Cuba's Revolution: 50 Years of Resistance

'A Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble'

Speech by Raul Castro Ruz, president of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, in Santiago de Cuba on January 1, 2009, "Year of the 50th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Triumph."

Men and women of Santiago, People of Oriente;

Combatants of the Rebel Army, of the underground struggle and of every battle in defense of the Revolution throughout these 50 years;

Fellow Cubans:

On a day like this, our first thoughts are for those who fell in this long struggle. They are a paradigm and a symbol of the effort and sacrifice of millions of Cubans. Together, armed with the powerful weapons of Fidel's leadership, teachings and example, we learned from the struggle to transform our dreams into a reality; to keep our heads cool and our confidence in the face of dangers and threats; to overcome big setbacks; to turn every challenge into a victory and to overcome adversity, no matter how insurmountable it might seem.

Those who had the privilege of experiencing the intensity of this stage of our history are well aware of the truth of the warning Fidel gave us on January 8, 1959, in his first speech after entering the capital:

"The tyranny has been overthrown. Our joy is immense. However, much remains to be done. Let us not deceive ourselves into believing that in the future everything will be easier, because perhaps everything will be more difficult."

For the first time, the Cuban people had attained political power. The mambises [pro-independence guerrillas] finally entered Santiago de Cuba, together with Fidel. Sixty years earlier, U.S. imperialism had revealed its real objective of absolute domination by preventing the Liberation Army from entering this city.

The U.S. intervention caused great confusion and enormous frustration but the Mambí Army, although formal dismantled, always preserved its fighting spirit and the ideas that led Céspedes, Agramonte, Gómez, Maceo and so many other heroes and independence fighters to take up arms.

We endured five decades of corrupt governments and new U.S. interventions, the Machado tyranny, and the failed revolution that overthrew him. Later, in 1952, a coup d'état supported by the U.S. administration reinstated the dictatorship, following the pattern it commonly applied in those years to ensure its dominance in Latin America.

Armed struggle was the only way

It was clear to us that the armed struggle was the only way. Again, the revolutionaries would have to face — as Martí did before us — the challenge of renewing the unavoidable war for the independence that was cut short in 1898.

Thus, the Rebel Army took up again the weapons of the mambises, and after the triumph, was forever transformed into the undefeated Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The Centennial Generation, which in 1953 stormed the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, was inspired by Marti's vital legacy and by his humanistic global vision, which extended beyond the attainment of national liberation.

In historical terms, the lapse of time from the frustration of the mambises' dreams to the triumph of the War of Liberation was short. Early in that period, Mella, a founding member of our first communist party and of the FEU (University Students Federation), was the legitimate heir and the bridge connecting Marti's thoughts to the most advanced ideas.

Those were the years when the consciousness and activity of the workers and farmers matured, when a genuine, brave and patriotic intelligentsia was formed that has stood by their side to this day. Cuban teachers, a loyal repository of the fighting traditions of its predecessors, planted the seeds for the best of the new generations.

A cataclysm of social justice

Right after the triumph, it was clear to every man and woman that the Revolution was a cataclysm of social justice that touched every home, from the large palaces on the Quinta Avenida in the country's capital, to the poorest shanty in the most remote farm or mountain.

The revolutionary laws not only fulfilled the program of Moncada, but surpassed it, as we followed the logical evolution of the process. At the same time, they set a precedent for the peoples of the Americas, who had been fighting for emancipation from colonialism for 200 years.

In Cuba the history of the Americas took a new turn. No moral virtue was absent from the whirlwind that — even before January 1, 1959 — started blowing away oppression and inequity. It opened the way for the enormous effort an entire people to control their own lives, to lift themselves up with their own sweat and blood.

Millions of Cubans, men and women, have been workers or students or soldiers, and sometimes all three when circumstances demanded.

Nicolas Guillén's masterly verses synthesized what the January 1959 triumph brought to our people. "I have what I was meant to have," he said in one of his poems, referring not to material wealth but to being the masters of our own destiny.

Constant attacks

This victory is twice as worthwhile, for it has been attained despite the hatred and vindictiveness of our powerful neighbor.

The promotion and support of sabotage and banditry; the Playa Girón [Bay of Pigs] invasion; the blockade and other forms of economic, political and diplomatic aggression; the permanent campaign of slander against the Cuban Revolution and its leaders; the October [Missile] Crisis; the hijackings of and attacks on civilian planes and boats; state terrorism that has left 3,478 dead and 2,099 maimed; the attempts on the life of Fidel and other leaders; the murders of Cuban workers, farmers, fishermen, students, diplomats and combatants — these and many other crimes bear witness to a stubborn determination to put out, at any cost, the beacon of justice and honor symbolized by January 1.

