Questions and Answers from a Marxist point of view
Joint Statement of the Liaison Committee of the Revolutionary Communist
International Tendency (RCIT) and Convergencia Socialista (Argentina), 13 July
2021, https://convergenciadecombate.blogspot.com and www.thecommunists.net
The current mass protests in Cuba have been met by repression and violence from the Cuban state apparatus. They have also opened a widespread debate among
international left-wing forces about the character of the Cuban state and the nature of the popular protests. The Revolutionary Communist International
Tendency (RCIT) and our comrades from Convergencia Socialista (Argentina) stand in solidarity with these mass mobilizations and advocate a socialist perspective. [1] In this article, we will explain our approach in more detail in the format of questions and answers.
What are the causes of the current mass protests?
The current protests have been triggered by the dramatic consequences of the recently implemented austerity program of the government. At the beginning of this year, the so-called “Ordering Task” became effective. This is an economic reform program of the government of Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel. These reforms mean, in the words of the state media: “On January 1, the convertible peso ceased to circulate in Cuba and a single exchange rate of 24 Cuban pesos for one dollar was adopted for natural and legal persons, at the same time a wage reform was undertaken, prices were corrected and excessive subsidies and gratuities were eliminated.” [2] Furthermore, the regime hopes to “attract foreign investment” and to strengthen the private sector.
To translate this in plain language, this is a capitalist austerity program. Prices have increased dramatically while wages stagnated. Hence, there has been a sharp rise in the cost of living for the popular masses. Add to this the “elimination of excessive subsidies and gratuities”. It is clear that poverty and hunger have massively increased in recent months.
In early March, the “Communist” Party’s central Internet portal, “CubaDebate,” asked its readers how they had experienced the first months since the currency reform. “The feedback was devastating. More than two-thirds of the respondents said that even the increase in wages was not enough to cover their needs, given the sharp rise in prices. In addition to complaints about the shortages and increased costs of living, people also expressed outrage that the dollar stores were dividing Cubans into a de facto two-class society, and that ordinary peso income earners were the losers.” [3]
The currency reform has resulted in a decline of imports by 40%. As a consequence, there are shortages in goods and people have to stay in hours-long daily
queues for obtaining basic commodities.
What is the background of this austerity program?
The “Ordering Task” is just the latest attack in series of measures which are part of capitalist restoration in Cuba. After the collapse of the USSR – a degenerated workers state dictatorially ruled by a bureaucratic caste – in 1991, Cuba entered a dramatic economic crisis. As a result, the Castroite regime – like ruling Stalinist parties in other countries – turned towards pro-capitalist market reforms. After a period of some zigzags, the regime implemented a series of drastic pro-capitalist measures in 2010-11. Faced with the sanctions by U.S. imperialism, the Cuban regime has looked for closer relations with China and the European Union.
The restoration of capitalism has resulted in a massive increase of exploitation and social inequality. According to academic studies, the Gini coefficient in Cuba – measuring social inequality – was placed between 0.22 and 0.25 in 1986. However, the establishment of capitalist relations of production has dramatically changed this. Today, the Gini coefficient amounts to more than 0.40, denoting a very unequal society. [4]
Another study by a Cuban economist, published in 2018, arrived at the conclusion that “between 10% and 15% of [Cuba’s] citizens can be considered as “rich”, while between 40% and 51% of the population live in poverty.” [5]
The existence of capitalist property relations was legally legitimized by the adaption of the new Cuban Constitution in 2019 which formally recognized private property and the role of the “market”. In fact, these features have existed already for years. [6]
The effects of capitalist restoration by the ruling party have been worsened by the sanction of U.S. imperialism which could only partly absorbed by Cuba’s key ally China. This is the case because China itself is dominated by a business-calculating capitalist class. “China was no longer willing to supply goods on credit on a large scale if the Cuban side continued to default on accumulated trade debts.” [7]
In addition, Cuba has been affected by the Greater Depression of the capitalist world economy which began in autumn 2019 [8] and which has been worsened by the global Lockdown regime (which Marxists call the COVID-19 Counterrevolution). [9] As a result, Cuba’s economy shrank by 11% last year and the important tourism sector collapsed. [10]
In summary, the current crisis has its main roots in the crisis-ridden character of capitalism, intensified by the specifics of ruling class which is imposing a brutal austerity program as well as by the sanctions of U.S. imperialism.
How do you characterize the Cuban state today?
The RCIT and our comrades of Convergencia Socialista consider Cuba as a capitalist state. More precisely, it is a state dominated by a Stalinist-capitalist ruling class. The old Castroite bureaucracy presided over a deformed workers state since the early 1960s. It has successfully kept power (until now) but transformed itself resp. created a new capitalist class. So, the ruling party remained the same while the economic base has changed. While Cuba was a deformed workers state in the past, it has become a capitalist state. It is a close ally of Chinese and Russian imperialism.
