FRFI 213 February / March 2010

Cuba began 2010 debating and reflecting on how to consolidate its socialist system. Three events which took place in December 2009 illustrate the Revolution’s challenges and strengths: the National Assembly of People’s Power which reviewed the progress and problems faced in 2009 and debated plans for 2010; the 8th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) hosted in Havana; and a spontaneous mobilisation of ordinary Cubans against US government attempts to create a counter-revolution (see box). From Havana, SAM MCGILL reports.

The ineffectiveness of the US government’s enduring campaign to isolate Cuba was clearly demonstrated in 2009 as 41 heads of state and government visited the island, almost one a week, including 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean. There have been more than 180 actions of solidarity with Cuba which have achieved legislative change in 85 nations. There were 115 delegates from 57 countries in a special session of the National Assembly in mid-December 2009 attended by 14 heads of Parliaments and delegates from the European Union, Canada, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Australasia. Cuba has diplomatic relations with 183 of the 192 UN member-states.

The National Assembly of People’s Power announced GDP growth of 1.4% in 2009, with a projected 1.9% growth this year. This is well below last year’s plan (which had been revised down in spring 2009), but is a good result in the context of the global capitalist crisis and the cost of hurricane damage ($10bn) in late 2008. Cuba’s export earnings have been hit by the fall in the international price of nickel from $50,000 per tonne in late 2007 to $9,000 in 2008, and by decreased tourist spending on the island. Although there was a 3% increase in tourist numbers there was an 11% decrease in the revenue from the tourist industry. These factors led to deficits of hard currency for trade, which is especially tough for Cuba which has to pay for many imports upfront and in hard currency because of the US blockade. However, not all its economic problems can be blamed on the blockade or hurricanes. For example, work productivity decreased by 1.1% on 2008. Despite these challenges, Cuba ended 2009 with a small surplus in international trade. At the National Assembly it was announced that in March 2010, for the first time since 1990, the economy will be directed by a five-year plan, promoting projects to facilitate Cuba’s socio-economic development.

The challenge for 2010 remains to raise productivity, increase exports and strengthen import substitution. By November 2009, calculated savings due to increased domestic food production were 58.5 million Cuban Convertible pesos (CUC) – 25 million CUC higher than in 2008. However, the potential for domestic production is much greater. In 2009, 587 million litres of milk were produced in Cuba. Every extra 57 million litres means a saving of $18 million on 5,700 tonnes of imported powdered milk. However, 2010 plans still require the import of 35 million tonnes of milk, costing $100 million. Cuba imports a lot of food from the US and Raul Castro recognised in his speech to the National Assembly that ‘Food production constitutes an issue of national security; if we rely on imports we are not independent.’

920,000 hectares have now been distributed to over 100,000 beneficiaries as part of the campaign to distribute idle land in usufruct (short-term rent free loan) initiated in 2008, 54% of the total land earmarked for this purpose. The state has increased its payments to farmers for corn, milk, pork and other products to stimulate their production, but it has not raised the prices at which these products are sold to the Cuban people. 2009 saw the average monthly salary increase by 2.9%, up to 427 Cuban peso (national currency). Increases were especially targeted at productive workers, with bonuses and incentives to stimulate productivity. However, education and health care workers also saw wage increases. Further increases are planned for 2010.

In 2009, the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) organised a national consultation in every community in order to identify general and specific problems, measuring the pulse of, and strengthening their links with, the population. The two key problems identified were dissatisfaction with the dual currency system (CUC and peso) and the low relative value of wages in national currency. However, as the PCC recognises, the only way to increase wages without generating inflation is to increase productivity and production. For this it is necessary to raise consciousness and promote a stronger work ethic.

No date has been set for the PCC’s sixth Congress. This is likely to be the last Congress involving the historic leadership of the Revolution and in Raul Castro’s own words: ‘if you want things to last you must do them slowly’. Discussions are under way within the PCC about the dual currency, ration system, wages and social security, about raising the political level and commitment to communism, particularly among young people who will have the Revolution in their hands in the future. There are also discussions about the structure of government and of the PCC itself, including how new cadre are elected and developed. Granma, the daily newspaper of the PCC, is stimulating discussion by dedicating four pages in every Friday edition for public letters and articles.

The daily live televised round-table discussion also promotes debate. Recently it has dealt with the issues of racism in Cuba, tackling social prejudice and police discrimination. Public debate has also been encouraged on the issues of drugs and of sexuality. Cuba has begun providing free transsexual surgery and proposals to allow same sex marriage are being considered. The Union of Young Communists (UJC) is changing is focus from cultural and musical projects to developing cadre and raising the political level of young people, engaging them in the Revolution and the preservation of socialism, and in countering counter-revolutionary activities which mainly target the youth.