One way or another, with more or less aggressiveness, every U.S. administration has tried to impose regime change in Cuba. Resistance has been our slogan and our key to success in every one of our victories throughout this half century of continual fighting. Notwithstanding the extensive and decisive solidarity we have received, we have consistently acted on our own and taken our own risks

For many years, Cuban revolutionaries have abided by Martí's call: "Freedom is most precious and one must either decide to live without it or resolve to pay its price."

On the 30th anniversary of the victory, Fidel said in this square: "We are here because we have been able to resist." Ten years later, in 1999, from this same balcony, he said that the Special Period was "the most extraordinary page of revolutionary and patriotic glory and firmness … when we were left absolutely alone in the West, only 90 miles away from the United States, and we decided to continue forward." We repeat the same thing today.

Our resistance is based not on fanaticism but on sound convictions, and on the resolution of all of the people that the price of defending those convictions must be paid. Our glorious Five Heroes are a living example of that unshakable determination. (Applause, cheers)

Today we are not alone

Today, we are not alone on this side of the ocean facing the empire, as it was the case in the 1960s when in January 1962 the United States of America absurdly forced the OAS to expel Cuba. Only shortly before, Cuba had been the victim of an invasion that was organized by the U.S. administration and escorted to our coasts its warships. It has since been proven that the expulsion was supposed to be a prelude to direct military intervention. This was prevented only by the deployment of the Soviet nuclear missiles, leading to the October Crisis, known to the world as the Missile Crisis.

Today, the Revolution is stronger than ever; it has never failed to stand by its principles, not even in the most difficult circumstances. This truth cannot be changed in the least, even if some get tired or even renounce their history forgetting that life is in itself an eternal fight.

Does that mean there is less danger? No, it doesn't. Let's not entertain any illusions. As we commemorate this half century of victories, it is important to look to the future, to the next fifty years of permanent struggle.

A look at the current turbulence in the contemporary world tells us that the coming years will not be easier. This is simply the truth; I am not saying this to scare anyone.

We should also keep in mind what Fidel told us all, but especially the youth, at the University of Havana on November 17, 2005: "This country could destroy itself, this Revolution could destroy itself, but they [the enemy] cannot destroy it. We could destroy it ourselves, and it would only be our fault," he argued.

In the face of this possibility, I ask myself: what would guarantee that such a horrible thing would not happen to our people? How can we avoid a blow that would take a long time to recover from?

I speak for all those who have been fighting from the moment the first shots were fired on the walls of the Moncada barracks 55 years ago and for those who carried out heroic internationalist missions.

We must never abandon our principles

And of course, I speak for those who fell in the wars of independence and more recently in the War of Liberation. I speak for them all, and for Abel and Jose Antonio, for Camilo and Che, when I say, in the first place that this requires that tomorrow's leaders never forget that this is a Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble. (Applause) It requires that that they never be misled by the enemy's siren songs and know that the enemy will never cease to be aggressive, treacherous and dominating. They must never distance themselves from our workers, our farmers and the people at large. It requires that the party members prevent the destruction of the [Communist] Party.

We must learn from history

If tomorrow's leaders act consistently, they will always have the support of the people, even if they make mistakes, so long as they do not abandon basic principles. But if their actions are inconsistent with those principles, they my be powerless to correct their mistakes, because they do not have the moral authority that the masses only grant to those who never back away from the struggle. They could end up powerless before internal and external dangers and unable to preserve the achievements that are the fruit of the blood and sacrifices of many generations of Cubans.

Let no one doubt that if that happened, our people will know how to fight, that today's mambises will be in the frontline; that they will never be ideologically disarmed nor will they ever lay down their swords. (Applause, cheers)

It is the responsibility of the historic leadership of the Revolution to prepare the new generations to take up the enormous responsibility carrying the revolutionary process forward.

This heroic city of Santiago — and all of Cuba — was witness to the sacrifices of thousands of compatriots. It felt the accumulated rage that for so many lives cut short by crime, and the endless pain of our mothers, and the sublime courage of its sons and daughters.

This was the birthplace of a young revolutionary who was killed when he was only 22, a man who symbolizes willingness to make sacrifices; purity, courage and serenity; and the love for our people: Frank País García.

This eastern land was the birthplace of the Revolution. It was here that the call to duty was made in La Demajagua and on July 26; it was here that we landed in the Granma and started the struggle on the mountains and the plains, the struggle that extended later to the entire island. As Fidel said in History Will Absolve Me, "every day here looks like it will be again the day of Yara and Baire." [the cities where the war of independence began.]

Never again shall poverty, humiliation, abuse and injustice return to our land!

Never again shall pain be felt in the hearts of our or shame return to the souls of every honest Cuban!

Such is the firm resolution of a nation that is prepared to fight, a nation that is aware of its duty and proud of its history. (Applause)

We are our own strongest critics

Our people are well aware of every shortcoming in the work they have built with their own hands and defended with their own lives. We, the revolutionaries, are our own strongest critics. We have never hesitated to publicly discuss our flaws and mistakes. There are plenty of examples, past and present.

