My name is John Pateman and I am a passionate supporter of Cuba, the Cuban revolution and the Cuban people. My talk will be factually accurate, but you must know that I cannot be objective about Cuba or Fidel Castro.
I have been to Cuba 3 times : in 1993 I visited Pinar del Rio, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara and the Bay of Pigs as part of a study tour ; in 1995 I went to Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Baracoa, Holguin, Bayamo and Manazanillo in the east of the island ; in February 1999 I stayed in an apartment in Havana and travelled to Matanzas.
I am secretary of the Bexley & Bromley CSC. The CSC aims to provide information and resources on Cuba, to promote positive links between the UK and Cuba, and to develop solodarity. CSC has over 30 local branches around the country and many affiliated orgs such as trade unions. CSC is 20 years old this year.
A revolution took place in Cuba in 1959 and that revolution continues today. But what does that revolution mean to the people of Cuba, to us in the UK and to people in other parts of the world ? What lessons can we learn from it ? What will happen to Cuba after Fidel Castro dies ? These are the kind of questions that I, and other members of ISC get asked when we give talks. And I will try to answer some of them this afternoon. To answer the 1st question - what does the revolution mean to the Cuban people - I will read a poem by Nicolas Guerin, a famous Cuban poet. He wrote this poem, called "I have" in 1964. This was five years after the revolution and his poem indicates some of the changes that took place as a result of it:
I have
When I look at and touch myself
I, John-only-yesterday-with-Nothing,
and John-with-Everything today,
with everything today,
I glance around, I look and see
and touch myself and wonder
how it could have happened.
I have, let's see :
I have the pleasure of walking my country,
the owner of all there is in it,
examining at very close range what
I could not and did not have before.
I can say cane,
I can say mountain,
I can say city,
I can say army, army say,
now mine forever and yours, ours,
and the vast splendor of
the sunbeam, the star, the flower.
I have, let's see :
I have the pleasure of going,
me, a peasant, a worker, a simple man,
I have the pleasure of going
(just an example)
to a bank and speaking to the manager,
not in English,
not in Sir,
but in companero as we say in Spanish.
I have, let's see :
that being Black
I can be stopped by no one at
the door of a dancing hall or bar.
Or even at the desk of a hotel
have someone yell at me there are no rooms,
a small room and not one that's immense,
a tiny room where I might rest.
I have, let's see :
that there are no rural police
to seize me and lock me in a precinct jail,
or tear me from my land and cast me
in the middle of the highway.
I have that having the land I have the sea,
no country clubs,
no high life,
no tennis and no yachts,
but, from beach to beach and wave on wave,
gigantic blue open democratic :
in short, the sea.
I have, let's see :
that I have learned to read,
to count,
I have that I have learned to write,
and to think
and to laugh.
I have that now I have
a place to work
and earn
what I have to eat
I have, let's see :
I have what was coming to me.
The rest of my talk will explore some of the issues raised in
this poem and examine the history of Cuba, the Cuban people, the
situation they face daily, and the opportunities that exist for
holidays to Cuba.
Facts and figures
Largest island in the caribbean, 800 miles long, 90 miles south of Miami. Sugar cane farming takes up over 60% of the cultivated land. Population 11m, capital Havana, currency pesos / dollars, language Spanish.
