Cuba: Political Impressions

Flo and I recently traveled to Cuba as a member of a Witness for Peace delegation. Our ten-day trip provided an intensive instructive cultural, educational, and political introduction, “in situ’, with a particular focus on the effects of the embargo that the United States has imposed on Cuba for more than 40 years.Our delegation was a cohesive and interesting group, ranging in ages, life paths and the preconceptions they brought to this experience.Our delegation leaders were thoughtful, seasoned activists who had been to Cuba ten times before. Others had been there once, or a few times.For some, including ourselves, this was a first visit. Orientation, historical background information, processing and de-briefing of our many experiences during this adventure, perspectives and context to aid the group in integrating some of our impressions, as well as dazzlingly fluent translation (and salsa lessons!) was provided by two Witness for Peace Cuba Team members, young Americans who had lived and worked in other Central American countries as well, and our young Cuban facilitator, a staff member at the Martin Luther King Center.The MLK Center is the largest non-governmental organization in Cuba and hosts many such delegations in addition to its local community organization and socio-political publication activities.

We began our studies in Havana then moved eastward stopping in Santa Clara, Holguin, and lastly in Santiago de Cuba, and then returned to Havana. We had lectures by several articulate Cubans—a University of Havana professor of Cuban American relations, an economist from the Center for the Study of WorldEconomy, local governmental officials, and a representative of the Afro-Cuban Cultural Center.We visited museums, a polyclinic, a local doctor´s office, an elementary school, a performing arts high school, an agricultural cooperative, attended numerous music and dance performances, and visited sites that chronicled important events in the history of the Cuban Revolution—the Granjita Siboney chicken farmFidel's early headquarters for an abortive but significant attack, the Monumento al Toma del Tren Blindado, the dramatic military victory led by Che Guevara, the Moncada Barracks, now a museum and school. And lastly, we had a meeting at the U.S. Interests section, the American embassy-equivalent in Cuba.

It was not only from this intensive study-visit that I gathered my political impressions of Cuba. I have studied a great deal about Cuba, most especially how the country has fared since the Spanish, American, Cuban War. I have also visited and studied many other countries where various degrees of socialism have been attempted or achieved. So these Cuban political impressions reflect my past study and experience and now recent personal observations. I have divided these into sixteen areas. The perspective that shapes these impressions is first, that the embargo is illegal, and secondly that it is injuring every area of Cuban peoples´ endeavors to reach higher levels of development.

It is useful to begin with an extremely short synopsis of American imperial history as it has affected and is affecting Cuba:

If ThomasJefferson and John Quincy Adams were to return today, they would be surprised that we had not annexed Canada, Cuba and other Western properties.

For the members of the American Imperium such continence is put forth as evidence that there is no such thing as a US empire.

Well, it is true that after two failed invasions, Canada escaped us; even so, we have a naval base on Canadian soil (at Argentia), and Canada plays its dutiful if irritable part in our Imperium, economically as well as militarily. Cuba was, in effect, our brothel during the Batista years; now, for trying to be independent of us, it is embargoed, blockaded and subjected to many acts of covert aggression while we maintain on the island, as always, the military base of Guantanamo.

The Imperium mocks the notion that big business is in any way responsible for a US empire that does not exist. Well, what about the following? Teddy Roosevelt's successor, Woodrow Wilson, invaded Mexico and Haiti in order to bring those poor people freedom and democracy and good government. But stripped of all the presidential rhetoric, the flag followed the banks.

The President was simply chief enforcer for the great financial interests.

Many years later, the commanding general of the US Marine Corps, Major General Smedley Butler (twice winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor and several other prestigious Medals) blew, as it were, the whistle, not just on Wilson, but on the whole imperial racket.

Here are General Butler's actual words: "I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In  short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interest in 1914. Made in Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in." Of course, more recent imperial history as affects Cuba is familiar to most so I need not include it here. But for further information Howard Zinn's "Peoples' History of the United States" is exemplary and detailed.

My Sixteen Political Impressions and Reflections

1. Our Delegation. We were teachers, bookstore owners, publisher, family therapists, a  registered nurse, ironworker, retired pediatrician, lecturers, activists, peace studies coordinator, freelance editor, writers, poets, artists, lawyer, human services administrators, software developers, consultant, many with dual professions, and a few claimed to be merely retired. They were lively, inquisitive, funny, pensive, concerned, reflective, very intelligent, very friendly and very much present.

