by Klaus Rohrich
May 28, 2004
The rallying cry of the revolution that changed the face of Cuba in 1959 was "Cuba Libre!" That wasn’t the only time in history when Cubans took to the streets with this cry, as it was also an oft-voiced sentiment in Cuba during the Spanish occupation that ended with the Spanish-american War. Traveling through the Cuban countryside today reminds one of the saying that ‘the more things change, the more they remain the same’. Cuba today, doesn’t appear to be a lot different than it was back in 1959. Many of the same cars that were on the road then are still on the road today. In addition, there appear to be lot more policemen per capita than luxury cars or grocery stores.
Makes one wonder what has really changed in Cuba since 1959. To hear the tourguides explain it, today there is universal healthcare and universal education provided by the government. There has been agrarian reform, in that many farmers are allowed to work their own land and to keep the proceeds of the sale of their produce. But beyond that, there seems to be very little that has changed since the days of Fulgencio Batista.
Oh, yes, one other thing: the americans are no longer in Cuba and that perhaps is the biggest change that has visited the island since 1959. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on how you view the americans.
To have a standard of living that is on par with Sri Lanka and below that of Poland in return for being rid of the americans doesn’t sound like a good deal to me. What’s more, the Cuban government uses the americans, much like some parents use the boogey man on their children, to keep their population in line. In the rare cases when this fails there is always the ever-present police and a plethora of political prisons that deal very effectively with dissention. Wherever one goes in Cuba there is an abundance of propaganda that glorifies the revolution and vilifies the americans. Even the luxury resorts that cater to capitalist vacationers have areas within that are devoted to making vacationers aware that Cuba is a communist nation.
What the propaganda does not talk about is that it is almost impossible to find any consumer goods anywhere in the country. a recent story in the Toronto Star focussed on a couple in search of a new collar for their dog and the lengths to which they went to try to find one. Of course, the search was fruitless for the obvious reason that Cuba’s government, like all communist governments before it, is incapable of creating an economy that provides a modern living standard for its citizens.
Instead, the government of Cuba spares no effort in blaming the United States for its economic woes. Government officials blame the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the fact that no consumer goods are available there. It’s a curious dichotomy, cursing the american way of life on the one hand and holding the americans to blame that Cubans do not enjoy the same standard on the other. Clearly this appears to be a case of cursing the darkness in favour of lighting a candle. What’s wrong with establishing trade with European or Canadian companies? To be fair, a relationship currently exists between a Canadian oil company and the government of Cuba to bring Cuba’s oil to the surface. The result is that Cuba is able to provide for 98 percent of its hydroelectricity from indigenous energy sources. In this case it is also obvious that Cuba is allowing its Canadian partners to show a profit for their investment.
However, the same logic does not extend to the importation or manufacture of consumer goods. To me there is a clear message here: don’t deprive your population of modern basics, such as electricity or your citizens will rise up against the government. But deprive them of so-called luxury items such as shampoo or dog collars and nothing much will happen. also, that’s where the americans come in. any shortage of anything is blamed on them. The Cuban people are not sufficiently sophisticated, nor do they have ready access to anything on television that the government doesn’t want them to see, for them to demand better.
I found it heart-wrenching to have an old woman accost me on the streets of Havana to ask whether I had any shampoo. as a rule I do not carry shampoo around with me, but if I had had a bottle, I would gladly have given it to her. One would think that a government, especially a socialist one, would care enough for its people to provide them with more than the barest necessities. Given that this government has the resources to build grand monuments to itself and to fill the streets and countryside with police, it’s clear where their priorities lie.
What Castro and his toadies are doing to the people of Cuba is really not very different from what Batista and the americans did to them 50 years ago. It’s high time that people of Cuba renewed their cry for "Cuba Libre"!