Cuba’s ruling party has entered the same road which other Stalinist parties have done after 1989-91. In China [11], Vietnam, Laos and North Korea [12], the ruling Stalinist parties were able to keep their political dictatorship while transforming successfully the economic basis of their countries towards capitalism. Cuba has become a capitalist semi-colony – similar to Vietnam, Laos and North Korea while China evolved into an imperialist Great Power.
Was Cuba ever socialist state?
Cuba was never a socialist state in the Marxist meaning of the word. It was never led by the working class organized in councils and its armed militias and ruling by the methods of direct democracy. At the time of the revolution in 1959, the Castroite M-26-7 guerilla movement had a petty-bourgeois character. Due to the pressure of class struggle, the threat of invasion of U.S. imperialism and the pressure from the USSR, the Castroite movement transformed itself into a Stalinist party and expropriated the bourgeoisie. However, Cuba was never a healthy workers state like Soviet Russia in the times of Lenin and Trotsky 1917-23 but rather a deformed workers state. [13]
What is your position on the U.S. sanctions?
We strongly denounce these sanctions as economic aggression by an imperialist Great Power. We demand their immediate and unconditional lifting. These sanctions are an instrument of Washington in order to bring back a puppet regime (like Batista before 1959).
We oppose all forms of imperialist interference in Cuba. Hence, we are against any attempt of U.S. imperialism to advance their interests on the island. Likewise, we oppose all forms of interference of Chinese and Russian imperialism which consider Cuba as “their” semi-colony.
We refuse the idea that all problems in Cuba are caused by the U.S. sanctions. Basically, the problems of rising social inequality, poverty and unemployment are caused by capitalism. This is why you see similar developments in many countries all over the world – including in China and Vietnam. Blaming the U.S. sanctions as the main cause of Cuba’s problems is an attempt of the Stalinist-capitalist regime to whitewash its anti-people policy.
How do you view the current popular protests?
For the reasons mentioned above, the popular demonstrations are legitimate protests which we fully support. It is a Stalinist-capitalist slander to denounce them as “directed by the U.S.” or as a result of “provocateurs”. A wave of mass mobilizations in dozens of cities within 24 hours, many of them youth, is the result of authentic and spontaneous mass anger caused by economic misery. Such spontaneous movements have happened many times all over the world. Just think about the wave of protests in the U.S. after the police killing of Georg Floyd! Or does the regime want to suggest that the “worms” are so strongly rooted among the masses that they could achieve this?! If that would be really the case, it would mean that the regime is so weak and so discredited that the masses listen more to the worms than to the pseudo-“communists”!
As a matter of fact, the current mass mobilizations in Cuba have essentially the same reasons as all the other popular protests which are taking place all over the world. People fight against poverty and unemployment, against the anti-democratic policy of the COVID-19 Counterrevolution, against dictatorships, etc. This is happening in Colombia, Chile, Iraq, Lebanon, India, Burma/Myanmar, Hong Kong, etc. Why should the protests of the Cuban people be less legitimate?!
“But the Cuban government is socialist!”
Well, not the Cuban government which exists on this planet! As we did show above, it is “socialist” in words only and Stalinist-capitalist in deeds. Marxist don’t judge political forces by what they say about themselves. The Catholic Church preaches the 10 commandments and violates nearly each of those. Mohamed bin Salman is a Muslim in words and a corrupt tyrant in deeds. And the “Communist” parties in China, Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba “serve the people” in words and serve the interests of their capitalist class in deeds. Therefore the workers and oppressed have to overthrow them in order to march forward to authentic socialism.
Do you see the danger that the current regime could be replaced by a pro-Yankee regime?
There does not exist only one danger but several. One danger is that the Stalinist-capitalist dictatorship smashes the popular protests and keeps power. Another danger is that the PCC government could be replaced by a pro-U.S. regime. Socialists fight against both outcomes.
If socialists refuse to join the mass mobilizations, they leave the field to the worms and other reactionaries. If they side with the regime against the people, they will become counterrevolutionaries. The only way forward is to participate in the popular protests, to defend an independent socialist program, to work towards the creation of direct-democratic popular councils, to fight against any reactionary influences for the revolutionary overthrow of the regime and for its replacement by a workers and poor peasant government. In order to advance this process, it is essential for authentic socialists to unite and to build a revolutionary party.
What do you say about the support for the Cuban regime by many left-wing parties?
