Comment

The Cuban Question

David Berry

In an entertaining but predictably myopic piece, op-ed columnist George F. Will of the Washington Post (March 8th 2008) reflected on Fidel Castro's legacy claiming that the former Cuban leader is: 'Raging on his island heath, with nothing to celebrate except his endurance, his creativity has come down to this: He has added a category to the taxonomy of world regimes - government by costume party. Useful at last, the Commandante, dressed for success in his military fatigues, presides over a museum of Marxism.'

Such farce as expressed by Will is typical of the hysteria that drives such drivel that emanates from the right in the US and elsewhere. What it fails to express is a historical and contemporary context that has shaped Cuban life. All societies contain 'museum' pieces; George W. Bush is a blinding example and with Tony Blair joining the academic ranks at Harvard University that now adds up to at least two in the US. Equally, all societies have interesting and valuable institutions; in Cuba it is the Health Service and the Educational System. Both are not only far superior to the USA in how they provide universal access but they are shining examples within the 'developing' world. When we view Cuba in that context it indeed turns from a 'museum', 'repressive' or even 'retrogressive' system into progressive and modern. After all, there aren't that many 'developing' or so-called developed countries that can boast Cuba's record in these areas.

There are other valuables also; I'm thinking of the health training Cuba provides for 'less developed' nations and the free medical training at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences. Many poor Americans have trained there in the absence of opportunities in their own country. The school website states: 'Applicants need to be high school graduates, 18 to 25 years old, from disadvantaged backgrounds' and 'The Latin American School of Medical Sciences (LASMS) educates a minimum of 500 doctors each year - for free.' One American student took up a full-time scholarship prompted by Cuba's offer to send medical help to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina only for Cuba's kind offer to be rejected by the US government: 'I saw my people dying ... There was no one willing to help' said the American student. (International Herald Tribune). Admittedly, like other countries there are issues of concern in Cuba, but they aren't as near as alarming as the US - rendition, torture, two nuclear explosions in Japan, assassination, assassination attempts, gross social and economic inequalities are some of many that spring to mind.

People like Will are driven by the fact that Cuba has been an effective thorn in the side of US Imperialist ambitions since the overthrow of the American backed Dictator Batista in 1959. It's difficult to be indifferent about Cuba and judging by other media outlets and reporters it is difficult to be fair and objective. For instance, the British news networks were falling over themselves in February 2008 when Cuban television announced that Fidel Castro would not be seeking re-election as President in anticipation of the possibility of a major change in Cuban foreign policy.

So how did the serious, so-called 'respected' news programmes react to Castro's statement? BBC Radio 4's nightly news programme The World Tonight ran an item titled 'Castro steps aside' (Tuesday, February 19th 10-10.45pm) and produced a seriously limited and distorted version of historical events. The presenter Martha Kearney introduced the item by explaining how:

'Castro seized power in January 1959 he overthrew a dictator and promised a return to democracy. But soon afterwards he turned instead to Communism and aligned the island with the Soviet Union. It was a decision that was to set him on a permanent collision course with Washington and forced his country to endure decades of economic sanctions.'

The programme's reporter Paul Moss later stated: 'He may now seem like the embodiment of a communist revolutionary. But when Fidel Castro first took power he was falling over himself to deny any such ideological leanings.' In between this commentary they played Castro's comments: 'We will establish democratic government' followed by: 'There is not Communism or Marxism. Our political philosophic is representative democracy in a well-planned economy' only for Moss to state disbelievingly: 'But hard-line actions spoke louder than words' because in 1960 the Cubans had the temerity to nationalise American controlled oil refineries and 'appropriating all American businesses'.

It wasn't Castro who was responsible for 'forcing' his own country to 'endure economic sanctions'. These were imposed on Cuba by the US government in February 1962 then officially made legal under 'The Democracy Act' introduced by the US Congressman Robert Torricelli. Later in 1996 the US Congress voted to pass the 'Helms-Burton Act' and in 1999 the Democrat led Clinton Administration intensified the trade embargo. Just for the record, Torricelli, also a Democrat served only one term in the US Senate because he was implicated in corruption charges and a scandal over campaign funds. In 2004 Charles Lewis in Counterpunch (March 6-7th edition) ran an article titled 'Kerry, Torricelli and a Mysterious Front group: Who mugged Howard Dean in Iowa?' detailing the antics of the disgraced US politician who once had the backing of the US political establishment when they introduced the vindictive Democracy Act designed to bring Cuba to its knees.

In a similar vein to the BBC, the UK's Channel 4 nightly news programme at 7pm also carried an item on Cuba (February 19th 2008). The programme included an interview with the Respect MP, George Galloway who accused the programme of producing a package that 'could have come from Fox news', further accusing the programme of 'being the most biased' report and creating 'propaganda' against Cuba. 'Socialism will survive. I know that makes you sad', concluded Galloway. Channel 4 featured Castro visiting the US in the early 60s and similar to the BBC's coverage it lacked factual-historical context with the reporter Jonathan Miller simply stating that 'the cordial atmosphere did not last long' and cutting to a clip of a defiant JFK with Miller simply confirming that 'Castro turned to the Soviet Union' with no explanation of why they did so?

The fact is the US sought confrontation rather than recognition of national sovereignty and reconciliation with Cuba. Nixon's arrogant 'impression' during his meeting with Castro in April 1959 was that Castro was 'naïve'. Eisenhower refused to meet with Castro and following Christian Herter's (US Secretary of State) advice actively sought to destabilise Cuba. Eisenhower was not simply antagonistic towards Cuba but was a joyful, enthusiastic sympathiser and supporter of far right-wing fascistic Dictators throughout Latin America. He also helped plan the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Alan H. Luxenberg wrote a paper titled 'Did Eisenhower Push Castro into the Arms of the Soviets?' (Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 30, No. 1 Spring, 1988, pp. 37-71) ... yes is the answer and where George F. Will says 'Cuba under communism had to import sugar' this can be safely reworded as: 'Cuba under the US led trade embargo had no option other than to import sugar'.

The crucial point that was absent from the report by Paul Moss for the BBC was that Castro was initially a Cuban nationalist and the turn to Marx was borne out of the fact that the US sought confrontation not respect for national sovereignty. The reasons that lay behind the lack of diversity in the press and the reluctance to accept political opposition today is based on the continual 'war-footing' that Cuba has had to endure since the failed US Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Galloway brought this to the attention of the Channel 4 presenter rightly informing him that Britain had also suspended freedoms during WWII.

The long-siege that Cuba has had to endure is unprecedented in world history and it's a remarkable testament that Cuba has managed to create and maintain a human dignity expressed in health, education, ballet, opera, Cuban music, urban allotments, etc., in the face of such vicious and cruel adversity.

Links:

BBC Radio Four
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml#t

Channel 4
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/will+castros+brother+lead+cuba/1604347

Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/lewis03062004.html

International Herald Tribune
'Americans Study Medicine in Castro's Cuba' by Marc Lacey
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/08/news/journal.php

Washington Post
'In Cuba, Ignorance in Amber' by George F. Will
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030502889.html