tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261748503426298041.post867613738260330804..comments2023-10-21T13:04:34.038-07:00Comments on Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism: 56. Corruption and the Danger of Counter Revolution in CubaKamran Nayerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13737979861971221811noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261748503426298041.post-29613005569885626472010-07-04T19:54:51.596-07:002010-07-04T19:54:51.596-07:00Concerns expressed in the first comment are import...Concerns expressed in the first comment are important. <br /><br />However, it would be a mistake to believe that Cuba is in the same situation as the former USSR and the Eastern European countries were. As Cubans themselves have repeatedly pointed out before, Eastern European "socialism" took shape largely under the occupation of the Red Army. The Cuban revolution was entirely homegrown. Further, unlike the Soviet Union were a counter-revolutionary caste within the party and the state consolidated power and drove the working class out of power through massive repression, in Cuban workers and farmers still enjoy considerable power and mass mobilizations remain the principal form of state power (that is one reason U.S. has not been able to militarily attack Cuba). That is also the main reason Cuban internationalism survives to this day. <br /><br />Still, Cuban revolution has not institutionalized sources of workers' power such as workers' control, workers' management, and soviets. Cuban communists have not critically examined the history of the international communist movement, including the class nature of the Soviet Union and the cause for its collapse. And, it is true, that the Cuban leadership remains paternalistic. The historic leadership team around Fidel Castro remains the ultimate decision maker. <br /><br />Given the ebbs and flow of international class struggle and the heritage of relative economic and cultural backwardness( relative to requirement for socialism) corruption and bureaucracy remain a feature of the Cuban revolution and as Fidel and, in the present case, Morales, have pointed out, pose a grave internal danger to the revolution. <br /><br />What can be done about it? It is essential to defend the Cuban revolution against all capitalist, imperialist attacks, including U.S. blockade. It is also important for labor, socialists, ecosocialists to build their relationship with their Cuban counterparts. Free travel and free exchange of ideas, especially revolutionary socialist ideas are required for further development of socialist consciousness in Cuban and in the world (as we can learn a lot from the Cuban experience).Kamran Nayerihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13737979861971221811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261748503426298041.post-92179970668276124732010-07-04T08:14:49.707-07:002010-07-04T08:14:49.707-07:00Robert Kopec informed me of a June 8, 2010 article...Robert Kopec informed me of a June 8, 2010 article in Diario de Cuba in which Morales denies his membership in the Communist Party has been revoked. I added this new information to the preface to the post this morning, July 4, 2010. Thank you Robby!Kamran Nayerihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13737979861971221811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261748503426298041.post-43630259722687589532010-07-03T17:09:30.640-07:002010-07-03T17:09:30.640-07:00Of course the US is ready, willing & able to t...Of course the US is ready, willing & able to take full advantage of institutional corruption & surely it has developed close clandestine links with those who seek to privatize the economic wealth held by the Cuban state (in the name of the people). Washington has had extensive experience with this process in Eastern Europe & Russia & the CIA is surely well aware of the Cuban functionaries in high places (and low) who are eager to become the new owners of a privatized Cuban economy.<br /><br />The question is: HOW DO YOU CORRECT AND/OR PREVENT THIS WITHOUT A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT ENCOURAGES OPENNESS, TRANSPARENCY & DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT?<br /><br />Answer: YOU CAN'T.<br /><br />History abounds with proof that top-down purges don't work. But I am not aware of any broad efforts to make the Cuban political system more open to grassroots, democratic accountability.<br /><br />Thus, if a political & economic crisis destabilizes the Cuban system after Fidel passes from the scene, the island will be hard-pressed to avoid the fate of Eastern Europe.NTROPEEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00095279981135270696noreply@blogger.com