History
1492 - columbus lands in Cuba, inhabited by taino and ciboney indians ; spanish colony estab
1790 - mass import of african slaves
1800 - sugar becomes main export
1868-78 - 1st war of indep led by Cespedes who freed his slaves
1895-98 - 2nd war of indep, led by Jose Marti, cuban national hero and poet
1898 - US war with spain ; spanish rule ends ; US milit govt controls cuba
1901 - platt amendment - US right to intervene in Cuban affairs
1902 - cuban "indep"
1903 - US takes guantanamo naval base
1952 - batista milit coup
1953 - 26/7 moncada
1956 - granma leaves mexico on 25/11 and arrives cuba 2/12 (my birthday 9/12/1956)
1958 - che guevara captures santa clara
1959 - triumph of the rev ; land reform act
1959-63 - idealistic spontaneity ; basics ; chaos
1960 - US cancels Cuban sugar imports ; nationalisation of large US companies (Eg Bacardi - estd Cuba 1862, kicked out 1960 ; buy Havana club) ; compensation offered (and accepted by other countries)
1961 - US blockade (formalised 1963) ; blockade costs $450m pa ; bay of pigs ; literacy campaign ; socialist nature of rev announced
1962 - mass vaccination campaign ; missile crisis/october crisis
1963-70 - centralised pragmatism / moral incentives ; mass orgs - CDRs, women, farmers, students
1965 - PCC ; che leaves cuba
1967 - Che killed in bolivia
1970-86 - centralised planning / material incentives
1970 - 10 million sugar tons
1972 - Cuba joins COMECON trading bloc
1974 - poder popular (popular power) - national, municipal, local
1975 - 1st five year plan ; cuban troops sent to Angola
1976 - constitution introduced by referendum
1980 - 120,000 cuband depart thru mariel
1984 - family doctor prog - doctors live in community & serve 140 families ; 3m given armed training and weapons - confidence in support for rev
1986 - rectification campaign - balance between material & moral incentives
1989/91 - loss of 85% trade with USSR/Eastern Europe
1990 - Special Period - food plan, biodiversity ; 89,000 workplace mtgs ; 1990-93, GDP fell 34% ; loans cost Cuba 30% above the free mkt rate
1992 - Torricelli bill - US ban on ships that visit Cuba ; ban on US subsids trading with Cuba
1993 - co-ops replace collective farms / self employment / dollars decrim - those in toursim and with Miami contacts benefit ; profs paid less ; $ = 120 pesos
1994 - rafters crisis, economic not political ; 20k visa pa agreed - 2700 granted ; US status given autmatically to balseros ; sep 1994 - new migration agreement with US / farmers mkts / law to introduce taxes on indivs (earning dollars) and enterprises.
1995 - foreign investment law (x health, ed, arms) ; tax free but cannot directly employ Cubans / May 1995 immig agreement with US, expands Sep 94 provisions
1996 - Helms Burton - US citizens can sue companies that do business with Cuba ; $ = 23 pesos ; GDP grew 8%
1997 - 260 jt ventures / econ assocs (tourism, oil, steel, nickel) ; not a capitalist opening but a socialist opening to a capitalist world
1998 - UN resolution against blockade passed by 157 votes (including UK) to 2 (USA and Israel) ; pope visits Cuba.
1999 - mass orgs take legal action US govt claiming reparation for damages and compensation for losses derived from the deaths of 3500 Cuban cits and the incapacitation of a further 2000, victims of the 40 yr blockade. $181 billion is being claimed / new Cuban foreign min, 34, opposes bombing of Yogo and indicts NATO chief as war criminal / major protestant celeb in Cuba.
Cuban people
Ethnicity : Cubans call themselves "Afro-Latin Americans" on account of their mixed African-European'Latin American ethnic background. Race - 62% black / mixed race ; 30,000 Asian natives, mainly Chinese.
Religions : Catholic 39% ; protestant 3% ; Afro Cuban santeria
Trade Unions : central org of Cuban TUs (CTC)
Farmers : nat assoc of small farmers (ANAP)
Children : before 1959 many would have died young. Now Cuban children are well fed, drink clean water, have reasonable living conditions, good schooling, and many go to nurseries. From the age of one til 15 only one child in a thousand will die, usually from accidents in the home or on the road. Mass vaccination campaigns have virtually eliminated many infectious diseases. Jose Marti Pioneers Org (children)
Students : Fed of Univ Students (FEU) ; Fed of Students in Intermediate Ed (FEEM)
Women : for women, the rev has brought many things - literacy and education, employment, equal pay and access to traditional male jobs, statutory maternity rights, nursery care for working mothers, easy divorce. Male chauvinism (machismo) has been challenged but not eliminated and the 1976 Family Code obliges men to share equally in the household tasks
The Fed of Cuban Women (FMC) with a membership of 80% of Cuban women, acts as a collective voice to maintain progress towards equality at all levels from the neighbourhood to government decision making.