This is a shame and reflects the massive degeneration of the Stalinist, Bolivarian and pseudo-Trotskyist left. Many of them repeat the slander of the regime in Havana and denounce the protests as a “conspiracy of the CIA”. To give only one example for such reactionary filth. The Greek KKE – a key force in international Stalinism – claims: “The USA, in cooperation with anti-Cuban mafia operating on its territory as well as forces within Cuba openly supporting their plans, are orchestrating protests in Cuba with anti-communist and anti-revolutionary slogans calling for the overthrow of the government.” [14]
Thus, they repeat essentially the same reactionary slander which these parties spread in the past when they supported the Assad dictatorship against the Syrian Revolution [15], legitimized the military coup in Egypt in July 2013 [16] or denounced the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. [17] This is the logical and disastrous conclusion when you turn the reality on its head by considering an imperialist Great Power like China as “socialist”, by considering a capitalist tyranny like Assad as “anti-imperialist” and “progressive”, etc. The rotten methods of Stalinism are inevitable bound to end up in the camp of counterrevolution! [18]
[1] See our joint statement: Cuba: Support the Popular Masses in Struggle – for a true Socialist Revolution! 12 July 2021, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/latin-america/cuba-support-the-popular-masses-in-struggle-for-a-true-socialist-revolution/
[2] Cuban News Agency: Re-ordering task in Cuba, one month in, 1 February, 2021 https://www.gobiernogranma.gob.cu/en/blog/re-ordering-task-in-cuba-one-month-in/
[3] Bert Hoffmann: Communist party congress in Cuba: After the end of the Castro era, what? April 15, 2021, https://theglobalamericans.org/2021/04/communist-party-congress-in-cuba-after-the-end-of-the-castro-era-what/; Encuesta: ¿Cómo ha vivido estos dos meses de ordenamiento monetario? 1 marzo 2021, http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2021/03/01/encuesta-como-ha-vivido-estos-dos-meses-de-ordenamiento-monetario/; ‘Cubadebate’ Removes the Ordering Task Survey From its Website, 7.3.2021, https://translatingcuba.com/cubadebate-removes-the-ordering-task-survey-from-its-website/
[4] Omar Everleny: Inequality and population at risk of poverty in Cuba, August 17, 2019, https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/inequality-and-population-at-risk-of-poverty-in-cuba/; see also Stephanie Nolen: A new Cuban revolution and the stark divide between rich and poor, January 8, 2016 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-new-cuban-revolution-and-the-stark-divide-between-rich-and-poor/article28073917/
[5] Pedro Monreal: Contando “ricos” y “pobres” en Cuba: ¿qué dicen los datos disponibles? August 10, 2018, https://elestadocomotal.com/2018/08/10/contando-ricos-y-pobres-en-cuba-que-dicen-los-datos-disponibles/
[6] For an analysis of the process of capitalist restoration in Cuba we refer readers to the book by Michael Pröbsting: Cuba‘s Revolution Sold Out? The Road from Revolution to the Restoration of Capitalism, August 2013, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/cuba-s-revolution-sold-out/; see also Juan Giglio y Damián Vekelo: Cuba tiene un gobierno stalinista, que aplica un ajuste capitalista, julio 13, 2021, https://convergenciadecombate.blogspot.com/2021/07/cuba-tiene-un-gobierno-stalinista-que.html
[7] Bert Hoffmann: Communist party congress in Cuba: After the end of the Castro era, what?
[8] The RCIT has analysed the COVID-19 counterrevolution extensively since its beginning. Starting from 2 February 2020 we have published nearly 90 pamphlets, essays, articles and statements plus a book which are all compiled at a special sub-page on our website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/collection-of-articles-on-the-2019-corona-virus/. In particular we refer readers to the RCIT Manifesto: COVID-19: A Cover for a Major Global Counterrevolutionary Offensive. We are at a turning point in the world situation as the ruling classes provoke a war-like atmosphere in order to legitimize the build-up of chauvinist state-bonapartist regimes, 21 March 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/covid-19-a-cover-for-a-major-global-counterrevolutionary-offensive/. In addition, we draw attention to our book by Michael Pröbsting: The COVID-19 Global Counterrevolution: What It Is and How to Fight It. A Marxist analysis and strategy for the revolutionary struggle, RCIT Books, April 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/the-covid-19-global-counterrevolution/. See also our very first article on this issue by Almedina Gunić: Coronavirus: "I am not a Virus"... but WE will be the Cure! The chauvinist campaign behind the “Wuhan Coronavirus” hysteria and the revolutionary answer, 2 February 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/wuhan-virus/; Michael Pröbsting: The Second Wave of the COVID-19 Counterrevolution. On the ruling class strategy in the current conjuncture, its inner contradictions and the perspectives of the workers and popular resistance, 20 July 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/the-second-wave-of-the-covid-19-counterrevolution/; by the same author: The Police and Surveillance State in the Post-Lockdown Phase. A global review of the ruling class’s plans of expanding the bonapartist state machinery amidst the COVID-19 crisis, 21 May 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/police-and-surveillance-state-in-post-lockdown-phase/; COVID-19: The Great Barrington Declaration is indeed Great! Numerous medical scientists protest against the reactionary lockdown policy, 11 October 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/covid-19-the-great-barrington-declaration-is-indeed-great/; Michael Pröbsting: COVID-19: The Current and Historical Roots of Bourgeois Lockdown “Socialism”. Police State and Universal Basic Income are key elements of the new version of reformist “War Socialism” of 1914, 19 December 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/covid-19-the-current-and-historical-roots-of-bourgeois-lockdown-socialism/.
