
Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Camillo Cienfugos, and others led the
fighters that rode into Havana and began carrying out the revolution
that changed Cuba, the country has faced the most concentrated and
near-demented hostility from every United States government, regardless
of whatever administration occupied Washington - until perhaps now.
And not just verbal hostility but outright attempts to overthrow and
reverse the revolutionary changes that were occurring. Beginning with
the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. financial giants
like United Fruit Company and others, the little island nation of 11
million people has stood against the world's dominant economic and
military power. From illegally financing and aiding an armed invasion
of the island by exiles at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 to scores of
attempts to assassinate its leaders to a crippling embargo that has
severely restricted its trade, the U.S. has attempted to restore the
old order that ruled the country from the dawn of the 20th century
until 1959.
Around 1961, Cuba began to rely upon the Soviet bloc for its
trading partners, a move that sustained its economy until the collapse
of that bloc around 1990. For a few years afterward, it underwent what
Cubans call the "special period" when severe shortages and economic
hardship were rampant. American policy makers and their Cuban exiles in
Miami were exultant at the extremely difficult economic times Cuba was
going through, proclaiming that it was only a matter of time before the
collapse of socialism in the country. That it survived at all, even
though the economic situation is still difficult today, was a miracle
in itself.
The Real Reason for U.S. Hostility
The official reason for American hostility was the oft-stated
proposition that Cuba was a dictatorship and was violating human rights
by silencing its internal opposition. However, these factors have never
stopped the United States from dealing with other dictatorships with
far worse human rights records than Cuba. When death squads, sanctioned
by their government, were rampant in El Salvador killing peasant
and labor leaders and others in opposition (including Oscar Romero, the
Catholic Archbishop in the country) President Ronald Reagan was giving
that government complete support. Not to mention the record of the CIA
in toppling democratic governments in favor of dictatorships -
from Iran in 1953 to Guatemala in 1954 to Brazil in 1965 to Chile in
1973 when those governments' policies ran counter to U.S. business
interests. And of course, today the U.S. deals extensively with China
whose record on human rights and tolerance of internal opposition
is , to put it charitably, not exactly an example of Jeffersonian
democracy. And over the years we have imported billions of dollars
worth of oil from Saudi Arabia, enriching the sheikhs who flog or
behead people in public squares. And on and on. Through the
years, it is quite clear for all willing to see that U.S. policies
reflect not with opposition to authoritarian rule but with whether or
not the country in question cooperates with the business interests of
American multinational corporations.
It also raises the question of whether Cuba's leaders "blew it," in the
words of Rafael Alcides, or whether their actions, including
limitations on dissent in their country, were inevitable in a country
facing constant attacks and threats of the kind it faced for more than
50 years.
So where does that leave Cuba today?
First, just a brief visit to the country reveals the glaring fact that
today a large section of the Cuban people feel alienated from their
government. This is particularly true among younger people. Among the
great accomplishments of the Cuban revolution have been the great
strides made in the education of its entire people. Education is
completely free from primary school through university. Cuba today has
a literacy rate of over 96 percent, putting it at the top, along with
Argentina and Uruguay, in all of Latin America. But the struggling
economy has not created the kind of economic opportunity that is
commensurate with an educated population, particularly in the
professions.
In recent years, with government relaxation on the operation of some
private businesses, the number of privately owned restaurants and other
businesses have been growing; accounting today for about 30 percent of
the country's economy. With the tremendous increase in tourism on the
island in recent years, this has resulted in several things. Most
notable is the fact that Cuba is today just about the only country in
which people in the service professions, like hotel workers and
restaurant workers earn more than those in the professions, a situation
that has led to a large exodus of educated people.
Second, younger people are increasingly upset with the restraints
placed upon those who are not in official favor with the government. We
traveled with a group of independent filmmakers from the United States
and met with a number of such filmmakers in Cuba. All complained about
the fact that those in official favor get government subsidies to
produce and market their films while those who are not struggle along.
Although there was a time when they could not make their films or
express their views for fear that they could face charges of being
counter-revolutionary, that does not appear to be the situation today.
The people we met were profuse in criticizing the government without
any sign of fear and we saw several of their films, including the one
citing Rafael Alcides at the beginning of this article. However, we saw
these films in private showings. They are not shown to the general
public in Cuba and their producers rely upon the internet and marketing
their films abroad to make a living. But Sr. Alcides expresses his
views openly and on film - views that speak glowingly of the revolution
in its early stages but is highly critical of Cuba's leadership today
and can be seen on line with the click or two of a button.
