3634. Why Am I Committed to the Fidelist Conception of Revolution?

By Olga Fernandez Rio, CubaDebate, November 28, 2016

There are many reasons for an entire people to pay tribute to the leader of the Cuban Revolution in a moment as sad as his physical departure. But despite the pain, it is a time for reflection and commitment to the one who educated us to think and feel like Cubans; the one who united us and created the conditions for the people to act as protagonists of the collective work that has been and will continue to be the Cuban Revolution; the sensitive and detached man; the one who elevated our small country to a global example and paradigm. Together with Che he will always remind us that imperialism is not even a bit like that.

But our task and commitment today is to grow as a people, delve into their thoughts and work and contribute to disseminating it so that it is reaffirmed as the shield and sword of the nation.

Do not forget that his intellectual production - born from the daily struggle and the challenges of the revolutionary process for more than 60 years - is a comprehensive work in which several facets stand out, such as his permanent reflection on the importance of the historical contexts that mark the paths revolutionaries; understand society as a whole; his conception of history as a condition of the present and a source for its analysis; the relationships between theory and practice and between strategy and tactics, together with the non-mechanistic management of the regularities of social development, contradictions and opportunities. Added to this are his commitment to the integrality and continuity of the social revolution, the recognition of the place of the human being in this process and the role of ethics, individuality, criticism and self-criticism.

All of this is summarized in his concept of Revolution that he summarized on May 1, 2000 and that today, within the framework of the tribute to our Fidel, we are called to claim, not out of fanaticism, but because it is a profound concept that is an undoubted contribution to the theory and praxis of social revolution. Implicit in this concept is his humanist sensitivity, which led him to adopt the independence ideology of José Martí and to develop an intelligent receptivity to Marxism from anti-dogmatic positions.

His concept of Revolution highlights the necessary interpretation of the historical conditions that in Cuba favored transformations in a simultaneous process of national liberation and construction of socialism that was capable of solving the problems derived from underdevelopment and dependence on the northern neighbor. He expresses a high sense of ethical responsibility translated into the necessary correlation between ethics and politics with the truth as a flag and as a commitment.

His conception of revolution is consistent with his work as a revolutionary leader who from very early claimed national independence and sovereignty along with the communist ideal, and demystified the scheme that considered him alien to Latin American needs and conditions. This is also one of his great merits, both in his tactical handling and in demonstrating that the essence of socialism is not contradictory with the revolutionary roots and traditions on our continent, including workers' struggles and expressions of internationalism.

An analysis of his life and work - so committed to the people, as well as so integral in itself - shows that for Fidel revolution and construction of socialism are concepts referring to the same anti-capitalist and pro-socialist process in which the education of the masses Popular movements, their active participation and their political culture are conditions that guarantee their advancement.

Although the concept that he most used is revolution, he also used the construction of socialism, which is theoretically and politically valid to refer to the process of socialist transition that takes place in a context of global capitalist predominance, of control by a system transnational institutional on which this predominance is based and interference and blockade by the United States to prevent the advance of the Cuban Revolution.

In Fidel's conceptions, revolution and construction of socialism are expressed as unity. The first marks the meaning of social transformation, as proposed on May 1, 2000, of "changing everything that has to be changed," and the second has to do with the nature of the contents of those changes, which are not just any change, but those aimed at adding favorable conditions to socialist society.

Added to this is that in his commitment and revolutionary efforts Fidel relied on criticism as a thermometer that measures the result of the changes and revolutionary advance; It is critical as an educational work and as an instrument of change that introduces a concept that has become political, rectification, understood as self-criticism and adjustment of the socialist order strategy.

Among others, an example of this educational capacity of criticism was revealed on November 17, 2005 in his intervention in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana in which, at the same time, he recognized the meritorious feat of the people who prevented that the collapse of socialism occurred in Cuba as occurred in other countries, he carried out a deep analysis of endogenous problems that could jeopardize its continuity, hence they had to be faced. On that occasion, in addition to warning about the possible reversibility of socialism, he recognized that one of the biggest mistakes made was thinking that we knew about the construction of socialism, a reflection that deserves a much deeper analysis than we are in a position to carry out at this time. reflections. It is a debt that the Cuban social sciences owe in relation to the theory of social revolution that needs greater depth in the current conditions of our country and the processes of change that take place in Latin America.

And it is precisely Fidel's thought and work that is an important contribution to that theory and to the revolutionary praxis that must accompany it. It is enough to point out that if we return to Fidel's conceptions of revolution as a “sense of the historical moment” and about the people as a plural revolutionary subject; his criticism of capitalism and imperialism; the socioeconomic coordinates that he links with the seizure of political power, the hegemony of the workers conceived within the framework of the necessary national unity, and socialism as a solution based on the conditions of our country, we find the keys to interpret his conceptions on the construction of socialism that become contributions of obligatory reference in the development of the theory of social revolution. Added to this is his handling of tactics, the way of confronting the enemy's contradictions, the ability to unite forces and the keen notion of the ideal moment and opportunity for action.

Today, when millions of human beings consider fighting for a more just world and society and when in several countries the popular movement of workers, peasants, indigenous people, social activists, together with intellectuals and academics, return to criticizing capitalism with renewed vigor , Fidel Castro's conceptions contribute to the analysis and transformation of the unjust social order prevailing in the world. The same happens in Cuba when socialism has been ratified as a development option with the determination and determination not to stray from the chosen route that includes cycles of rectifications and adjustments in accordance with the various contexts that influence the national reality.

In that effort, as the singer-songwriter says, "a machete may get tangled in the weeds," but the important thing is to know how to untangle it and for this we Cubans have a powerful weapon: the revolutionary legacy of Fidel Castro. Do not forget that there are already capacities created to continue involving Cubans more and more in solving the challenges of various kinds that are faced during the construction of socialism.

In this effort, the analysis of Fidel's work cannot be missed, which today is more necessary than ever when it defends the revolution as a mass movement, hence the weight he has given to educational work and direct dialogue with the people. that thanks to his work is full of educated and cultured men, women and young people, capable of consolidating the political power that has been deployed since 1959, and capable of carrying out the revolution as a comprehensive and continuous process of national liberation of an anti-imperialist and socialist nature.