Following October 10, 1868, disunity was the main cause of our defeats. After January 1st, 1959, the unity forged by Fidel has been the guarantee of our victories. Our people have been able to preserve that unity despite all of the difficulties and the attempts to divide us, and have rightly placed our common aspirations above our differences, crushing pettiness with the strength of collectivism and generosity.

Revolutions can only advance and endure when they are carried forward by the people. Full understanding of this truth and consistent and unshakable action to carry it forward has been decisive in the victory of the Cuban Revolution over its enemies, and over seemingly insurmountable difficulties and challenges.

As we complete the first half century of the victorious Revolution, let's pay homage first to our wonderful people and to their exemplary decisiveness, courage, loyalty and spirit of internationalist solidarity; to their extraordinary will power, its willingness to sacrifice and their confidence in victory, in the Party, in their leader and, above all, in themselves. (Applause)

Homage to Fidel

I know that I am expressing the feelings of my compatriots and of many revolutionaries around the world, when I pay homage to the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz. (Applause, cheers)

One man alone doesn't make history, but some men play an indispensable role in influencing the course of events. Fidel is one of them; nobody doubts it, not even his most bitter enemies.

Ever since his early youth he adopted as his own one of Martí's thoughts: "All of the glory in the world fits in a kernel of corn." This thought was his shield against everything superfluous or transient, his way of transforming praise and honors — even if well-deserved — into greater humility, honesty, fighting spirit and love for truth, which he has invariably placed above all else.

He made reference to these ideas 50 years ago in this same square. His words that night are absolutely valid today.

At this very special moment when we think of our past journey and particularly of the long way ahead, when we reiterate our commitment to the people and to our martyrs, allow me to conclude by recalling the alert and call to combat made by the Commander in Chief in this historic place on January 1, 1959, when he said:

"We do not believe that all of the problems can be easily solved; we know that the path is fraught with obstacles, but we are men of faith, we are used to facing great difficulties. Our people can be sure of one thing, and that is that we can make one or many mistakes, but we will never steal and we will never betray you."

And he added:

"We shall never let ourselves be carried away by vanity or ambition, … there can be no greater reward or satisfaction than the fulfillment of our duty."

On this day, full of significance and symbolism, let's reflect on those ideas, which stand as a guidance for true revolutionaries. Let's do so with the satisfaction of having fulfilled our duty and of having lived a life with dignity in the most intense and fruitful half century of our history. Let's do so with the firm commitment that we will always be able to proudly claim in this land:

Glory to our heroes and martyrs! (Cheers)

Long live Fidel! (Cheers)

Long live the Revolution! (Cheers)

Long live Free Cuba! (Cheers)

(Ovation)

Cuba determined to perfect statist economy

Marc Frank in Havana
Financial Times
June 23 2008

At the recent metal workers’ union congress in Havana little seemed to have changed since Fidel Castro, former Cuban president, became ill almost two years ago, temporarily handing power to his brother Raúl before resigning and leaving the country’s leadership to him last February.

There was no jockeying among cadres for a piece of privatised industry pie. There was no talk of competition, markets, strikes or other action against management, or turning state-owned businesses into co-operatives. Speeches calling on members to work harder for Cuba, Fidel, Raúl and revolution resounded through the hall as they have for decades.

“The key is in perfeccionamiento empresarial” – perfecting the state company system – read the banner headline in Workers, the trade union federation’s weekly newspaper.

The union meeting was the latest evidence that a debate fostered by Raúl Castro has for now been settled in favour of those who want to improve one of the world’s most statist economies – not dismantle it – using a business model developed when the president was defence minister to improve the performance of armed forces suppliers.

Perfeccionamiento empresarial is based on adopting modern management and accounting practices, often gleaned from the study of private corporations, for state-run companies. It grants management more authority over day-to-day decisions and imposes more discipline on workers while also increasing their participation in decisions and incentives for labour.

“Perfeccionamiento empresarial has no exact analogy in capitalist economies and is not borrowed from other socialist countries’ models of reform,” Phil Peters, an expert on Cuba at the Lexington Institute in Virginia, wrote in a study of the military’s economic model.

Raúl Castro signed a 200-page law last August ordering all 3,000 state-run companies to adopt the model. He also promoted General Julio Casas Regueiro, who was in charge of the military’s businesses, to defence minister and top spots in the Communist party and government when he officially became president on February 24.

The policy does not contradict Raúl Castro’s recent moves to lift restrictions on the use of mobile phones, computers and other goods and services, nor partnerships with foreign companies and more private initiatives. The bulk of the economy and its core industries and finances will remain in state hands.

Raúl Castro is not waiting for all companies to adopt his model – a lengthy process of sorting out bad books, Soviet-style management and paternalism.

