[News] Exporting Revolution, Revolutionary Models and Historical Facts

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Exporting Revolution, Revolutionary Models and Historical Facts

Nelson P. Valdés, for Cuba-L Analysis

http://machetera.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/exporting-revolution-revolutionary-models-and-historical-facts/


“I asked him [Fidel Castro]  if he believed the 
Cuban model was still something worth exporting.” 
- Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic Blog,  September 8, 2010

“In their ravings they pretend that Cuba is an 
exporter of revolutions. In their sleepless 
business and usurers’ minds they believe that 
revolutions can be sold and bought, rent or lent, 
export or import as one more [piece of] 
merchandise.” -  Fidel Castro, February 4, 1962

“We maintain that a revolution cannot be imported 
or exported. A socialist state cannot be 
established through artificial insemination or by 
the transplant of embryos. Revolution required 
the proper conditions developed within the very 
society, and only the people of the country can 
be its own creator.” – Fidel Castro, December 7, 1989

—

Is there a “Cuban model” of socialism? Apparently the rightwing thinks so;
the left disagrees.  The phrase “Cuban model” is not a common occurrence in
Cuban government servers.

What exactly is a “model”?  The Collins Dictionary of Sociology defines
“model” as a “simplification of complex reality” that avoids “complicating
factors.”  As a rule of thumb I would claim that those who know little
history [or sociology] tend to grasp for the term model when they are merely
generalizing because they do not have much more to go on.  This vague term
leaves readers with no other choice but to reinforce their preconceptions
about “the Cuban model.”  A model can also imply something that others ought
to follow or copy.

Nevertheless, it is possible to discern a  number of features that have been
fairly consistent and characteristic of the Cuban revolutionary experience.

First, the Cuban revolution has stressed and continues to stress that
national sovereignty is paramount and will be defended to the death and that
no concessions will ever be made. That is certainly a central feature.
Moreover, they have managed to survive US government dictates and
pressures.

Second, the Cuban revolution has created a political and social system that
depends on mass mobilization. The extent and degree that mass mobilization
has been used has changed over time. All the mass organizations in the
island have been structured on the basis that people are organized to
implement policy. In certain periods mass mobilization have been more used
than at other times – for example, in sugar harvest time, census taking,
health campaigns, or nomination of candidates for political office. There
are other examples that one could provide. But, should such features
constitute a “model”?

Third, the Cuban revolution has followed a fairly practical, pragmatic and
result-oriented approach in the organization of the economy. That has led a
number of scholars to point out that Cuban revolutionary economic history
could be organized in fairly distinct “periods.” Usually the outsiders,
particularly journalists and visitors who happen to have little knowledge of
economics in general assume that in the island there has been just one
economic arrangement in which everything flows from the top down and that
output, prices, etc are simply part of a so-called command economy. Such
characterization would be consistent with the movie Bananas, but it is
hardly a description of the historical process. Consequently, people are
shocked when they are informed that in Cuba hotel chains compete with one
another on the prices offered to tourists. Outsiders do not realize that
there is a budgetary system of finance and another financial system called
cálculo económico, or a sistema empresarial. In fact, it is assumed that
“capitalist methods” are not used or that the opposite is true – when
outsiders assume that any item that is sold for a profit is an example of
capitalism!  Such economic ignorance is certainly quaint but leads to
simplistic views and assumptions. The reality of the Cuban economic system
is that there are over 100 flowers blooming at the same time – to use a
Chinese metaphor. One example should suffice: there are three types of
cooperatives in the  country’s agriculture; and there are also different
types of state agricultural properties.

Fourth, the Cuban revolutionary regime has developed a “modelo medico;” that
is, a medical approach that stresses the decentralization of medicinal
services [the family doctor] as well as paying much more attention to
prevention in order to avoid expensive medical treatment. THAT model, which
also happens to be free of direct charge to the consumer, is indeed, a model
that has been emulated and copied by countries throughout the world. But the
model is not exported by the island; rather third countries import the
personnel to have it in their own nation states.

Fifth, there is a Cuban model as well in the use of highly educated
professionals who generate money for the country by providing services as
educators, technical personnel and other skilled labor abroad. The Cuban
educational methods of teaching the illiterate and achieving very high
positive results in elementary and secondary education constitute models
that UNICEF and UNESCO have considered worthy of emulation.

Sixth, the Cuban revolution certainly committed itself to as much social
equality as possible – thus a free health care, free education and free [or
fairly cheap] child care. Since 1964, Cuba also has had a subsidized food
distribution system. But that has changed over time as well. These programs
have changed over time. Note: a portion of the Cuban military budget is self
financed; is that a model to be emulated?

There is no such a thing as a Cuban revolutionary 
model. The revolutionary regime has been 
pragmatic and changed over time, whenever 
circumstance required it, which is why it is 
possible to speak of different periods since 
1959. Only those who are ill acquainted with the 
Cuban reality could come up with the assertion 
that there is an all encompassing, never changing Cuban model.

Last, but not least:  The Cuban process takes inspiration from over a
century of self-definition and historical developments.  The influence of
José Martí  in particular is essential for an understanding of contemporary
Cuba. [This is a point provided to me by Professor John Kirk of Dalhousie
University].

Needless to say, the United States government and its mass media and
academic institutions do preach and compel the export of a neoliberal
“model” to the rest of the world. That model, of course, has not taken into
account the unique histories and cultures of other societies. In the
neoliberal paradigm, the model fits all nations states, all cultures and all
needs. The neoliberal model in its claim to be global and universalistic
dismisses the right of self determination and sovereignty. That is, in the
final analysis, the core assumption of the questions made by Jeffrey
Goldberg. Fidel Castro, on the other hand, has consistently supported the
right of self determination – including the right of each country to find
its own path and way.

The following colleagues provided useful comments and suggestions: Karen
Wald, Machetera, Robert Sandels, John Kirk, Joseph Garcia, and Ned Sublette.

1 See:
<http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.cuba.cu+%22modelo+cubano%22&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS259US260&ie=UTF-8&hl= 
]>http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.cuba.cu+%22modelo+cubano%22&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS259US260&ie=UTF-8&hl= 
]



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