Black women - double disadvantage - black female cane cutter.
Elderly : Demog speaking, Cuba is the oldest country in latin america, with 13% of the pop over 60. Because of this the govt is taking measures to ensure that this important sector of the pop remains healthy and useful. There are 486 senior cit environ councils. With help from the Min of pub health, the nat instit of sports, phys ed and rec (INDER) and the Peoples Councils, they are taking steps to protect the environ and build environ awareness in the country.
Older people are now enjoying the fruits of the rev they forged - the years of life they would previously not have had. Many live with partners or families - but for those who have no partners or family support, the govt provides. Day care centres and residential homes are run by residents committees, where people can take part in group activities, share celebrations together, be well fed and cared for and maintain their physical fitness. Nobody is abandoned. Family doctors and nurses give care in the home, polyclinics arrange physical exercise and relaxation classes, workplaces provide lunchtime canteen meals and a chance to socialise. In Britain we often see the number of old people as a problem, in Cuba they see it as a triumph of the rev.
Cttees for Defence of the Rev (CDR) : Formed in the early 1960s, when invasion threatened and sabotage by outside agencies was commonplace, the committees - or CDRs as they are known - quickly became not only the first line of civil defence but also the raw building blocks of popular democracy. Every street has its own committee and membership is open to everyone over the age of 14. Theirs is an inclusive political culture in which local problems are hammered out and wider campaigns for blood donations or the vaccination of children are organised and implemented
Armed Forces : the Assoc of Combatants of the Cuban Rev
The issues they face daily
Cuba has a lot of problems - it is a poor developing country which has faced a total economic blockade by America for 40 years. It would be very easy to dwell on the downside of life in Cuba - the shortages, the queues, the rationing. But I will leave that to the mainstream media who paint Cuba in the worst possible light and present it as a Communist disctatorship in which the people are downtrodden, life is hell and there is no democracy or human rights.
The picture I will paint will be of a noble and courageous people who have stood up against oppression and imperialism, who are fiercely independent and proud of their national identity, while at the same time being remarkably and wholeheartedly internationalist. A people who have built a society based on the principles of equality, socialism and peace. A people who have challenged and overcome racism, sexism, homophobia and other prejudices which blight capitalist societies. A people who have developed and maintained the fruits of their revolution : universal free health care, education and social welfare systems.
Health
Cuba has developed a high quality, universal, free health care system which is the envy of the developing world :
Life expectancy has risen from 59 in 1958 to 75 years today. Wheras once 60 children in every 1,000 died before reaching their 1st birthday, now only 7 do so. These figures are comparable to the USA and Britain.One province in Cuba, Villa Clara, has succeeded in reducing its infant mortality rate to 2.9 per 1000 live births in the 1st 3 months of 1999. This is lower than the rates in London and Washington.
Every neighbourhood has a family doctor and nurse serving just 700 people, allowing constant, same day access. Cuba has the highest number of doctors per head of the pop in the world. Britain has one of the worst ratios of doctors to patients among 29 industrialised nations with just 1.6 medics per 1000 people.
A well developed hospital system provides free, prompt treatment for almost anything that the British NHS can treat. Laser eye treatment - no glasses.
Cuban medical specialists have made world breakthroughs eg in brain micro surgery to treat Parkinsons disease, or with the worlds only vaccine against meningitis B (which cannot be exported because of the blockade).
The expertise and commitment of Cuban health workers has been shared internationally - with thousands of doctors and nurses working voluntarily in many other developing world countries, or via the free treatment in Cuba of 16,000 Ukrainian children suffering from radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Internationalism - $1537m in aid ; 30k docs in 20 countries ; more docs abroad than WHO
Today the brutal and illegal US economic blockade is threatening these remarkable achievements. Health care, the pride of the Cuban rev, is being undermined by shortages of essential drugs and medical equip.
US law since 1961 has banned the export of US technology or goods to Cuba including food and medicines. In 1992 the Torricelli Law stopped all exports from any subsidiary of a US multinational worldwide. Recently 2 European companies wee forced to stop supplying Cuba with heart pacemakers, one because it was taken over by a US company, the other because its product contained one tiny component made in the US. With half the worlds pharmaceutical industry owned by US companies there are many important drugs that Cuba cannot buy from anywhere.