Cuba’s economy is on a better footing than in the 1990s. Foreign exchange earnings are relatively strong due to the export of medical and other professional services – mainly to Venezuela – as well as tourism, high nickel prices and soft Chinese loans.

But the state has had problems investing these revenues through its many companies, many of which suffer from poor accounting and management.

“Perfeccionamiento does not aim to turn Cuba into a China or Taiwan in terms of level of development and integration into globalisation. In the end, the objective is political,” said Frank Mora, Cuba expert at the War College in Washington.

“Raúl Castro needs to defuse the social, economic and political pressure of rising expectations and increasing food costs by implementing and broadening a set of very focused economic reforms.”

Cuba's socialist planning and principles in adjustment to the worldwide sharp rises of prices

Carlos Lage

This is the speech of Carlos Lage Dávila to the municipal People's Power Assembly presidents in June 8, 2008. Lage is the Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and the current Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers of Cuba.

Original:
http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2008-06-08/discurso-de-carlos-lage-davila-en-la-reunion-de-los-presidentes-municipales-del-poder-popular/

Comrades:

It would be neither possible nor necessary to talk about all the topics we have discussed here in the last three days, so I have selected some of them:

As a result of the economic effects of the sharp rise in the price of fuel, food and almost everything we import and our priority efforts to plan on the basis of our available resources, there have been cuts in some major investment programs, and further reductions are bound to follow. But none will be abandoned, as this is only an adjournment while we streamline their scopes.

This urgent economic situation has led to investment plans more in keeping with our current building capacity, which will make it possible to cut costs, meet deadlines and, contradictory though it may sound, step up our progress.

Nonetheless, our investment plan for 2008 is 29% higher than last year’s and 2.4 times that of the year 2000.

As we speak, and given the urgent need to increase our construction capacity, the Ministry of Construction and a Political Bureau Commission are making a comprehensive revision of the construction program, and all the necessary steps will be taken in due course.

But one thing cannot wait that is essential for any program to succeed: discipline in carrying out the works.

Our Boards of Directors must give support to and demand the following:

• Full control of material resources in building sites. Control by the managers and the workers alike. Rather than asking whether the work will be finished on schedule, they must ask –and check– whether anything has been stolen. And I am not talking about deficits or diversion of resources, but using the right term. A boss’s prime task is to make sure that nothing is stolen from the pr

  emises.

• Every work must be part of the economic plan; therefore, they must be able to count from the outset on all the resources they need.

• Construction work must be preceded by detailed preparations, including sufficiently advanced projects.

• The workers are part

  of the planning, so they must be selected in advance and never reassigned to other works.

• Before work starts, the investor and the constructor must agree on a strict and precise timetable and demand that it be fulfilled without excuse.

• Once started, work must proceed nonstop until the end. Organizing two or even three shifts a day may be justified in some cases.

• The ultimate purpose must be to have highly productive eight-hour working days. Where construction

  is concerned, overtime is almost always the consequence of low productivity during the regular working hours.

Steps must be taken to provide the proper work clothes and shoes, meals and living conditions, which are no less necessary than the construction materials needed to do the job.

We feel anger, and rightly so, when we are told that a certain amount of money was lost owing to, say, a wrongly signed contract. However, we put up with delays as if they were the most natural thing in the world, even if in those cases we end up losing a lot more money in revenues we never get to receive. Time is also an economic resource that we can measure in convertible pesos.

Concerning the housing program, this is what we learned in the last two years:

• We need to produce more prefabricated construction materials, a fact imposed by the lack of sufficient skilled labor and transportation means. Molds, double shifts and measures to eliminate bottlenecks in the production line are some alternatives worth considering in every factory while we wait for centralized decisions about new investments.

• The steady efforts of People’s Power-run construction brigades engaged in housing and repair work in every municipality is extremely important, and they are and will be supported with working instruments and means by the Ministry of Construction (MICONS) and the Housing Institute. Besides, the Ministry’s provincial delegations must reinforce the construction brigades devoted exclusively to housing, as these workers should not be used to resolve backlogs in other sites or undertake new works outside the plans.

• It is at municipal level where the housing plans for 2009 should be designed. By allocating resources in the same way we used in 2008, the municipal office will propose what housing developments should be started, continued or terminated, so that we give priority to the most serious and pressing problems in every place.

• We must never abandon the principle of widespread popular participation. Families, communities and workplaces must join the construction brigades after working hours and through voluntary work mobilizations. There must be a great spirit of solidarity, and measures to prevent anyone involved in the housing plan from having to seek private help to move the materials or take care of any other task.

• A house can only be deemed finished when delivered to its dweller. Meeting the requirements to fulfill the job cannot allow for fraud. Our prime demand is that the reports be truthful, and then ask about the progress of the plans, and that goes too for any conservation and rehabilitation work. This year we aim to undertake 110,000 conservation and 140,000 rehabilitation actions, more than ever before, in line with the priorities identified by deputies and delegates from every constituency, but we must make sure the reported figures really square with the work performed and its magnitude.