Third, even those critical of the government acknowledge the great
accomplishments of the revolution, particularly in education and health
care. In the latter category, Cuba leads all of Latin America in the
training of its doctors, the quality of its care and in providing
health care to all its citizens. All medical and hospital care is free
and prescription drugs cost very little. Life expectancy is in the
eighties, leading virtually all underdeveloped countries and rivaling
even the United States. Indeed, in areas like infant mortality and
deaths of women in childbirth, Cuba's rate is lower than in some parts
of the U.S. And compared with most countries in Latin America, it isn't
even in the same ball park.
Other areas of social progress reveal themselves in conversations with
Cubans. In early child care, for example, the government provides the
free service of an aide several times a week to women for a year after
they give birth to help with the job of taking care of their infants
and for other problems that may arise. For working mothers, early child
care centers staffed by university trained personnel are available for
as little as one-and-a-half pesos a month. These and other social gains
have come in the face of great hostility from the United States and
often at great economic cost.
An example of the cost has been the determination of the government to
provide a quantity of milk each day to sustain its children. But while
it would ordinarily import this milk from the U.S., the embargo has
prevented it. Most of the milk and other food products in the country
are imported from far-away places like China and New Zealand at great
cost.
Effects of the U.S. Embargo
Which brings us currently to the embargo the United States Congress
still enforces on Cuba, even as tensions between the countries are
subsiding. For while President Obama has taken some steps toward
normalizing relations, most parts of the embargo were enacted by
Congress and can only be removed by Congress. But Congress is still in
the hands of Republicans and hostile to any attempt at easing tensions
with Cuba. The embargo, the product of six acts passed by Congress over
a 40 year period, restricts public and private trade with Cuba until
U.S. business claims against Cuba are met. The laws include any trade
with Cuba by foreign subsidiaries of American companies. Even products
that are allowed to be exported to Cuba must be paid for in cash; no
normal credit relations are allowed.
And the results of the embargo are evident everywhere. Havana, for
example, is replete with decaying buildings that should have been
renovated or torn down and replaced years ago. There is no question
that the Cuban economy would be in much better shape today if it could
enjoy normal trade relations with its natural trading partner just 90
miles away. And incidentally, many parts of the U.S. economy would
benefit too if, for example, dairy farmers and other Americans were
allowed to sell their products to Cubans..
I referred earlier to the fact that Cuba today faces monumental
choices. The disaffection of younger Cubans who want fewer restrictions
and controls on their political and economic activities, is an
ever-present reality. A new, educated population necessarily demands
reforms along these lines and they cannot be stifled - they must be
met. They want to be able to travel freely and they welcome foreign
visitors to their country. In our recent visit to the island, we found
not a single Cuban hostile to us - all welcomed increased contact with
visitors, particularly from the United States.
Much Depends Upon Future U.S. Policy
It is up to the Cuban leadership to make these necessary reforms but
much, also, depends upon the attitude of the United States. Washington
cannot continue its attitude of hostility toward the revolutionary
changes since 1959, and expect peaceful democratic reforms to take
place. A major step in this direction, as I mentioned earlier, would be
the lifting of the economic embargo and the resumption of normal trade
relations. For a country to make these reforms it must be allowed to
develop and flourish unthreatened from a powerful neighbor. Every Cuban
we met, from those who support the government to those who oppose it,
are in agreement that lifting the embargo is essential to the Cuban
people and must be a priority for any other reforms inside the country
to be carried out
Since President Obama lifted most travel restrictions last year,
American tourists have flooded to the country. Hotel bookings are hard
to come by as Cubans were unprepared for the new situation. At one
point, I jokingly remarked that there appeared to be more Americans in
Havana than there are in the Bronx. And visitors from European and
Asian countries are all over the island.
But this increased tourism has a dark side for many Cubans. In recent
years, the government, in moves to stimulate the economy, has loosened
some restrictions on private businesses. As noted earlier, about 30
percent of the Cuban economy is now in private hands. Coupled with the
increase in tourism, this has resulted in some Cubans becoming wealthy
while others slip back. Class differences, which had been vastly
narrowed in the wake of the revolution have begun to pop up. In little
bits and pieces, poverty among some has reappeared while luxury
restaurants catering to more affluent Cubans and tourists are growing
in number. Social problems like prostitution, virtually wiped out by
the revolution are also beginning to show, particularly fueled by easy
money brought in by the tourist trade. Some new luxury apartment
buildings are going up in parts of Havana, attesting to a new class of
wealthy Cubans starting to rise.