Despite the fact that during the special period (1989-96) pub health spending inc by 30% in Cuba, a 1997 report from the American Assoc for World Health found that the US denial of food and medicines to Cuba has led to : serious nutritional shortages ; a 40% drop in the number of ops performed due to shortages of anaesthetics and antibiotics ; a lot of unnecessary pain for people needing long term medication, and some deaths.
Education
Cuba is a small and poor Third World country, but it has set up high quality, universal free education which ranges from nurseries to universities. A 1998 UNESCO study reported that in Cuba education is better than in any other Latin American country. It is certainly better by far than many industrial countries too. Since 1959 Cuba has made education a priority central to the success of the revolution.
Literacy is a national priority. Illiteracy fell from 25% to less than 4% in just over a year during the Great Literacy Campaign of 1961. This has continued to fall, while in the US it stands at 12%. Functional illiteracy among young people in the UK is running at 22%.
Education for all - by the end of 1968, 500,000 previously illiterate adults completed primary education. The % of children at school jumped from 50% to 80% between 1959 and 1962. Today all children attend school. Class sizes range from 17 - 25. Teachers salaries were increased by 30% in 1999. In the UK many classes have over 30 pupils and teachers face PRP.
Pre school : 90% of pre school children attend nursery education and the % continues to rise. Places are available for the children of all working mothers, and attendance is more than 96%.
Higher education : every province in Cuba has its own university. Before the rev there were 3. The emphasis since 1959 has been on subjects which serve the needs of the people and the Cuban economy - teaching, engineering, medicine, farm management. There will be a total of 21,458 new admissions to higher ed this year. This is about 3000 more than last year and an increase of 14%. In the UK, applics for 1st time univ courses are down for the second yr running. Applics are down 2.3% on 1998 and the NUS blames the introduction of fees.
Special educational needs : all children with SEN are educated, either in special or mainstream schools. This is unique in the Third World. The staffing ratio is much higher than in Britain.
The US blockade is threatening these remarkable achievements. Education, the pride of the Cuban rev, is being undermined by the shortages of every basic educational material.
Welfare
Opportunities that exist for holidays
Tourism is inc at 17% pa / annual income $1.3 billion. Tourism is a double edged sword - they need the hard currency but they could do without the prostitution, drugs and bad habits that tourists bring. Mass tourism is sapping the Cuban moral and widening the divide between haves and have nots. Professionals are leaving their jobs to work in tourism. US govt is taking advantage under Torricelli Track 2. EG 1993 - play for free ; 1995 - play for dollars ; 1999 - sell tapes & Cds IE capitalist mentality.
Go with Progressive, Latin America, specialists who know Cuba.
Conclusion
George Galloway likens Cuba to a bumble bee. Its too big for its wing size. It should never be able to get off the ground. Yet it manages to fly, pollinating plants, bringing forward new life, and brightening up our lives. It is a miracle of nature. Similarly, the Cuban revolution is a miracle. It should never have survived 40 years constant onslaught by the US, economic blockade, assass attempts on its leaders, poisoning of crops and water supplies, intro of diseases, industrial sabotage. It should never have survived the collapse of the Soviet Union and loss of 85% of its trade. But it did survive, and the miracle of the Cuban rev is still with us today as an example that there is an alternative to the greed and war that capitalism brings. Cuba continues to brighten up our lives and offer us hope for a peaceful and socialist future.
Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 elections
1959-73 - direct democracy through mass meetings ; 1974-76 - institutionalising the revolution through pilot elections to municipal assemblies ; 1992 - direct elections to NA and PAs ; 1997 - MA elections ; 1998 - PA / NA elections. All Cubans over 16 can vote unless mental or criminal. Electoral lists are constantly updated.
Municipal (local) elections are held every 2.5 years. There are 15 municipalities in the City of Havana alone. The Plaza de la Revolucion municipality has 104 constituencies. Constituency no. 12 has 7 nomination areas and 1300 voters.
