Cuba and US Politics

[Kalifornication]

what did cuba ever do to us?

by saul landau and nelson p. valdes.

'. they cannot forgive us that we are just so close to them, that we have made a socialist revolution under the very nose of the united states! '

– fidel castro, april 16, 1961.

'and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. '

– english book of common prayer. 1662.

after 53 years, we ask. did the cuban revolution accomplish its goals? likewise, what happened to the us, which has relentlessly tried to block cuba's revolutionary path?

after the january 1959 revolutionary victory washington's elite understood that in fidel castro they might face serious rebelliousness to the accepted and enforced notion: washington rules this hemisphere.

in 1954, washington punished president jacobo arbenz for nationalizing united fruit company property in guatemala (a us-backed coup the'etat) , to again dramatize how the us treated disobedience.

despite the long history of us punishment of insubordinate latin american leaders, castro and compañeros remained focused on goals emerging in the 1860s' revolt against spain: independence; sovereignty; social justice.

when faced with washington's intransigent opposition cuba's leaders accepted the consequences of a kind of insurance policy written for their revolution in moscow. they had no other protectors.

they knew that latin american leaders who failed to toe the us line faced: assassination or military coups.

unlike us influence, the soviets would not own cuban property. the us held the best land in cuba, the biggest sugar mills, mines, telephone and utility companies, banks, politicians, casinos and much more. the soviets never possessed an acre of cuban land. they did, however, expect reciprocal ideological compliance.

from 1959 through the mid 1970s, cubans became more literate and healthier. their social services expanded along with a basically honest government. cuba became an integrated nation state with a sense of purpose. but us policy directors understood: an external threat would compel revolutionaries to organize their defense.

they grasped alexander hamilton's federalist #8: 'safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. '

in cuba, batista had not permitted free speech or politics; so no dramatic change took place. unlike batista, the revolutionaries had more than personal power to defend. and they understood the possible consequences.

us military forces killed up to 4 million vietnamese (mostly civilians) and lost 58 thousand us troops as cuba's revolution developed. few people today – or then – could explain the purpose of that war.

while engaged in vietnam, cambodia and laos, the cia also backed a string of military coups against democratically elected governments of brazil (1964) , chile (1973) and interfering in political processes of other client states: invading the dominican republic and plotting in argentina and uruguay.

cuban doctors and teachers went abroad to aid others, cuban artists — painting and sculpture, poetry and literature, film, music and dance – made world-wide names for themselves. the cia in africa assassinated congolese liberation leader patrice lumumba and backed merciless dictators. cuban troops helped maintain angolan independence despite serious threats from south african and cia-backed troops invading from the south and east.

in 1994, at his inauguration as south africa's president nelson mandela acknowledged to fidel castro: 'you made this possible. ' he referred to the role of cuban troops in 1987-88 in helping the angolan army administer heavy losses to the south african forces who had invaded southern angola, forcing the apartheid regime to change its strategy from military to political.

during the 1980s, washington backed murderous regimes throughout the world, like those in el salvador, honduras and guatemala; same old policy, but justified by cold war rhetoric.

after the soviets disappeared in 1991, the jubilation in miami exile circles and washington office parties ran at fever pitch: would the cuban revolution collapse in a year – or less?

now. 21 plus years later and still alive, cuba's revolution begins to change its economic and administrative orders. the us media routinely describes cuba as poor, needy, miserable. but in 2012 on cuba's non-violent streets there aren't vast numbers of homeless like those in us cities; and no hungry children (1 of 2 american kids experienced hunger last year).

in 'free and democratic' mexico and central america thousands of gang-drug related murders occur annually. cuba has no drug cartels or children frightened of a drive-by bullet. as us wars killed tens of thousands of iraqi and afghans and thousands of its own troops, cuban doctors repaired the sightless vision of thousands of third world people around the world.

the us holds more political prisoners in cuba — in gitmo — than cuba does, and now has laws allowing the president to assas. oops, execute us citizens he deems 'terrorist' (without court procedures). us citizens can get jailed indefinitely with no recourse to constitutional protections. but washington blithely accuses cuba of human rights violations.

cuba does face a broken economy, a bloated bureaucracy and other serious problems – like no free press. its leaders have begun a reform process, and a broad dialogue has emerged amongst the population.

in washington denial prevails. presidential aspirants on both sides ignore the trillions wasted on destructive wars, rotting infrastructure, spread of poverty, and drop in the standard of living.

cuba policy remains inflexible. hard liners demand ever more time for the policy to work! it's only been 53 years since washington's elite decided to force regime change in havana.

no one asks: what did cuba do to us again?

saul landau, an institute for policy studies fellow, produced will the real terrorist please stand up (cinema libre studio). counterpunch published his bush and botox world.

nelson p. valdés is professor emeritus, u. of new mexico and director of the cuba-l project.