The old problem of insufficient maintenance at almost all levels of production and service is no doubt related to the shortage of resources and labor, but it’s also a matter of culture, priority –or lack of it– and poor planning.

Important plans are under way to reconstruct and retrofit health institutions, schools, service centers and many other factories and establishments. It would be pointless to keep repairing polyclinics or hospitals if we’re not capable of maintaining those already repaired.

Maintenance should be our top priority when allocating resources anywhere. What we have we must use first to maintain and then to grow.

Seeing destroyed and out of order what was once in shipshape condition and operating properly is unfortunately a common occurrence, the consequence of not devoting to maintenance the amount of time and degree of demand that we do new investments.

The Boards of Directors at provincial and municipal level, as well as the State Central Administration bodies, must understand that unity means progress. We can and must work harder to answer to and meet people’s needs. It is the duty of the above bodies and the People’s Power to give the delegates all the necessary information and support to provide a solution or an answer to every problem. All municipalities should study each and every statement made in the current account-rendering process, the first to be held in this term of office. If a matter cannot be solved or there is not enough information to give about it, it must be submitted to the provincial authorities, and from there to the Council of Ministers, where we will meet to evaluate the outcome of this process.

We will be better prepared to answer people’s questions insofar as we know each one of their statements and strengthen our economic plans.

A plan to produce construction materials and asphalt, build dwellings, provide street lighting and waterworks, etc., will make it possible at municipal and provincial level to have a say in decisions about annual priorities, since as we know, not all things can be solved right away, and many need a longer time.

Today’s emphasis in the importance of planning and discipline in performance, as instructed by comrade Raúl, also comprises a greater involvement of the Boards of Directors at municipal and provincial level in designing plans.

From the Battle of Ideas, triggered and guided by Fidel, countless programs of great social consequence were drawn and boosted which reaffirm our Revolution’s sense of justice and solidarity.

People with disabilities, children who are underweight and undersized for their age or whose normal growth is affected by any other biological or social factor, senior citizens who live alone, patients with low-prevalence illnesses who need special care, youths who neither study nor work or are otherwise prone to become marginals or criminals, convicts and ex-convicts: they are not just a cold set of statistics, but people who have a name and are taken care of by social workers, political organizations and other community factors and forces.

Not one of them can go unattended. That is a unique privilege of our Socialist Society, made possible by 40,000 young social workers. Conditions have been created as well to see to their material needs and gradually satisfy their needs, starting with the most critical solutions.

Controlling our resources and saving everything, and especially fuel and food, has become an essential, decisive need that cannot be postponed.

Strict consumption rules, properly scheduled inventories, regulations against the creation of reserves or changes in the destination of the resources we allocate to one site are some of the criteria we must apply with full rigor. To that effect, we will receive from you specific proposals to reduce assignments, and by their number and extent we will measure the rate of fulfillment. In particular, we must work faster to centralize transportation.

By saving we ensure a source of wealth only possible through discipline, ability and efficiency.

Absorbed as we are in the intensity of our work, I invite you to find some time to read, study and meditate about the problems of the world, the country, the province and the municipality. Think about how the world economy has been turned into a casino by the blind laws of the market; the impact of a superpower’s hegemonic and selfish purposes; regional conflicts the world over; production and pricing trends; climate change; the advance of computer science, biotechnology and nanotechnology; the way some countries lag behind while others move forward…

One of your crucial obligations is to keep up with, think about and appraise a number of issues, including the features of socioeconomic development and the political situation in the provinces and municipalities that you manage, their birth and death rates, people’s main pathologies, students’ degree of devotion to their duties, labor discipline and productivity, youth employment rate, figures about migration, how much your municipality contributes to and spends from its budget, resource management, ability to meet people’s most pressing needs, and level of revolutionary morals, to name a few.

Your twofold duty as Constituency Delegates and Presidents of the People’s Power’s Councils are difficult and demanding, albeit encouraging and pivotal. Example above all else: if your conduct and that of your subordinate leaders is impeccable in and out of your office, half the battle will be already won. Only by practicing what we preach will we able to exert influence on people, curb corruption and work effectively.

Truth is to be sought by coming into contact with our people, for they are the ones who know what is really going on and can provide solutions to problems.

We must learn to listen, be ready at all times to hear someone’s opinion, and stop in our tracks whenever we hear something different to what we thought.

Never lie about anything, significant or otherwise, under any circumstances. Not even phrases like «Tell them I’m not in», or «I’ll meet with you later» if you don’t actually intend to, or others along those lines can be justified, because that is how a leader’s will to face up to the problems begins to fade and the airtight plating of their honesty begins to crumble.

Act quickly whenever possible: well and quickly outmatch well.

