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Cuba: Times of a "thaw" with imperialism / The complete article here: http://leftvoice.org/Cuba-Times-of-a-thaw-with-imperialism ------- Support to the program of Raúl Castro or defense of the revolutionary conquests The spokesmen of Havana do not cease to insist that the reforms have as an aim the "updating of the economic model," in order to construct a prosperous "socialism," a proposition ever less credible in light of the facts. Some groups of the left, although critical of this path, justify it because of Cuba’s isolation in the capitalist world, as a "lesser evil" facing the danger of a violent capitalist restoration. But the Cuban plan is not an intelligent "third way" that will avoid the restoration, but the road to take to it, in a controlled manner, "in the Cuban style," keeping the monopoly of political power in the hands of the bureaucracy, for their conversion into a new property-owning class, after the example of their peers in China or Vietnam. This course, that is increasingly accepted by imperialism (as Obama’s calculations show), is enormously demoralizing for the Cuban people and for all of Latin America, since it appears to show that there is no other road than "market socialism" (or a "twenty-first century socialism," with capitalists included), and that it is useless to struggle against imperialist oppression. For example, the Marxist economist Claudio Katz justifies the Cuban government in terms of a mandatory "NEP." [5] But a retreat, although mandatory, cannot be presented as an "improvement," and, in addition, it strengthens the internal enemies of socialism and thus must be explained. Katz also denies that introducing a genuine socialist democracy could be a "panacea." It is not a matter of a "panacea," but that the regime of a "single party" of the bureaucracy stifles every trace of independent political life of the masses, and it reduces the space to the minimum or directly represses the critical groups on the left. Facing that, it is essential that the workers and the youth have a full right to get organized and express themselves, which includes the right of the political currents that declare themselves against imperialism and for the defense of the revolution, to act freely. It is the working people who must discuss, decide and review the measures in place to adopt, according to the people’s interests, and exercise collective control over all aspects of economic life. Workers’ democracy is a practical necessity, in order to confront reaction,combat the bureaucracy and balance the relationship between the centralizing plan and the margins to offer the "market," not a "luxury" that can be replaced by the plebiscitary, ultra-controlled mechanisms of elections like the recent municipal elections. Political support to Raúl’s government and to the monopoly of the Cuban Communist Party is a support to the Cuban road to restoration[6] . A workers’ and socialist alternative for Cuba, part of independence facing the government and criticism of its measures from a strategy and a program to defend and restore the conquests of the Revolution, by confronting the imperialist maneuvers, interference and blackmails (like the blockade), as well as putting an end to the power and privileges of the bureaucracy, by building a new regime based on the democratic organizations of the masses. In summary, it is about the program and strategy of political revolution, the only one that can regenerate the CubanRevolution. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