[Deep Dive]

I've been renting cars for years there so I don't have much experience on the streets. I do know a lot of girls will never walk with tourists on the streets for fear of being labled a jinatera by the police. After that, they are in the mercy of the police. They off course have stopped me on several occations, for having too many passenjers in the car. It's some kind of infraction. Depending on what type of chicas are in the car. Meaning, if I give two shits about them or not. I'll get out of the car and speak my way out of the infraction, . Lately, bribery has worked! They are catching on to the ways the rest of the world works. Off course if you have a couple of them in the car, you can always say that you are giving them a ride. Very rarely have they done anything to me. Tourists are generally left alone, unless the police believe you to be a cuban american.

[Member #4167]

I actually think I broke a record this June in Havana. Was hanging on Malecón by 23rd one Saturday night. Wasn't really looking for a girl but they kept coming up to me. I stopped counting the 9th time a cop came over to check chicas ID.

The Malecon enforcement is way up. I found the malecon to be a waste of time. It was dead for me. Very few chicas.

Other than the puntos de control (Road Blocks) - I was never stopped by the policia. In fact, the only place I have ever been "Carded" (Stopped for ID) was in Havana. And I was with chica.

I am curious about the checks in other areas and other cities.

Other than the Malecon, is enforcement increasing since the beginning of the year?

[El Rey De Pollo]

Yes, they will, and your post takes us to the next subject. It used to be that your car was a free zone. For some reason, when a girl was with a foreigner in a car, the 'rule' used to be that the cops would not stop the car because (for some odd reason) the car acted as proof of relationship.

Not anymore, man.

[El Cubanito]

I actually think I broke a record this June in Havana. Was hanging on Malecón by 23rd one Saturday night. Wasn't really looking for a girl but they kept coming up to me. I stopped counting the 9th time a cop came over to check chicas ID. I wasn't looking for a girl that night, so allthough I smiled and found it ridiculous I kept hanging around to see if they would get tired at some point. They didn't.

So, unless I am looking particularly like a jinetera-magnet, I would have to say that you are way off here: Cops have no problems at all stopping chicas while they are with foreigners. And they have no problem taking the girls out of your hands either...

I was driving in Miramar with the daughter of the Casa owner where I was staying. She needed a ride I decided to give her the ride. Well long story short the cops stop me and I they ask her to come out of the car. They gave her the 3rd degree. She really got angry because she was a high officials daughter and this palestino cop gave her all kind of bull.

The next day she went to the local police station and reported him to the authorities with her dad. Who was extremely pissed because they were trating his daughter as a jinetera.

Cops down there they will do whatever they want.

[El Rey De Pollo]

I actually think I broke a record this June in Havana. Was hanging on Malecón by 23rd one Saturday night. Wasn't really looking for a girl but they kept coming up to me. I stopped counting the 9th time a cop came over to check chicas ID. I wasn't looking for a girl that night, so allthough I smiled and found it ridiculous I kept hanging around to see if they would get tired at some point. They didn't.

So, unless I am looking particularly like a jinetera-magnet, I would have to say that you are way off here: Cops have no problems at all stopping chicas while they are with foreigners. And they have no problem taking the girls out of your hands either...

[Member #4167]

I should also add, and most of you probably already know, that the police have been instructed not to approach a girl when she is with a foreigner. They may try to separate you by hissing/whistling at her to come over to them but you should just ignore them and move on as they won't try and stop you.

If you are in a situation where you think the police are watching you, never leave her side, even for a moment (to pay for cigarettes, etc.) or they will grab her when your back is turned and that could be the last you see of her.

I disagree. The cops have no problem approaching you.

On two occasions, I have had a cop approach me and my female companion while we were on the street in Havana. He asked for ID.

[El Rey De Pollo]

What?

Never seen any cop having any kind of problem approaching a chica while she is talking to me....

I should also add, and most of you probably already know, that the police have been instructed not to approach a girl when she is with a foreigner. They may try to separate you by hissing/whistling at her to come over to them but you should just ignore them and move on as they won't try and stop you.

If you are in a situation where you think the police are watching you, never leave her side, even for a moment (to pay for cigarettes, etc.) or they will grab her when your back is turned and that could be the last you see of her.

[Max Two]

Then how about a doctor making $400 a year? Which is what a Cuban doctor is actually making. Did you put a zero too much in there or do you think they make 5 kilos? If they did, they would'nt all be trying to switch to jobs behind bars and in taxies.