Electoral commissions chose candidates put forward by nomination areas. Nomination meetings take place in the street. It is usual for 70-80% of voters to attend. Candidates must be 16 years old and cannot represent political parties or mass organisations. Candidates are voted for by a show of hands in each nomination area and must receive over 50% of the vote. There must be at least two candidates for each constituency.
1n 1997, 86% of the electors (6.7m) took part in nominating over 31,000 citizens for the municipal elections. Delegates to the municipal assemblies are unpaid and they do not campaign. Posters with their name and biography are posted around the constituency. On election day Pioneers (children) staff the ballot boxes. Voting is from 7am - 7pm on a Sunday, the count is from 7-9pm, and results are posted up the same evening.
In constituency no. 12 the winning candidate beat 2 others who were CP members, with over 50% of the vote. Where necessary run-off elections take place the following Sunday. 7.7m Cubans voted in the 1997 municipal elections - 97% of voters. 6% of voters chose to spoil their voting papers or leave them blank - less than in 1995. 47% of candidates were re-elected, 53% were new.
Provincial and National Elections : 50% of candidates must come from municipal assemblies. The other 50% are candidates of provincial or national importance such as scientists, sports persons, and cultural figures. Candidates are chosen by candidacy commissions which are formed at the municipal, provincial and national levels. The commissions work with the mass orgs at all 3 levels - women, farmers, CDRs, students etc - and carry out mass consults in workplaces and neighbourhoods.
The National Candidacy Commission (NCC) is chaired by the trade unions not the CP. The NCC also represents the mass orgs which consult their members via plenums and put forward pre candidates for the NA and PAs. MAs decide the candidates for NA and PAs.
The pre candidate proposals for election to the NA and PAs are given to the NCC by the municipal, provincial and national plenums of mass orgs. The NCC carries out further consultations before agreeing the final list of pre cands which are then presented to the MAs for conversion into cands by a vote - at least 50% for each candidate.
Once selected as candidates, photos and biographies are posted up in public places. Meetings are held in neighbourhoods and workplaces for candidates to meet the people.
Delegates to PAs and deputies to NA are unpaid. Provincial (regional) elections are held every 5 years. There are 14 provinces in Cuba. Candidates must be 16 years old.
National (parliamentary) elections are held every 5 years. Candidates must be 18 years old. In the 1998 NA elections, 98% of voters voted. The % of spoiled ballots dropped from 3.9% in 1992 to 1.66% in 1998. The % of blank ballots in 1998 was 3.36%. Of the 601 deputies elected to the NA, 50% were from MAs, 65% were elected for the 1st time, 27% were women and the average age was 45 (youngest = 20).
The National Assembly is the supreme body of state power and represents and expresses the sovereignty and will of the people. The NA meets twice a year but working commissions prepare legislation etc in between. The president, vice president and sec of the NA are elected by the deputies and need 50% of the vote.
Deputies also elect the 31 member Council of State which represents the NA when it is not in session. The President of the Council of State is head of govt and presides over the Council of Ministers, which is the exec and admin body and = the govt of the republic. All membs need 50% of the vote. Fidel got 100% as president. 45% of Council became members for the 1st time.
Once elected, delegates/deputies can be recalled at any time - they are accountable to the people who elected them. Accountability = revocation and rendering of accounts. Council of Mins is account to NA. 10% of voters must petition to revoke. Then there is a vote which needs 50% support, followed by a new election.
Rendering of accounts takes place every 6 months. There are meetings at CDR level which last 2-3 hours of rigorous debate on issues such as health, education and housing. Notices are posted and 70% attend. Some issues lead to further meetings : health - elected head of MA health dept ; housing - ecah block has an elected rep ; youth - meetings with local children.
Cuba from revolution to development
1. the competitive market option - transition econs such as USSR and eastern Europe.
2. the managed econ model - market socialism
3. the social participation model - central planning and local democracy.
For more information about the Cuban Libraries Support Group, contact John Pateman at John.Pateman@merton.gov.uk
John Pateman is a member of the Society of Chief Librarians and has visited Cuban libraries in 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2000.
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