They brought with them not only youth to seniority, but much maturity along with imagination. And of course we all brought our past evaluations with us. It was plain that the hearts of many were reached by the Cuban community and that we often were able to reach out to those we met. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that we all liked Cuba very much, and as the journey of learning continued, we became protective of it as well. It would also be fair to say that though for many of us, what we saw, heard,  and experienced reinforced our beliefs about the successes, in human terms, of the revolution and the tragic effects of the embargo, every day life and politics in Cuba are too complex and contradictory for all questions to be answered within a short visit.

2. The Ambience, and Economic Matters. Everywhere, as we walked around, we were treated with friendliness and interest. I gathered the impression how proud people were of their achievements. We went into art galleries, book stalls, churches, attended concerts both outside in the squares of towns and inside of very interesting old buildings. Some of these buildings were just beautiful. And of course many of these beautiful old buildings were in serious disrepair. To me one of the striking features was how seldom was Fidel's picture on display. I don't believe anywhere I saw a statue or bust of him. But billboards and murals extolling the gains and the goals of the revolution are a dramatic feature of the landscape. Cuban flags were here and there but hardly a prominent feature. Also, although there were police in public places, they were no more in evidence than I experienced in say Italy or Sweden. There is no question in my mind that the appropriate agencies in the government are working on methods to prevent the growing tourist industry from destroying all that has been gained by the revolution. Therefore, for example, there is very tight control over drugs and increasingly the same is being applied to prostitution.

The markets and the vendors did not give any impression as being different from other parts of the world of similar economic situations where I had visited. There was one thing that did distress many of us which was people in town centers begging for money in a persistent, often overbearing manner. I don't believe I have ever experienced such intensive begging before.

Stores tended to have limited stock of commodities, but there was certainly no sign of hunger or malnutrition as I have found in many other countries I have visited. However, many Cubans are severely limited in what they can purchase, because of the dualmonetary system. There is a peso economy and a dollar economy. This is so primarily because of the American embargo. Cuban banking has to be rather complicated and one of the crazy features is that any deal involving American commerce has to be dealt with in cash. Those who visit Cuban or do business in any way with Cuba do so in the dollar economy but only in cash. This tends to reach to the absurd. American credit cards, for example can not be used in Cuba, nor can checks from American banks. Also, if a ship say from Holland, docks in Cuba and off loads freight for Cuba that ship is not able to dock in any American port for 180 days. This, of course, makes Cuban imports very expensive for that reason, and also for the fact that Cuba which is only ninety miles from the US can't trade with the US, so, must import from Europe or Asia. This is American foreign policy. The only area where there is some commerce between the United States and Cuba is in the humanitarian needs area—food and medicine, but again, the “cash only’requirement imposes severe hardship.

3. Architecture and Environmental Concerns. As in most countries there are examples of architecturerepresenting a country's history via its heroes and in Cuba's case even some of its villains. The monument housing the tomb of the beloved José Martí Cuba´s most widely revered intellectual and freedom fighter, is of special significance to Cubans as well as the wall of what I would call heroes. This wall has for many years contained the remains of those who participated in Cuba's successful 1959 revolution. Additions to this wall are still being made occasionally. The architecture of both is simple though very strong, as is the case in Revolution Square in Havana which contains memorials to both Marti and Guevara. This square is huge and it is here that the political hopes and direction of Cuba are outlined on important days of each year.

There are many attractive buildings in Havana, the diversity of architecture reflecting the diversity of influences on Cuba´s history. Sometimes the combinations of architectural elements—classical Greek with Spanish colonial can be visually puzzling as well as fascinating. It is plain that many very attractive buildings of Havana need repair, and that those that have priority seem to be the ones most valuable to increase the controlled tourist trade.