Well unless Cuba finds a LOT of Oil it will not recover as fast as Russia. Today's russia is a petro-state that was able to recapture it's infrastructure and nationalize it's energy and mineing resources. The dominant initial trend will be for the educated poor to leave while the educated rich (in america) take a cautious slow attitude toward re-patriation of their assets always fearing the uneducated poor who would suffer during harsh democrotization / capitalization.

[El Chico]

I should also add, and most of you probably already know, that the police have been instructed not to approach a girl when she is with a foreigner. They may try to separate you by hissing/whistling at her to come over to them but you should just ignore them and move on as they won't try and stop you.

If you are in a situation where you think the police are watching you, never leave her side, even for a moment (to pay for cigarettes, etc.) or they will grab her when your back is turned and that could be the last you see of her.

[El Rey De Pollo]

a doctor making $5000 a year is not going to stay in Cuba

Then how about a doctor making $400 a year? Which is what a Cuban doctor is actually making. Did you put a zero too much in there or do you think they make 5 kilos? If they did, they would'nt all be trying to switch to jobs behind bars and in taxies.

Interesting points by the way. I agree with some of it. Cuba will never be what it once was and it is only heading in one direction: For the worse. For non-Cubans at least.

[Maxx]

Cuba will never go the course of the former USSR. They are a proud people, well educated, and keenly aware of what existed pre-1959, and their accomplishments thereafter.

God yes, please keep the ignorant American masses out of Cuba. If that happens I fear I can never return to the pearl of the carribean.

What I meant was that politically, Cuba will not have a smooth transition into a democracy. The comparison to Russia is valid. When it broke apart in the early 90's, it was very unstable and as soon as they were able, many Russians fled to other countries. Only recently, over a decade later, Russia has emerged as a strong, unified, stable nation, and many Russians are actually returning.

There are two scenarios that can play out here. The first one is that Barak Obama will get elected and remove or just no longer enforce the embargo, while Cuba actually stays the same under Raul. Cubans will still face the same government restrictions so their lives wont really change. Many curious Americans will probably visit, but Cuba will only change slightly because foreigners will still fear risking investment in Cuba. In the short term, the price of Chicas will probably double or triple due to high demand.

The other scenario is that Raul opens up the country with a slow transition to democracy. This would probably be very messy. As soon as the borders are open, tens of thousands of Cubans will flee the country. This will cause tremendous problems because the people leaving will likely be the well educated class such as doctors, lawyers, etc. I dont care how proud you think Cubans are, a doctor making $5000 a year is not going to stay in Cuba. Over the next 10-20 years, Cuba will recover and most likely emerge to its former greatness. Americans will stay away if Cuba is seen as unstable, so this will likely create mongering heaven similar to the situation in the early 90s when the USSR collapsed and Americans were first allowed into Cuba since the revolution. From doing my research on this board, it seems that this period in Cuba will go down in mongering history. Too bad I was only 14 at the time!

The good news is that Disneyworld Havana type commercialization is probably at least 20 years away.

[Kalifornication]

I agree that Cuba will change, but not quickly. The major issue the US had with Castro was the seizure and nationalization of all private property. Unless this ends, no one will want to risk investing in such an unstable place.

I think things will be much worse in the short term, because as soon as Cubans are allowed to travel, they will leave for the US in droves. Cuba will be a mess similar to the state of Russia for the first 5 years after the the end of the Soviet Union. It may take a decade or so for major commercialization to occur.

Cuba will never go the course of the former USSR. They are a proud people, well educated, and keenly aware of what existed pre-1959, and their accomplishments thereafter.

God yes, please keep the ignorant American masses out of Cuba. If that happens I fear I can never return to the pearl of the carribean.

[Maxx]

I agree that Cuba will change, but not quickly. The major issue the US had with Castro was the seizure and nationalization of all private property. Unless this ends, no one will want to risk investing in such an unstable place.

I think things will be much worse in the short term, because as soon as Cubans are allowed to travel, they will leave for the US in droves. Cuba will be a mess similar to the state of Russia for the first 5 years after the the end of the Soviet Union. It may take a decade or so for major commercialization to occur.

Means nothing right now.

The big difference will come when he passes and some young semi-communist takes over (like foreign minister Perez Roque). This will be the end of Cuba as we know it. We're talking McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks and 10 million American cruiseship tourists in sneakers and ballcaps in the streets of Havana.

I have nothing against Americans, but I fear Cuba will turn into just another Puerto Rico or Bahamas when they are one day allowed to travel to Cuba.

I hope Raul makes it to a 100.

[PincheCabron]

Castro's brother as president?

We'll see what happens. Nothing democractic but I think Raul will open up the economy and let cubans participate more in private enterprise. It's no secret that he admires the chinese model of socialism.