Socialism key to Cuba's survival
From a talk by
Richard Becker
at the Dec. 2-3 Workers
World Party conference.
Every social system thinks itself eternal, Cuban
President Fidel Castro once remarked, until history teaches
it otherwise.
The rulers of the social system we live under have lately
been thinking of themselves as some sort of immortal gods.
They even declared that history was over and done with. But
the events of the past year, beginning exactly a year ago
when we were in the streets in Seattle, have begun to teach
them otherwise.
Culminating this year of new struggles was the Second
World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity with Cuba in
November. The International Action Center had one of the
largest delegations. More than 4,600 people from 118
countries came together in the spirit of solidarity with the
Cuban Revolution, and at the same time in the spirit of
militant resistance to U.S. imperialism and capitalism
everywhere. The meeting was another sign of the revival of
the world socialist and communist movement.
Nine years ago, socialist Cuba faced grave danger. The
U.S.-backed Yeltsin coup in the Soviet Union had taken place
in August 1991 and was in the process of dismantling the
Soviet Union. What Cuban President Fidel Castro called "the
greatest tragedy in the history of the working class" was
also the greatest victory ever for world imperialism.
The most crucial factors in Cuba's survival during this
very difficult time--what the Cubans refer to as the "Special
Period"--were its socialist system and revolutionary
party.
Having a socialist system means that the productive wealth
of society is in the hands of the workers' state, rather than
being owned by a tiny minority of the population as is the
case under capitalism. State ownership of the means of
production made it possible for the revolutionary government
to allocate scarce resources to those areas where the need
was most critical.
The government's priorities were to provide a minimum of
food and other necessities to the population as a whole,
preserve the basic gains of the revolution in health care,
education and other areas, and begin a program to revive the
economy.
Cuba's control over its economy and resources has been a
key to its survival, not just in the sense of continuing to
exist. This control is how Cuba has been able to defend its
national independence and preserve the advances of its
socialist system. It has not fallen into the clutches of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for exactly
this reason.
The Cuban Communist Party, led by President Castro, has
maintained a revolutionary stance in these difficult years.
The Cuban leadership has summarized its determination to
defend its system with the slogan, "Socialism or death--we
will win," and has acted in solidarity with the workers and
oppressed peoples of the world in the struggle against U.S.
imperialism.
The party's uncompromising line and its integration with
the masses of people have been crucial elements. The Cuban
people as a whole are very political, with a sharp
understanding of both the nature of imperialism and
capitalism and the achievements of the revolution and
socialism.
Mass political consciousness becomes a material factor in
the struggle, and the firm resolve of the Cuban people to
defend their revolution and resist U.S. imperialism is
largely due to the role played by the Communist Party of
Cuba.
What Cuba's experience shows is that the only real way to
resist imperialist globalization is socialist revolution.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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