I was continually impressed with the inventiveness and resourcefulness of the Cubans in solving many problems, dealing with shortages. If they can find a solution from what is available locally they will find it. However, some problems are beyond even Cuban resourcefulness, most prominently urban air pollution. One of the things blackening the buildings and the lungs of the people in large city centers is the pollution from low quality fuel and particularly diesel. The fumes can be overpowering as one walks around the busiest parts of cities. The magnitude of this problem stems from the fact that Cuba cannot obtain appropriate materials to lower the quantity of emissions, again as a result of the U. S. imposed embargo.Though pollution might be considered a humanitarian issue, since the Cubans can not get any kind of credit arrangements with the United States, they can not afford to purchase these materials. There simply isn't enough dollar cash. Again, the controlled development of the tourist trade holds economic hope that could bring improvements in this area.

4. Trees and Hawks. Everywhere we went between the cities there were the trees and floating in the thermal winds were the hawks. I never tired of the beauty represented by each. I thought I too would like to come back but as a Hawk among all these trees and above all I would want to float with my wings outstretched over this beautiful land. Cuba has a strong environmental program which is coping with the problem of holding on to such great beauty but also to make it possible for the humankind to form some kind of harmony; so that the stewardship would truly be that rather than primarily exploitive. When we visited an agricultural collective, we learned that not only were they using chemical pesticides but they were also developing organic methods of dealing with crop damage. In fact we were introduced to the person in charge of these developments and experiments. Perhaps as some would claim it was the embargo that pushed the farmers into organic experimentation, but could it also be that from the social experiment, because of its altruistic roots, manifested through legislation, came the impetus?

5. Painting with the voice. I liked that expression as describing the music and the songs that we heard everywhere. Yes, painting with the voice, with all the nuance of the pride and also the pain of trying to care for everyone and the land but also often singing about the future. One older farmer told us that when the revolution put into effect the literacy campaign, he had learned to read and write. The head of the farming cooperative had tears running down as he listened to this. Yes, he was painting with his voice. "Look, see, I can read, I can write, but you know we can all read and write." Cubans always valued culture, even during Batista's time so literacy was always moderately high in the cities, but now is almost universal throughout the country.

6. Schools and Children. Several times beautifully smiling children were waiting to greet us and hand us flowers, and each time I bent down and had my cheek kissed. I would look into their eyes and see the eyes of my child of many years ago. I sat next to one child who shared her schoolbook with me so I could see what she was studying. One simply had to be enchanted by children who were so pleased to see you, and who clearly appeared to be thriving. There were questions and answers in some school situations and in other such as at the performing arts school we had full fledged performances from dance and solo performances to choruses, classical orchestrations and even a jazz jam. As someone who spends so much of his time with music, I was inspired with the quality of performance, with the capabilities of these school musicians. At the same time, the effect of the embargo made itself known here too, as the absence of music stands made it necessary for them to place their music on the floor. Education at all levels is clearly the top priority, and should be distinguished from the quality of the classrooms; though computers are in evidence, and students make use of them, school buildings need improvement, with better lighting and supplies. But in education as any educator knows, what is needed primarily are the students and their teachers. Everything else is really secondary. But these secondary things can certainly be an asset if they do not overpower the educational process or are misused by those with other than educational agendas.

7. Music and Dance. Because I'm so closely connected to the piano, having had a classical concert career, I looked and listened for pianos in Cuba, and even in my short visit heard one outstanding performance in the Cathedral in Santiago de Cuba. But what I heard most of the time in the “casas de la trova’ (houses of troubadours) in various cities was the popular vocal and instrumental music that has developed over many years, influenced by cultures that came to be part of the island´s history.It is a music that has influence well beyond Cuba. Trumpets and trombones blare, guitars played left and right handed, and of course drums and wooden claves and cowbells being rhythmically struck as various tempos are maintained by the double bass, accompanying vocalists. The ingenuity of musical combinations and intricacies of rhythms is magnificent. The atmosphere is relaxed and full of smiles and laughter and couples celebrating the elaborate choreography of salsa in the tiniest of dance- floor spaces, and sometimes through the air wafted the fragrance of Cuban cigars. Music artists sell their CDs (cassettes are no where to be found) after or during their performances, and other artists vend their paintings and drawings. In one small musical hall I saw lovely paintings on display, portraits of several older musicians, one such painting was truly a masterpiece that I would love to have borrowed.