[9] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: No, the Corona Virus is not the Main Cause of the Global Economic Slump! Bourgeois Media Officially Recognize the Beginning of another Great Recession, 3 March 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/corona-virus-is-not-themain-cause-of-global-economic-slump/; Chapter “Another Great Recession has begun“ in RCIT: World Perspectives 2020: A Pre-Revolutionary Global Situation. Theses on the World Situation, the Perspectives for Class Struggle and the Tasks of Revolutionaries, 8 February 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/world-perspectives-2020/; Michael Pröbsting: Another Great Recession of the Capitalist World Economy Has Begun. The economic crisis is an important factor in the current dramatic shift in the world situation, 19 October 2019, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/another-great-recession-of-the-capitalist-world-economy-hasbegun/; see also Michael Pröbsting: The Next Looming Great Recession. Observations on the Latest Stock Market Slump and the Structural Crisis of the Capitalist World Economy, 12 October 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/the-next-looming-great-recession/
[10] Economía cubana cae 11% este año y debe crecer alrededor de 7% en 2021, 17 diciembre 2020, http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2020/12/17/economia-cubana-cae-11-este-ano-y-estima-crecer-alrededor-del-7-en-2021/
[11] The RCIT has published numerous documents about capitalism in China. See on this e.g. our above-mentioned book by Michael Pröbsting: Anti-Imperialism in the Age of Great Power Rivalry. See also by the same author an essay published in the second edition of The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism (edited by Immanuel Ness and Zak Cope), Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2020, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-91206-6_179-1; China‘s transformation into an imperialist power. A study of the economic, political and military aspects of China as a Great Power (2012), in: Revolutionary Communism No. 4, http://www.thecommunists.net/publications/revcom-number-4; How is it possible that some Marxists still Doubt that China has Become Capitalist? (A Critique of the PTS/FT), An analysis of the capitalist character of China’s State-Owned Enterprises and its political consequences, 18 September 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/pts-ft-and-chinese-imperialism-2/; Unable to See the Wood for the Trees (PTS/FT and China). Eclectic empiricism and the failure of the PTS/FT to recognize the imperialist character of China, 13 August 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/pts-ft-and-chinese-imperialism/. See many more RCIT documents at a special sub-page on the RCIT’s website: https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/china-russia-as-imperialist-powers/.
[12] On the issue of capitalist restoration in North Korea we refer readers to several essays which we have published recently: Michael Pröbsting: Has Capitalist Restoration in North Korea Crossed the Rubicon or Not? Reply to a Polemic of Władza Rad (Poland), 15 July 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/has-capitalist-restoration-in-north-korea-crossed-the-rubicon-or-not/; Michael Pröbsting: In What Sense Can One Speak of Capitalist Restoration in North Korea? Reply to Several Objections Raised by the Polish Comrades of “Władza Rad”, 21 June 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/north-korea-and-the-marxist-theory-of-capitalist-restoration/; Michael Pröbsting: Again on Capitalist Restoration in North Korea, 12 June 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/asia/again-on-capitalist-restoration-in-north-korea/; Michael Pröbsting: World Perspectives 2018: A World Pregnant with Wars and Popular Uprisings, pp. 95-105
[13] For our analysis of Stalinism see e.g. the book published by our predecessor organization League for the Revolutionary Communist International: The Degenerated Revolution: The Origin and Nature of the Stalinist States, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/stalinism-and-the-degeneration-of-the-revolution/; see also Chapter II in Michael Pröbsting: Cuba’s Revolution Sold Out? The Road from Revolution to the Restoration of Capitalism, August 2013, RCIT Books, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/cuba-s-revolution-sold-out/
[14] Solidarity with Cuba! Statement by the Press Office of the CC of the KKE, 12/7/2021, http://www.solidnet.org/article/CP-of-Greece-Solidarity-with-Cuba/. If one goes to the website of SolidNet – a network of international Stalinist parties – one can find a flood of similar solidarity declarations with the Cuban regime!
