https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/we-are-cuba-review-socialism-soviet-union
The article that Louis forwarded is well worth reading. There are good reasons
that so many people are so fiercely supportive of Cuba. We should all take
pride in their achievements. Last year I had the opportunity to send a small
donation to assist their overseas medical missions and I was happy to do so.
What are Cubans thinking?
I am far from being an expert. I was in Cuba once, for two weeks, with very
minimal fluency in Spanish. From a distance it appears that here is still
broad support for the Cuban Revolution. The public manifestations around the
case of Elián González in 2000 and the death of Fidel Castro seemed to me to be
more than rote actions of people who were only there because they had to be.
One party state
The author says, "There is, of course, a long-running and bitter debate about
the nature of Cuba’s one-party state, and whether its existence means that the
Cuban people have no say over their own lives.”
There may be such a debate, but for the most part, it has passed me by.
I can see two arguments for the one party state in Cuba. One would be that
Cuba is under siege and the restrictions on political activity in Cuba are an
unfortunate necessity until Cuba is no longer under attack. Another argument
is that a one party state is actually superior to a multi-party state and not
only should we support it in Cuba, but we should advocate a one party state for
our own country (Canada in my case).
One thing that we might agree on is that support for a one party state should
not be a condition of joining the Cuba solidarity movement.
I believe that political activity in Cuba is subject to restrictions. For
example, in 2003 when there were massive demonstrations around the world
against the impending attack on Iraq, there were no demonstrations reported in
Cuba. Who made that decision? Another example would be LGBTQ rights. We have
every reason to cheer the advances that Cuba has made on this front. Even
better if we could point to a gay rights movement that advocated for this
before it was achieved. Were there gay rights demonstrations, meetings,
newspapers? Not to my knowledge.
The author points to a number of ways that Cubans are able to participate in
political discussions and vote on various matters, such as the constitution.
Would these mechanisms of participation be weaker if there were more than one
political party in Cuba?
ken h
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