In Santiago de Cuba we watched stunning performances by the Ballet Folklorico Cutumba in the very attractive Parque Cespédes square and also at a rehearsal/performance to which we and another delegation were invited. That such energetic dancing perfection could occur in the heat of the large studio was to me explainable only by the fact that this music is part of the body and part of the soul of these dancers, and doesn't consume the amount of energy that others would have to produce to be imitative. The dance in fact is the dancer. This is of course Einstein's memorable formula.

It is through music and dance and the arts that a culture expresses its failures and its dreams and its limitations and its life and its constant reformation, but always retaining the quality of life and its goodness in its manifestation that we call art. With such achievement I believe this can engender a polity if encouraged by all the people all the time for a humane society constantly trying to encourage the human being to develop, alone and together. Art even for art's sake is a political statement of the success of a society. An artist distributes gifts to society and should be honored and appreciated. Cuba has done wonders artistically, and should be loved for that. But artists are more than their professions-- they are brothers and sisters, they are wives and husbands, they are children grown and small, they are partners but they are also citizens and as such have something to offer in addition to art for art's sake through their political participation by speaking out in their own special ways to participate in the constant reformation of the goodness that can be in society. In this sense it matters not what one does, one is also a participative citizen. Perhaps this is the renaissance that Cuba is approaching.

8. Bureaucracy, Cuban versus American. Cuba is a small country with a large bureaucracy. And the United States is a large country with a comparatively small bureaucracy. “We want smaller government’ has been the cry of American politicians for a long time. Elected officials are always running against the government in Washington. One of the biggest problems facing the United States is the fact of its so called big government. In fact, anyone would understand that the more laissez faire, the smaller the government. So, plainly the fewer the social services the smaller the bureaucracy. This is a distinct difference between the socialist experiment and the capitalist one. One would expect that the United States, with its myriad of internal problems for the whole area of health, education, and welfare, would warrant a huge bureaucracy. If a government for a country with the population size of America is to be useful in a meaningful way, this government of the people, by the people and for the people plainly would have to change course. For example, if the United States would try to emulate the Swedish or Cuban altruism experience, allowing, of course, for cultural divergences, the bureaucracies would have to be proportionately much larger than they are. But since the idea of the U.S. government is primarily to support corporate interests via American hegemony via a show of unparalleled force then plainly all must be sacrificed to the military and its systems. The military in these circumstances aids the corporate world also by allowing it to build the war machine.

9. Starvation as Foreign Policy. With the disappearance of the Soviet Union, Russia was unable and/or unwilling to continue its foreign aid to Cuba. The Cuban economy as a result essentially collapsed in the early 1990´s. The collapse was as much as 70% in various parts of the economy, so severe that food rationing was instituted and remains in force till today. Why with the disappearance of the Soviet Union did the United States feel it was necessary to continue an embargo, a blockade against Cuba? Certainly it boggles the mind to think that Cuba, at this time, could be considered a threat to the United States. So, one must conclude that Cuba as a socialist model must be most upsetting and frightening to a capitalist super power. Or again, why does the US State Department issue such statements as “Cuba is of no commercial interest to the United States.’ This can't be the case if there are major wheat producers in the mid-west of this country who wish to develop commercial relations with Cuba. Is this perhaps another example of blockading food to a nation that has to ration food? The official position of the US government is that they do not indulge in starvation as part of foreign policy. But actions speak louder. If food is not used as part of foreign policy why not allow Cuban trade with American agri-business?

Perhaps it is because the Cuban people, as a result of most careful planning, continue to affront the American government by not starving. And of course there is much more to be said about using deprivation as foreign policy. The Cubans can not retaliate but they can be ingenious in avoiding the tentacles of foreign power. A most enraging thing to do. Also, it is plain to other countries that the US is blatantly engaging in hegemony over every bit of territory south of the border. And now extending the Monroe Doctrine further into Afghanistan and next into the Middle East and beyond is not only egregious but inimical to America's own long term interests. Why? Because it fertilizes ever increasing suspicion and fear that the world contains an overpowering rogue state whose actions are so historically consistent so to be seen with good reason as the terrorist state, and supporter of terrorism. Certainly the governments of Russia, China and France, all permanent members of the Security Council understand this clearly, and concomitantly is now visible to large sections of the world population. Cubans certainly have the insight and clarity and first hand experience to see this clearly as well, and fear the implied hegemony, and feel it viscerally. They know all about deprivation as foreign policy.