[15] The RCIT has published a number of booklets, statements, and articles on the Syrian Revolution that can be accessed on a special sub-section of this website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/. In particular we refer readers to the RCIT call Save the Syrian Revolution!. https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/call-save-the-syrian-revolution/; see also two pamphlets by Michael Pröbsting: Is the Syrian Revolution at its End? Is Third Camp Abstentionism Justified? An essay on the organs of popular power in the liberated area of Syria, on the character of the different sectors of the Syrian rebels, and on the failure of those leftists who deserted the Syrian Revolution, 5 April 2017, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/syrian-revolution-not-dead/; Syria and Great Power Rivalry: The Failure of the „Left“. The bleeding Syrian Revolution and the recent Escalation of Inter-Imperialist Rivalry between the US and Russia – A Marxist Critique of Social Democracy, Stalinism and Centrism, 21 April 2018, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/syria-great-power-rivalry-and-the-failure-of-the-left/. See also by the same author: A Revealing Statistic about Who is Responsible for Killing Civilians in Syria. The latest findings of the Syrian Network for Human Rights for the period from March 2011 to June 2021, 2 July 2021, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/revealing-statistic-about-who-is-responsible-for-killing-civilians-in-syria/
[16] See on this e.g. Michael Pröbsting: The Coup d’État in Egypt and the Bankruptcy of the Left’s “Army Socialism”, August 2013, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/egypt-and-left-army-socialism/; Yossi Schwartz: Egypt: The U.S. Support for the Military Coup and the Left’s ignorance, 11.7.2013, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/egypt-us-support-for-military-coup/
[17] The RCIT has published various documents on the mass protests in Hong Kong. See e.g. China / Hong Kong: The Beginning of the Counterrevolution. The new National Security Law represents a full-scale assault on democratic rights by the Stalinist-Capitalist regime! 1 July 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/asia/china-hong-kong-the-beginning-of-the-counterrevolution/. At the end of this statement, readers find references to several other documents on this issue.
[18] For an actual critique of the support for Chinese and Russian imperialism by Stalinist parties see our pamphlet by Michael Pröbsting: Servants of Two Masters. Stalinism and the New Cold War between Imperialist Great Powers in East and West, 10 July 2021, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/servants-of-two-masters-stalinism-and-new-cold-war/
Declaración unificada del Comité de Enlace de la Corriente Comunista Revolucionaria Internacional, CCRI y Convergencia
Socialista (Argentina), 13 de julio de 2021, https://convergenciadecombate.blogspot.com y www.thecommunists.net
Las protestas masivas actuales en Cuba se han enfrentado a la represión y la violencia del aparato estatal cubano. También
han abierto un amplio debate entre las fuerzas internacionales de izquierda sobre el carácter del Estado cubano y la naturaleza de las protestas populares. La Corriente Comunista Revolucionaria
Internacional y nuestros compañeros de Convergencia Socialista (Argentina) se solidarizan con estas movilizaciones de masas y abogan por una perspectiva socialista. [1] En este artículo,
explicaremos nuestro enfoque con más detalle en el formato de preguntas y respuestas.
¿Cuáles son las causas de las actuales protestas masivas?
Las protestas actuales han sido provocadas por las dramáticas consecuencias del programa de austeridad implementado recientemente por el gobierno. A principios de este año entró en vigor la denominada “Tarea de Ordenamiento”. Este es un programa de reforma económica del gobierno del presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel. Estas reformas significan, en palabras de los medios estatales: “El 1 de enero, el peso convertible dejó de circular en Cuba y se adoptó un tipo de cambio único de 24 pesos cubanos por un dólar para las personas naturales y jurídicas, al mismo tiempo se emprendió la reforma salarial, se corrigieron los precios y se eliminaron los subsidios y gratificaciones excesivas ”. [2] Además, el régimen espera "atraer inversión extranjera" y fortalecer el sector privado.
Para traducir esto en un lenguaje sencillo, este es un programa de austeridad capitalista. Los precios han aumentado dramáticamente mientras los salarios se estancaron. Por lo tanto, ha habido un fuerte aumento en el costo de vida de las masas populares. Hay que agregarle a todo esto la “eliminación de subsidios y gratificaciones excesivas”. Está claro que la pobreza y el hambre han aumentado enormemente en los últimos meses.
A principios de marzo, el portal central de Internet del Partido "Comunista", "Cuba-Debate", preguntó a sus lectores cómo habían vivido los primeros meses desde la reforma monetaria. “La respuesta fue devastadora. Más de dos tercios de los encuestados dijeron que incluso el aumento de los salarios no fue suficiente para cubrir sus necesidades, dado el fuerte aumento de los precios. Además de las quejas sobre la escasez y el aumento del costo de vida, la gente también expresó su indignación porque las tiendas de dólares estaban dividiendo a los cubanos en una sociedad de facto de dos clases, y que los perdedores eran los perdedores ”. [3]
La reforma monetaria ha provocado una disminución de las importaciones en un 40%. Como consecuencia, hay escasez de bienes y la gente tiene que hacer largas colas diarias para obtener productos básicos.
¿Cuál es el trasfondo de este programa de austeridad?
La “Tarea de Ordenamiento” es sólo el último ataque de una serie de medidas que forman parte de la restauración capitalista en Cuba. Después del colapso de la URSS - un estado obrero degenerado gobernado dictatorialmente por una casta burocrática - en 1991, Cuba entró en una dramática crisis económica. Como resultado, el régimen castrista, al igual que los partidos estalinistas gobernantes en otros países, se dirigió hacia reformas de mercado pro-capitalistas. Después de un período de algunos zigzags, el régimen implementó una serie de drásticas medidas pro-capitalistas en 2010-11. Ante las sanciones del imperialismo estadounidense, el régimen cubano ha buscado estrechar las relaciones con China y la Unión Europea.