Our multiple tasks and the urgency of some of them should not make us look away from collective management: when taken by all together, a decision sets everybody’s intelligence and skills in motion until its completion.

Sleeping less than 6 hours is held to be a cause for obesity, and that is a risk to be avoided. Yet, as I reread [Cuban National Hero José] Martí’s diary a few days ago I found these words: «sleeping is guilty for as long as something remains to be done».

Our people respect those who work, and prove to be understanding when they notice that the person who gives them an explanation grasp the essence of their problem and make it their own.

I will not go over our difficulties here and now. You know them and live with them; our media is increasingly covering them with great skill, while foreign media magnifies and multiplies them.

Regardless, the Revolution can be said to have made undeniable progress in these years of the new century when compared to the hardest years of the Special Period: power supply is more stable, we have more medicines and food, many schools and hospitals have been repaired, greater efforts have been made in the fields of construction and transportation, there have been improvements in water supply for a growing number of people, and so on, all in the midst of and despite a very difficult and complex international situation.

Last year our country spent 1,470 billion dollars to import 3,423,000 tons of foodstuffs. Importing the same amount at the current prices would mean an expenditure of 2,554 billion dollars, or a billion more than the previous year.

Last year we consumed 158,000 barrels of oil per day, for which we paid 8.7 million dollars. The same amount costs 32% more this year, that is, 11.6 million dollars per day.

These are facts to bear in mind and explain, as they unavoidably affect our life and compel us to make economic adjustments. In capitalist countries this is a spontaneous phenomenon that spares no one, while in a socialist society the effects can be mitigated and controlled to protect some social groups, although they cannot be avoided. These realities are still unbeknown to many people, and others are aware of them but fail to link them to our problems. It is fair to expect our living conditions to improve, but in the meantime we must keep our feet on the ground. Only by working more, doing better, saving more and planning better will we carry out successfully.

Comrade Raúl recently called upon us to work hard. To close this meeting, where we have seen so much discussion about the problems we are yet to solve, the mistakes we are making, the goals we want to reach and the grave consequences of the increasing prices of the resources we import, I can think of no better way to finish than by saying these words: let’s get down to it!

Homeland or Death,
We shall overcome!

Cuba to abandon salary equality

BBC
12 June 2008

Cuba is to abolish its system of equal pay for all and allow workers and managers to earn performance bonuses, a senior official has announced.

Vice-Minister for Labour Carlos Mateu said the current system - in place since the communist revolution in 1959 - was no longer "convenient".

He said wage differentiation should improve production and services.

President Raul Castro has introduced a series of reforms since succeeding his ailing brother Fidel in February.

Writing in the communist party newspaper Granma Mr Mateu said workers would receive a minimum 5% bonus for meeting targets but with no ceiling on salaries.

Managers could earn a 30% bonus if the team working under them increased production, he said.

The minister pointed out that the current wage system sapped employees' incentives to excel since everyone earned the same regardless of performance.

"It's harmful to give a worker less than he deserves, it's also harmful to give him what he doesn't deserve," the newspaper article said.

Challenging Marxist orthodoxy
But the impact in terms of purchasing power will be limited, the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says. Raul Castro has brought in a series of gradual social reforms The average wage in Cuba for everyone - from doctors to farm labourers - is about $20 (�10) a month.

Even before the recent sharp rise in oil and food prices Cuba was spending billions of dollars on imports, and that bill is likely to rise sharply, our correspondent says.

So far most of the reforms announced since Raul Castro took over the presidency have involved lifting restrictions such as the bans on mobile phones and computers.

The latest change is a more fundamental challenge to Marxist economic orthodoxy, our correspondent adds.

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Comments:

1)

Simon McGuinnes

CubaNews list

12 Jun 2008.

This is part of a carefully orchestrated plan aimed at eliminating the dual currency and restoring the strength of the National currency. The dual currency has been identified by the Government, through its 3-year national consultation process with the population, as the source of greatest income disparity within Cuba. The CUC is pegged to the US dollar, the recent weakness of which has dragged down the value of the CUC, greatly assisting the Cuban government in that process.

The effects of the plan are already being felt on the ground where the value of the Pesos has risen against the CUC and people are converting their CUC savings into the national currency in anticipation of it rising further. Those who receive CUC from remittances are quick to change the currency for pesos for fear of being left with a devaluing currency.

This is a complete reversal of the situation that pertained in Cuba in the 1990s. Far from increasing income disparity, it is part of a suite of policy changes which will reduce it by the gradual elimination the greater distorting effects of the dual currency economy.

That suite of measures also includes stimulation of local production (especially food production) to ensure that privately produced goods flow back into the pesos markets. The sectors of the economy where these production bonus payments will be applied are likely to be strictly regulated to ensure maximum public benefit. The removal of the income ceiling means that Cubans will also be encouraged to work harder. Quite where this is in conflict with the socialist motto of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work" is difficult to tell, but it is likely to be the media spin that the story attracts in the west.