The government is examining ways of using the economic privileges of Cubans who receive remittances or earn CUCs through the tourist trade, to subsidise the rest of the population. For example, the government phone company imposes a high CUC cost on personal mobile phone use. With the surplus this generates the government then subsidises socially beneficial phone use. For example, doctors may be provided with a mobile phone and 400 free minutes of airtime a month to use in serving the community. We should expect more changes in the coming year and major policy measures in years that follow. These will be designed to promote equality and strengthen the sustainability of the Revolution and the independence of the economy.

ALBA: A fight not only for justice, but for the survival of the species

The 8th Summit of ALBA-TCP, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Trade Treaty of the Peoples (formally the Bolivarian Alternative), was hosted in Havana in mid-December. It marked five years since ALBA was set up by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004. They were joined by Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Ecuador, St Vincent and Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and, until the coup in June 2009, Honduras. Both Paraguay and Uruguay are likely to join ALBA soon.

ALBA brings a political, economic and social alliance to defend the sovereignty, self-determination, identity and unity between the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, practising the principles of cooperation, solidarity, mutual assistance, social justice and complementary economic planning for sustained integration and development (see FRFI 212). Paraphrasing the Communist Manifesto, the Cuban daily newspaper Granma quipped that ‘a spectre is haunting America ... it is the spectre of ALBA’. Yet ALBA is more than a spectre, it is a concrete reality developing from strength to strength in the face of the global economic crisis. There are already over 100 ALBA projects spanning health provision, telecommunication, food and fuel distribution, scientific projects and initiatives for environmental protection.

The ALBA summit concluded with a 25-point agreement including: commitments to assist people with disabilities in productive, economic, social and cultural sectors without discrimination; the extension of public health provision; a continuation of campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, total coverage of primary education; the continuation of ALBA’s cultural and sports projects; the development of a network of science, technology and innovation sharing for key sectors; the facilitation of telecommunication services for ALBA populations (including ALBATEL, an enterprise currently building a submarine fibre optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela, and the Simon Bolivar Satellite); and the implementation of the SUCRE, a virtual currency to facilitate trade between ALBA countries without using the US dollar. In January 2010, the first SUCRE transactions took place between Cuba and Venezuela.

Many ALBA initiatives depend on Cuba’s knowledge, its capacity and human resources and the oil reserves and wealth of Venezuela. A UJC member, Fiorre, told FRFI that ‘it is very early to gauge the economic achievements of ALBA, particularly in the face of a global recession and increasing US aggression; ALBA is primarily a political force. In Cuba it is necessary to take the experience of our revolution forward and build on the Alliance to secure the future of socialism.’ With the Cuban and Bolivarian Revolutions at its heart, it is clear that ALBA is an anti-imperialist beacon of hope to millions facing global exploitation and oppression. As Raul Castro stated in the closing speech of the Summit: ‘United, we will be in a better position to face the economic crisis... a better world is possible.’

Cubans mobilise against imperialist mercenaries

For half a century US imperialism has gone to staggering lengths to destroy the Cuban Revolution and damage the example it sets for the oppressed people of the world. The Obama administration is stepping up efforts to create an internal opposition among the Cuban people, ‘investing’ $55 million in this endeavour in 2009 alone. These attempts are failing miserably. Imperialist powers and their allies continue to underestimate the revolutionary strength of the Cuban people, demonstrated in December 2009 when a neighbourhood in Havana took to the streets in response to a group of imperialist-paid mercenaries known as the Women in White.

The Women in White are the families of 75 counter-revolutionaries gaoled in April 2003 for being paid agents of the US government attempting to sabotage the Cuban Revolution. For years their monthly demonstrations have been ignored by the Cuban people, who realise they represent nothing more than a photo opportunity for the international bourgeois press. However, last month a crowd of Cubans responded, dancing and chanting as they surrounded the Women in White, banging on the car of a British diplomat who was present. Diplomats from the US and German embassies were also participating, in violation of international diplomacy laws.

This spontaneous resistance by Cuban revolutionaries was captured on video and posted on YouTube (see it under January’s entries on RATB’s new blog www.ratbnews.blog spot.com). These ordinary Cubans, mostly women, show disgust at the Women in White’s false claims to be fighting for freedom. They are losing patience with the self-aggrandisement of a tiny group of mercenaries who would return Cuba to imperialist domination in exchange for a few material privileges. Questioned by a TV crew, one of the Women in White admits receiving money from an organisation linked to Santiago Alvarez, a leader of the Miami Mafia responsible for many terrorist attacks against Cuba. He was arrested in the US in 2005 in possession of numerous weapons and ammunition.

Raul Castro told the National Assembly: ‘The United States won’t quit trying to destroy the revolution ... They are giving new breath to open and undercover subversion against Cuba ... The enemy is as active as ever.’ Nonetheless, as the spontaneous demonstration showed, Cuban revolutionaries are also active and they will defend their Revolution.

Luke Lucas