10. Observations are Part of the Observing Process. One brings one's own background, the extent of one's own experience, one's own baggage to what one observes in any situation. And as we go from one culture to another this is even more pronounced. So, one goes to a farm, or a school, or a hospital in Cuba and the question is, what does one see? Would it be different if you decided to spend one year working in a Cuban hospital, to become immersed in the rationale of solving problems with what the culture has managed to produce? The food chain is different, the climate is different, the priorities can be different, the methods of diagnosis matched against the recuperation can be different. In Cuba and in many places elsewhere there is a political umbrella that says everyone is entitled to medical care. So, for example, if you are no longer working, are say retired, and you need corrective surgery, say you have a bone that is growing outwards from the sole of your foot and say the same thing is true of someone who is still in the work force, who should be the first to have surgery within limited medical services? Reflect on this and how the priorities might be determined, versus a private system which says if you have the money you're first. (I am of course discounting emergency situations in this conjecture).

Generally, one tends to make comparisons with the systems one knows best, and if one has not had a lot of experience outside the U.S., this can be a limitation. One can forget that the United States is one of the richest countries on our globe. But how was this achieved? The answer “through hard work’ is certainly inadequate and insufficient. Most people throughout the world work extremely hard. It is well documented that with less than 6% of the world's population the United States uses about 60% of the world's wealth and controls vicariously even more. One must not forget the lands forcibly taken from the American Indians, the massive importation of slaves, the huge wealth difference between 5% of the owning population and the remainder. When did this begin? Of course, knowing American history we are aware that it began with the country's foundation. The American constitution is primarily a commercial document. It was designed by 50 rich white men to protect themselves, the owning class, from the rest of the population. It maintained a culture among this elite of a distinct distaste for democracy. And unions were anathema and "anti-American", an absurd word. Because with democracy and unions the “hoi poloi’ would attempt to participate in writing laws that would be altruistic, rather than primarily individualistic for the masses and altruistic for the owners. Also, with unions for the general population, individualism would be downplayed or at least balanced with cooperation. Manufacturing and agriculture ownership by the general population would be balanced against individual ownership. For example, health, education, and welfare would be in the common domain always growing and adjusting as the cultural milieu developed and thereby changed.

The dictatorial domination of the ruling class came to be known as capitalism, the system whereby the means of production are owned by this small group. John Jay put it well when he said those who own the country should rule it. It should be remembered that all corporations are dictatorships with more rights under the laws of the land than individuals.

Thus, if one comes to Cuba with only the American experience as one´s context for observing and concluding, one may not see what is perhaps initially invisible, may not understand what is underpinning the objectives, the priorities with which one is confronted. It is a document that says in conjunction with labor: “We're in this together.’

So, too, we hear in an unfriendly way from the severe critics of Cuba that it is undemocratic, because it is a one party system. But most often these comments are made without knowledge of the Cuban constitution or of its election processes.

If one needs to make comparisons, where´s the “democracy’ in our country where 60-70% of the population have for years and years been in favor of a national medical plan similar to that of Cuba, Canada, or Sweden, but we have somehow failed to achieve it despite our two-party system. Who represents our wishes?

11. A Question of Values. We bring our values with us. What then are these values? Perhaps it's a conception of what's right and what's wrong. But from where do these value arise? Religious people would say the obvious, and philosophy would disagree. It is certainly one of the reasons why the two domains are incompatible, the fact that many philosophers who care to look would not speak with interest of religion. So accepting that for the moment, what can one say about values philosophically? Very simply that they are sets of agreements. Taking the Hebrew ten commandments for example, one could say those are the agreements accepted by many. It is interesting that so many sets of "ten" commandments exist throughout the world. The Hammurabic code for example differs in interesting ways from the Hebrew commandments. But sticking with the Hebrew ten, one remembers it saying "thou shalt not kill". And so how to face this with capital punishment?

But there are other kinds of values one brings to any new experience: a sense of beauty, a sense of success, say a contrast between social and economic. What of a respect for old age, or the reason for having children? A sense that poverty is the fault of the poor. A sense of superiority which we have forgotten to be for the most part propaganda. What of our values did we bring with us while trying to displace those we found? A sense of personal worth within a social milieu that we celebrate, in contrast to the idea of self sufficiency. Or put simply but prophetically as Mine and Thine.