These measures are likely to be popular with Cubans, strengthening the position of the government and increasing its ability to cope with international developments like the rise in oil and food import prices.

Meanwhile, European governments struggle with blockades by truck drivers, farmers and fishermen facing bankruptcy as a result of the 40% rise in diesel fuel prices. They are lucky, they pay for their fuel in Euro, an appreciating currency, unlike their dollar touting US counter parts.

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2)

Micheal A. Lebowitz

13 Jun 2008

Just a quick passing shot:

1. Marx did not distinguish between a socialist society and a communist society; rather, he referred to a single society in the process of 'becoming'-- moving from a point where it relies upon historical premises which it itself has not produced, through a process of 'subordinating all elements of society to itself, or in creating out of it the organs which it still lacks', to the point where it produces its own premises (i.e., rests upon its own foundations).

2. Distribution in accordance with contribution was for Marx the result of a 'defect'-- an inherited historical premise, the continuation of bourgeois right (in this case the treatment of one's own labour-power, 'the personal condition of production', as your property. Nowhere does Marx advocate 'building upon defects' (cf. my note with this title in the October 2007 Science& Society for the barebones argument). In fact, it is essential to struggle to subordinate this defect--- something that Che clearly understood.

3. It was Lenin who said there were two 'stages', and that there was the 'socialist principle' of to each according to her contribution. Stalin and many others have followed. In fact, my note referred to above was originally presented in May 2006 in Havana at the Marx Conference and was directed (not openly-- but the Cubans all knew what I was talking about) against this very argument already emerging in Cuba (and most explicitly in the December 2005 speech of Soberon, president of the Cuban Central Bank).

in solidarity,

Michael

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3)

S. Artesian

13 Jun 2008

More than that-- there are quite simply errors of fact. Neither, China, Brazil, nor India and let's not leave out the R in the BRIC, Russia, is anything approaching an "economic powerhouse."

An economic powerhouse would have productivity levels far above those of the BRIC, would have the portion of the population tied to agriculture at much lower levels-- and that's just for starters.

But it is this faux erudition, this faux realpolitik, which says, in justification of steps backward, or steps not even analyzed-- 'it's a different world, than the one of such and such an era.' Sounds like Bernstein, Kautsky, etc to me.

Nobody has denounced Cuba for these steps, but we need to recognize them for what they are, and what their origin is-- the isolation of the Cuban Revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of capitalism, internationally financed, locally administered capitalism in China and Vietnam, the defeat of the revolutionary impulse in South Africa....

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4)

S. Artesian

13 Jun 2008

But fundamental to socialism is that the tasks of management be shared by all. I think Lenin said something like "Every cook can govern." I don't think he was kidding.

So if expertise is to be rewarded, than the reward should be distributed socially not individually, as should the expertise. And all must have the opportunity, and obligation, to "manage." That's not going to happen under a bonus plan.

What will happen is that a professional caste of managers will be created, who will achieve their bonuses not through their own labors, but through the labors of others-- and that becomes a point of differentiation along class lines.

A professional caste of managers will then populate itself by selecting others who subscribe to further differentiation from workers; the professional managers will inevitably, as managers, exercise political power based on their status, rather than the soundness of their proposals for advancing the "unhelpful" egalitarian basis for society.

===============

5)

S. Artesian

Fri, 13 Jun 2008

To Ruthless: I read the article. I know that both workers and managers will get the bonus. Changes nothing.

In answer to "guava tree" I am also aware that these changes have been seeping through the Cuban society for some time, particularly since the withdrawal of Soviet support and the turn to tourism as the single greatest source for foreign exchange. Which means that this is not a case of the current leadership "straying from the true path of Fidel."

Nevertheless the Cuban economy and society has been organized with a remarkable, and sustained, degree of egalitarian commitment.

Certainly, petty favoritism, and individual abuse can exist. But petty favoritism is not the issue-- what is the issue in Cuba as in China, as in the former Soviet Union before, is what class relations are being engendered by this policy? What property relations will be strengthened by this?

So we need to ask: How are these rewards to be generated? And the answer is: they will be generated by the world markets-- and that means production not for need, or use, of all, but for need or use of exchange. Look for example at tourism.

Despite the US embargo, Cuba is in no way or shape isolated from the world market-- no more than the former Soviet Union was, or Poland was before it in 1980. The penetration of the market into the economy is certainly less, but, tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner, and tourism has created tremendous income differentials in the work force, and serious inequalities in production and distribution of services-- such as electricity, varied foodstuffs, etc. In addition, the ecological footprint of tourism is pretty destructive.

I don't know how the system can be changed in a different way without a resurgence of international revolution. But we need to know what is driving this process in reverse, a reversal that echoes in these inroads against egalitarianism.

