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I hesitate to give my views on Chavez and Castro. I would prefer to tip-toe round such sleeping dogs, lest they wake and start barking. I know the moderator has been more than patient with my eccentricities, and I can guess that his own leanings are quite different from mine. However, I would not like to be kicked out because of my opinions on a topic that really concerns only Cuban and Venezuelan workers themselves, and not some outsider. But then, in vino veritas, so here goes. To put it bluntly, I think Cuba is a dictatorship. It might have been progressive in the 60s, but not any more. The country is ruled by a military clique under the regime of a one-party state. Corruption is rampant (as is to be expected in such cases) and trying to organize a wild cat strike will earn you seven years of hard labour. Possession of a modem is prohibited, unless you have a license to connect to the internet. Illegally connecting to the internet will also land you in trouble. Through the CDRs, every neighborhood is carefully monitored. Once Fidel dies and Raul takes over, the slightest disturbance will be met with tanks and marshal law. On the bright side, the Cuban health system is pretty impressive. And so is their educational system, illiteracy having been more or less eradicated. Unemployment does not exist, but the wages of workers is being constantly threatened by inflation. Now Cuba has remained the glowing example towards which left-wing groups in Latin America have constantly looked for solace and inspiration during the 60s, 70s and 80s. From Nicaragua to Bolivia. Latin American left-wingers have an emotional bond with Cuba and have great difficulty criticizing Fidel, despite his legendary compulsory 8-hour harangues. After all, the most deadly enemy of Latin American workers has always been the USA. A far greater immediate threat than Castro's island's shortcomings. And much of the Cuban regime's foibles has always, since the 60s, been blamed on the US embargo. When Soviet assistance was withdrawn in the 90s, the beleaguered island suffered a great deal. But puny Cuba never gave up, or so the legend goes. David and Goliath. So is it high treason to denounce the current state of affairs in Cuba ? Is it only adding fuel to the fire that US imperialism is bent on inflicting on Cuba for disobeying Yankee prerogatives ? Or can, while acknowledging the contributions of Cuba to the cause of anti-US imperialism in the Western Hemisphere, still attack the cult of personality that surrounds Fidel and the oppressive nature of the regime ? As for Chavez, I personally know many Venezuelan Libertarian Marxists who dislike him. One of my best friends is such a disaffected Venezuelan. He thinks that Chavez is the direct continuation of Latin American "caudillismo" (longing for a "strong man"), exemplified by Peron and Vargas. Mingled, as he sees it, with Castrism, due to the influence of Cuba on the Left-Wing intellegentsia in Latin America and Cuba's anti-US pedigree. He is keen to point out the corruption and self-seeking hypocrisy of officials connected with the PSUV. For my part, I tend to agree with my friend (his whole family lives in Caracas after all), BUT I am nevertheless mightily interested in the reports by Socialists of the efforts underway to establish self-managing "cooperatives" and "neighbourhoods" in Venezuela. If they are not simply a re-hash of the Yugoslavian model, in which cooperatives were simply part-capitalist and part-State owned entities, then this could lead to an interesting experiment in popular self-management. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