La restauración del capitalismo ha resultado en un aumento masivo de la explotación y la desigualdad social. Según estudios académicos, el coeficiente de Gini en Cuba - que mide la desigualdad social - se situó entre 0,22 y 0,25 en 1986. Sin embargo, el establecimiento de relaciones capitalistas de producción ha cambiado drásticamente esto. Hoy, el coeficiente de Gini asciende a más de 0,40, lo que denota una sociedad muy desigual. [4] Otro estudio de un economista cubano, publicado en 2018, llegó a la conclusión de que “entre el 10% y el 15% de los ciudadanos [de Cuba] pueden considerarse“ ricos ”, mientras que entre el 40% y el 51% de la población vive en la pobreza. " [5]
La existencia de relaciones de propiedad capitalistas fue legalmente legitimada por la adaptación de la nueva Constitución cubana en 2019 que reconoció formalmente la propiedad privada y el papel del “mercado”. De hecho, estas características ya existen desde hace años. [6] Los efectos de la restauración capitalista por parte del partido gobernante se han visto agravados por la sanción del imperialismo estadounidense, que solo pudo absorber parcialmente el aliado clave de Cuba, China. Este es el caso porque la propia China, que está dominada por una clase capitalista calculadora de negocios. "China ya no estaba dispuesta a suministrar bienes a crédito a gran escala si la parte cubana continuaba incumpliendo las deudas comerciales acumuladas". [7]
Además, Cuba se ha visto afectada por la Gran Depresión de la economía mundial capitalista que comenzó en otoño de 2019 [8] y que se ha visto agravada por el régimen de Cierre global (que los marxistas denominan Contrarrevolución COVID-19). [9] Como resultado, la economía de Cuba se contrajo un 11% el año pasado y el importante sector turístico colapsó. [10] En resumen, la crisis actual tiene sus raíces principales en el carácter de crisis del capitalismo, intensificado por las características específicas de la clase dominante que está imponiendo un brutal programa de austeridad, así como por las sanciones del imperialismo estadounidense.
¿Cómo caracteriza al estado cubano hoy?
La CCRI y nuestros compañeros de Convergencia Socialista consideran a Cuba como un estado capitalista. Más precisamente, es un estado dominado por una clase dominante capitalista estalinista. La vieja burocracia castrista presidió un estado obrero deformado desde principios de la década de 1960. Ha mantenido con éxito el poder (hasta ahora) pero se transformó, creando una nueva clase capitalista. Entonces, el partido gobernante se mantuvo igual mientras que la base económica ha cambiado. Si bien Cuba fue un estado obrero deformado en el pasado, se ha convertido en un estado capitalista. Es un aliado cercano del imperialismo chino y ruso.
El partido gobernante de Cuba ha tomado el mismo camino que otros partidos estalinistas después de 1989-1991. En China [11], Vietnam, Laos y Corea del Norte [12], los partidos estalinistas gobernantes pudieron mantener su dictadura política mientras transformaban con éxito la base económica de sus países hacia el capitalismo. Cuba se ha convertido en una semi-colonia capitalista, similar a Vietnam, Laos y Corea del Norte, mientras que China se convirtió en una Gran Potencia imperialista.
¿Cuba fue alguna vez un estado socialista?
Cuba nunca fue un estado socialista en el sentido marxista de la palabra. Nunca fue dirigida por la clase trabajadora organizada en consejos y sus milicias armadas y gobernando por los métodos de la democracia directa. En el momento de la revolución de 1959, el movimiento guerrillero castrista M-26-(7) tenía un carácter pequeñoburgués. Debido a la presión de la lucha de clases, la amenaza de invasión del imperialismo estadounidense y la presión de la URSS, el movimiento castrista se transformó en un partido estalinista y expropió a la burguesía. Sin embargo, Cuba nunca fue un estado obrero saludable como la Rusia soviética en los tiempos de Lenin y Trotsky 1917-23, sino un estado obrero deformado. [13]
¿Cuál es su posición sobre las sanciones de Estados Unidos?
Denunciamos enérgicamente estas sanciones como una agresión económica de una Gran Potencia imperialista. Exigimos su levantamiento inmediato e incondicional. Estas sanciones son un instrumento de Washington para recuperar un régimen títere (como Batista antes de 1959). Nos oponemos a toda forma de injerencia imperialista en Cuba. Por lo tanto, estamos en contra de cualquier intento del imperialismo estadounidense de promover sus intereses en la isla. Asimismo, nos oponemos a todas las formas de injerencia del imperialismo chino y ruso que consideran a Cuba como “su” semi-colonia.