The Crucial Question Facing Cuba Today
So, this little island nation of 11 million people is today at a
critical turning point. The key question for most Cubans, and this
today is the most crucial question they have ever faced, is how to keep
the enormous gains made by the revolution while extending the
boundaries of individual freedoms to its citizens and without
reintroducing the class conflicts that brought on the socialist
revolution to begin with. In a larger sense, it is a question faced by
any country that chooses to move in a socialist direction. This choice
is compounded by the fact that, as most Cubans realize, U.S. corporate
and financial giants are eager to get their hands back again on the
island's economic activities. This is what most American policy makers
mean when they also speak of "reforms" - restoring the situation they
enjoyed before 1959. They are pressuring the United States government
to extend its relations with Cuba only if the Cuban revolution is
reversed, a situation that would be a disaster for most of its people.
A ludicrous sidelight of this popped up in the news a few months ago
when the heirs of the American gangster, Meyer Lansky, were now
reported to be demanding compensation for the gambling casinos and high
class sex services his operation provided before the Cuban
revolutionary government put an end to it in 1959.
A Visit to a Unique Village
Nettie Becker, wife of the writer of the article, dancing with Cuban children
in La Conceit, a small village in Pinar Del Rio, at a dance performance the
children put on for their American visitors.
Photo credit: Paul Becker
On our trip to the island in January, we spent a day in a small village
in Pinar del Rio listening to the story of its people. The
village is home to 8,300 people in 1,300 families. Before the
revolution, in villages like this people were barely literate and
children grew up with little prospect but manual labor in the cane
fields as their only life. Today there are 10 elementary schools, a
middle school, and a high school as well as a child care center for
pre-school children and a nearby college.
But the village has another distinction, a unique project of the
community known as Los ChapuSerios. The project encouraged children in
the village to make films about their lives and to tell the story of
the village. Classes were started in filmmaking, using one old camera.
On Sundays and after school at a local community center, the children
wrote their scripts, then chose what they viewed as the best and they
cooperated on polishing it. They chose the casts, the directors and the
camera operators. National renowned Cuban film artists came in to work
with the children. Some of the films were shown on national television.
The village had a factory that employed most of its people but, as a
result of the embargo, it could not improve its technology and its
production was increasingly obsolete. The factory was scheduled to be
closed down resulting in severe hardship when the children, and their
adult directors decided to tell the story. The film they made aroused
widespread attention and concern. Money was raised both in Cuba and
abroad for the necessary technological improvements and the updated
factory continued to operate.
Another film, entitled Serving the Soul, tells the story of some
children who had witnessed domestic violence in their homes and some
whom had a parent spending time in jail for commission of a crime. The
director of the film, 11 year old Amalia Gonzalez Garcia, and the lead
actress, Leidy Marian Garcia Rodriguez, also 11, were themselves part
of families like this. They spoke to our American group of their
experiences and how their lives had changed in making their film. And
as the adult manager of the film project, Zenobio Jimenez, and the
teacher who was teaching the filmmaking art, Juancarlos Banos
Fernandez, also spoke, the pride they had in the children shone through
each word. They plan to show their film in the prisons where some of
their parents are serving their sentences as a way of telling the story
of how parents actions affect their children.
This photo is one of a younger group of children at the dance performance.
Photo credit: Paul Becker
Before we left, we were treated to a dance performance by the children
who then encouraged their American visitors to join them in their
dance. As the Cuban children and their American guests swirled around
the floor, you could not help but choke up a little at the prospect
that our two people might finally break down the barriers that have
separated us for more than 50 years. And you could not help but hope
that this Cuban revolution that has brought so much to its people will
make the democratic reforms that are now necessary to solve some of its
current problems, rekindle the confidence of all its people,
particularly the young, and move forward. In the last analysis, that
will be up to both Cubans and Americans in the coming years.
This commentary originally appeared in Portside
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BlackCommentator.com
Guest Commentator Paul Becker is a retired teacher, currently a
freelance writer, who recently returned from a visit to Cuba.
Portside
aims to provide varied material of interest to people on the left that
will help them to interpret the world, and to change it.
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