Cuba to abandon wage caps

Lee Glendinning and agencies
guardian.co.uk,
June 12 2008

Cuba is to abandon egalitarian salaries after decades of government control in a bid to improve he nation's productivity, a senior government official has revealed.

It is thought that an end to the capped wages set up by Fidel Castro in 1959 could spark the beginnings of a new middle class in Cuba.

In an interview published in Granma, the Communist party's daily newspaper the minister for labour and social security, Carlos Mateu, said the current system gave employees little incentive to excel because everyone earned the same regardless of how much work they put in.

Many government-run companies had already stopped caps on salaries and the rest must do so by August, Mateu said.

"This salary system should be seen as a tool to help obtain better results in output and services," Mateu said.

"Generally there has been a tendency for people to earn the same, and that egalitarianism is not helpful.

"That is something that we have to fix ... because if it is harmful to pay workers less than they deserve, it also is harmful to pay them what they have not earned," he added.

He said that the new compensation system fits with the mantra of "socialist distribution" mentioned regularly by new President Raul Castro: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work."

For years in Cuba, jobs as varied as farm workers and doctors only had a difference in their wages of the equivalent of a few US dollars a month. The average monthly wage in Cuba is around $20 (?10) leaving many Cubans struggling to make ends meet.

Details of the new system have not been specified as yet and it remains unclear if officials plan to pay higher regular salaries for better workers, or if they would just receive bonuses for good performance.

Lizette Fernandez, a former dissident who campaigned for a change in Cuba's dual currency system until she moved to Florida last year told the Miami Herald: "I think of all the changes made so far, this one is the most important.

"If you worked in an office in Cuba, you often got paid the same as the person who cleaned the office. Slow and lazy people got the same or even more, because the bosses got their jobs through political connections and didn't do any work."

In real terms, she added, the change could mean as little as 50 cents.

"Fifty cents may not sound like a lot, but at the end of the month, it's the difference between being able to buy one bar of soap and two bars of soap," she said.

"This change offers hope that they will increase salaries even more."

Raul Castro, 77, who came to power officially in February taking the place of his older brother Fidel, 81, when his ailing health finally became too much, has made significant changes allowing Cubans for the first time to buy their own mobile phones, computers and spend nights in hotels.

Some of his policies are still at issue, including opening the country to private enterprise and the freedom for Cubans to travel abroad.

Cuba Has New Pay Incentive System

Lourdes Perez Navarro
GRANMA
June 11, 2008

Cuba's Ministry of Labor and Social Security has issued a new resolution that regulates types and systems of payment and introduces new worker incentives.

The new resolution aims to create a uniform salary policy for companies already in the management improvement program and others that are not in the process, said Carlos Mateu Pereira, vice minister of Labor and Social Security.

The resolution stipulates the concept that businesses should have pay incentive mechanisms for their different activities, according to the nature of the work carried out by the worker.

This includes piecework with direct indicators according to the production and services or other markers and efficiency in general, said the Mateu Pereira.

The vice minister of Labor and Social Security said that for many years the pay system has been based on results according to a general indicator; be it profits, sales or revenue. The worker, whether in production, services or management was paid for meeting the norm or surpassing it.

Now workers in each specific area will be paid for meeting or surpassing production targets. If they provide a service they will be paid for quality. Management, for the most part supervisors, will be paid according to certain general or specific indicators, but not by direct parameters.

The Importance of Incentives

Resolution 9/08 states there is no limit to bonuses from surpassing production norms of workers who are paid according to production results for goods and services, providing that other efficiency indicators incorporated in the pay system do not deteriorate.

The rest of the personnel working in the area of regulation and control such as managers, technicians and specialists in marketing, human resources and economy will normally have general and specific indicators with a limit of a 30 percent incentive. The head of a workshop can be considered a direct employee and as such has no pay limit.

Mateu Pereira also said that all workers will receive up to a five percent bonus for meeting their target goals.

Implementing the Resolution

Cuban companies that have not already implemented the management improvement program have until August to redesign and adjust their pay incentive indicators. If a firm has already made this redesign of its payment system and had it approved by the corresponding ministry they can immediately begin to apply it, said the vice minister.

Mateu Pereira said that with the correct implementation of the resolution, the worker will earn what they are capable of producing according to the socialist principle of distribution, each according to their contribution; that is, pay according to quantity and quality.

There has been a tendency in Cuba for everyone to earn the same salary, a type of egalitarianism that is not advisable, said Mateu Pereira. "That is something we have to work on since it has at times led to a prevalence of paternalism where people, to avoid problems, say 'I'll pay everyone the same and nobody will protest.' But it is not fair, it is just as damaging to pay a worker less than they deserve than it is to pay a worker more than they deserve."

Mateu Pereira said the new pay system should be seen as a tool to help obtain increased productivity and better service. The system will have to incorporate adequate controls, so that there is a fair distribution of salaries and so that those who contribute more receive more.