Rechazamos la idea de que todos los problemas en Cuba sean causados por las sanciones de Estados Unidos. Básicamente, los problemas del aumento de la desigualdad social, la pobreza y el desempleo son causados por el capitalismo. Es por eso que observan desarrollos similares en muchos países de todo el mundo, incluidos China y Vietnam. Culpar a las sanciones de Estados Unidos como la principal causa de los problemas de Cuba es un intento del régimen capitalista estalinista de blanquear su política anti-pueblo.
¿Cómo ve las protestas populares actuales?
Por las razones antes mencionadas, las manifestaciones populares son protestas legítimas que apoyamos plenamente. Es una calumnia capitalista-estalinista denunciarlos como "dirigidos por Estados Unidos". o como resultado de "provocadores". Una ola de movilizaciones masivas en decenas de ciudades en 24 horas, muchas de ellas jóvenes, es el resultado de una auténtica y espontánea ira masiva provocada por la miseria económica. Estos movimientos espontáneos han ocurrido muchas veces en todo el mundo. ¡Solo piense en la ola de protestas en los Estados Unidos después del asesinato policial de Georg Floyd! ¿O el régimen quiere sugerir que los "gusanos" están tan arraigados entre las masas que podrían lograrlo? ¡Si ese fuera realmente el caso, significaría que el régimen es tan débil y tan desacreditado que las masas escuchan más a los gusanos que a los pseudo-“comunistas”!
De hecho, las actuales movilizaciones de masas en Cuba tienen esencialmente las mismas razones que todas las demás protestas populares que están teniendo lugar en todo el mundo. La gente lucha contra la pobreza y el desempleo, contra la política antidemocrática de la Contrarrevolución COVID-19, contra las dictaduras, etc. Esto está sucediendo en Colombia, Chile, Irak, Líbano, India, Birmania / Myanmar, Hong Kong, etc. ¡¿Las protestas del pueblo cubano son menos legítimas ?!
"¡Pero el gobierno cubano es socialista!"
¡Bueno, no el gobierno cubano no lo es! Como mostramos anteriormente, es "socialista" sólo en palabras y capitalista
estalinista en los hechos. Los marxistas no juzgan a las fuerzas políticas por lo que dicen de sí mismos. La Iglesia Católica predica los 10 mandamientos y viola casi todos ellos. Mohamed bin
Salman es un musulmán de palabra y un tirano corrupto en los hechos. Y los partidos "comunistas" en China, Vietnam, Corea del Norte y Cuba "sirven al pueblo" con palabras, pero
sirven a los intereses de su clase capitalista con hechos. Por tanto, los trabajadores y los oprimidos tienen que derrocarlos para poder marchar hacia el auténtico socialismo.
¿Ve el peligro de que el régimen actual sea reemplazado por un régimen pro yanqui?
No existe un solo peligro sino varios. Un peligro es que la dictadura capitalista-estalinista aplaste las protestas populares y se mantenga en el poder. Otro peligro es que el gobierno del PCC podría ser reemplazado por un gobierno pro Estados Unidos, cambiándolo por otro tipo de régimen. Los socialistas luchan contra ambos resultados. Si los socialistas se niegan a unirse a las movilizaciones de masas, dejan el campo a los gusanos y otros reaccionarios.
Si se ponen del lado del régimen contra el pueblo, se convertirán en contrarrevolucionarios. El único camino a seguir es participar en las protestas populares, defender un programa socialista independiente, trabajar por la creación de consejos populares democráticos directos, luchar contra las influencias reaccionarias para el derrocamiento revolucionario del régimen y su sustitución por un régimen. trabajadores y gobierno campesino pobre. Para avanzar en este proceso, es fundamental que los auténticos socialistas se unan y formen un partido revolucionario.
¿Qué dice del apoyo al régimen cubano por parte de muchos partidos de izquierda?
Esto es una vergüenza y refleja la masiva degeneración de la izquierda estalinista, bolivariana y pseudo-trotskista. Muchos de ellos repiten la difamación del régimen en La Habana y denuncian las protestas como una “conspiración de la CIA”. Para dar solo un ejemplo de semejante inmundicia reaccionaria. El KKE griego, una fuerza clave en el estalinismo internacional, afirma: “Estados Unidos, en cooperación con la mafia anticubana que opera en su territorio, así como las fuerzas dentro de Cuba que apoyan abiertamente sus planes, están orquestando protestas en Cuba con medidas anticomunistas y anti -consignas revolucionarias que piden el derrocamiento del gobierno ”. [14]
Así, repiten esencialmente la misma calumnia reaccionaria que estos partidos difundieron en el pasado cuando apoyaron a la dictadura de Assad contra la Revolución Siria [15], legitimaron el golpe militar en Egipto en julio de 2013 [16] o denunciaron las protestas prodemocráticas en Hong Kong. [17] Esta es la conclusión lógica y desastrosa cuando se le da la vuelta a la realidad al considerar a una Gran Potencia imperialista como China como "socialista", o caracterizar a una tiranía capitalista como Assad como "antiimperialista" y "progresista", etc. ¡Los métodos podridos del estalinismo están inevitablemente destinados a terminar en el campo de la contrarrevolución! [18]
Ver y leer todas las referencias en https://revolutionarysocialistvanguard.wordpress.com/2021/07/14/is-cuba-socialist-are-the-current-popular-protests-legitimate/
맑스주의 관점에서의 질의응답
혁명적 공산주의인터내셔널 동맹 (RCIT)과 사회주의통합당
(CS 아르헨티나) 연락위원회 공동성명,
2021년 7월 13일 , https://convergenciadecombate.blogspot.com & www.thecommunists.net
현재 쿠바의 대중시위는 쿠바 국가기구의 탄압과 폭력에 부딪혔다.
시위는 또 쿠바 국가의 성격과 시위의 본질을 두고 좌파 세력들 사이에서 광범한 논쟁을 불러일으켰다.
혁명적 공산주의인터내셔널 동맹 (RCIT)과
사회주의통합당 (CS 아르헨티나)은 이
대중시위와의 연대를 천명하며 사회주의적 전망을 제창한다.[1]
이 글에서 우리는 문답 형식으로 우리의 접근법을 자세히 설명하겠다.
현 대중시위의 원인은 무엇인가?
현 시위는 최근 실시된 정부의 긴축 프로그램으로 인해 촉발되었다. 올해 초, 이른바 "정돈 작업"이 시행되었다. 이것은 쿠바 대통령 미겔 디아스카넬 정부의 경제개혁 프로그램이다. 쿠바 국영 매체에 따르면 이 개혁 조치는 다음을 의미한다. "1월 1일, 태환 페소화(貨)의 유통이 중단되었고 자연인과 법인 대상으로 1 달러 당 24 쿠바 페소의 단일 환율이 채택되었으며, 동시에 임금 개혁이 단행되어 가격 왜곡이 바로 잡혔으며 과도한 보조금과 지원금이 폐지되었다."[2] 나아가 정부는 "외국인 투자 유치"와 ‘민간 부문’ 강화를 희망한다.
쉬운 말로 옮기면, 이것은 자본주의적 긴축 프로그램이다. 물가는 급격이 올랐는데 임금은 정체되었다. 따라서 인민대중의 생계비용이 가파르게 뛰었다. 여기에 "과도한 보조금 및 지원금 폐지"가 더해졌다. 명백히 빈곤과 기아가 최근 몇 달 사아에 대폭 심화됐다.
3월 초, “공산”당 중앙 인터넷 포털 "쿠바 디베이트 (CubaDebate)"는 화폐 개혁 이후 첫 몇 개월을 어떻게 경험했는지 독자들에게 물었다. “피드백 의견은 참담한 것이었다. 응답자의 3분의 2 이상이 가파른 물가 상승을 감안할 때 임금 인상으로도 그들의 필요를 충족시키기에 충분치 않다고 말했다. 국민들은 생필품 부족과 생활비 증가에 대한 불만에 더해, 달러화 매장이 쿠바인들을 사실상의 두 계급 사회로 갈라놓고 있으며 일반 페소 소득자들은 패배자라고 분개했다.”[3]
화폐 개혁으로 수입이 40% 감소했다. 그 결과, 재화가 부족하고 사람들은 생필품을 얻기 위해 매일 몇 시간씩 줄을 서야 한다.
이 긴축정책의 배경은 무엇인가?
"정돈 작업"은 쿠바의 자본주의 복고 과정에서 인민대중을 상대로 취해진 일련의 “개혁”(개악) 조치 중 가장 최근의 공격일 뿐이다. 1991년 소련 붕괴 ㅡ 관료 독재 지배 하의 퇴보 타락한 노동자 국가의 붕괴 ㅡ 이후 쿠바는 급격한 경제위기에 들어갔다. 그 결과 카스트로 정권은 다른 나라의 집권 스탈린주의 당들과 마찬가지로 친자본주의적 시장 개혁으로 방향을 틀었다. 몇 번의 지그재그 시기를 거쳐 카스트로 정권은 2010-11년 일련의 급격한 친자본주의적 조치들을 시행했다. 미 제국주의의 제재에 직면하여 쿠바 정권은 중국 및 유럽연합과의 보다 긴밀한 관계를 모색했다.
자본주의 복고로 착취와 사회적 불평등이 대대적으로 증가했다. 몇몇 연구에 따르면 1986년 쿠바의 지니계수 ㅡ 사회적 불평등을 측정하는 ㅡ 는 0.22에서 0.25 사이에 위치했었다. 그러나 자본주의 생산관계가 확립되면서 상황은 극적으로 바뀌었다. 오늘 지니계수는 매우 불평등한 사회를 가리키는 0.40 이상에 달한다.[4]
2018