12. “Our Revolution’. This was an expression I heard often rather than “ the’ revolution. Cubans give the feeling that the revolution was theirs. They indicate one way or another how proud they are to have survived the early phases and the continuing hostility from the United States. They remain completely aware how difficult it is to have full lives free from poverty, but they see that poverty commonly shared is not destitution. It seemed to me that the triumph of their revolution was constantly under discussion.

Cubans understand the necessity of the double monetary system (peso and dollar) though not considering it unfair as much as realizing how desperately they need the dollars in order to move their ("our") revolution on its course; they do understand that there is the contradiction of personal behavior.

Their revolution has produced also a revolution in education. Quoting Fidel (from his speech at the recent International Conference of Pedagogy held in Cuba), "Possibly the boldest decision recently adopted has been that of converting study into a form of employment, a principle that made it possible to close down 70 sugar mills - the least efficient ones - whose hard-currency costs were in excess of the income they generated.’

“Computer teaching begins at the kindergarten stage.... New educational TV channels are being developed and through them the University for All....

"The annual Book Fair now has 30 venues in the island's largest cities." All this, and more, as part of their "our" revolution. Why shouldn't they be justifiably proud?

13. "In a Revolution One Wins or Dies". The Cuban revolution is ongoing as it should be and the Cuban people know that to falter means to die at the hands of those powers that would destroy what has been achieved. That a country so small as Cuba should not be allowed to grow and develop according to its own cultural heritage, building on its own remarkable triumphs, and not have to come under the hegemony of the Colossus to the North seems surreal. And to wish for the death of this revolution is shameful and arrogant. I think the United States has something of significance to learn from the Cuban Revolution. I would say that is altruism which would significantly diminish the war machine, and place this nation on a peaceful path that valued education and health care for all.

14. The Church. Its Political Re-emergence. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church opposed the revolution in Cuba. It is hard to imagine that the Church expected allegiance while at the same time being in commitment with dictatorships such as was the case throughout South and Central America. This commitment meant supporting the oppression of the general population in favor of reactionary elements composed of hired military hands educated in the School of the Americas and in the pay of these foreign corporations. Their job was to control their fellow citizens, i.e. to make things safe for foreign exploitation. This was also true in most parts of Latin and Central America.

When struck by a sense of conscience Catholic prelates were murdered, as was Arch Bishop, Oscar Romero, for example, in El Salvador by the reactionary forces trained by the United States Government.

However, that is not the whole story. There were ordinary priests imbued with the ideas of liberation theology and understood very well that the Church was not the church. And with the visit of the very conservative Pope John Paul we see the return of the hierarchy. It should be remembered that John Paul did not favor liberation theology and replaced as he could activist priests with those less likely to involve themselves in such politics. All this under the direction of the equally conservative Cardinal Ratzinger. Hopefully, liberation theology is strongly represented among the priests, nuns and brothers newly arriving to Cuba. I imagine the Cuban government will be looking for some balance from the church.

Christianity is important to a sizeable section of the Cuban population and now that things have been eased in this regard one would expect people to be more involved with their churches in a religious observance manner. I think at this time in history Cuba feels more confident of itself so there will be some sort of modus vivendi as affects their relations with religions generally and with the Vatican particularly.

It is to be hoped that the Catholic Church's reemergence, necessarily on the Cuban political scene, will not unduly use its influence. There are questions that the Church would like the Cuban government to reassess, I feel sure, such as property and teaching venues, and legitimate church propaganda outlets. When I visited a rather large seventy year old Catholic church, in pristine condition, in the country side of Santiago de Cuba I noticed for the first time in my visit, but within the church itself, a poster hostile to abortion. Abortion is a service of the Cuban medical system. There are few obstacles for any woman who may want an abortion.

15. U.S. Interference in Cuba. What right does any U.S. administration have to interfere in any country´s internal affairs and to demand the right to determine what is to be called a democracy? Cuba is a sovereign nation recognized by the United Nations. The American claim that they want Cuba to be a democracy and that Cuba is limiting such aspirations, that it is run by a small coterie of people elected from a single party is for the most part rubbish. But as with all devised propaganda there has to be a grain of truth. What the United States administrations have failed to explain to the world via say the United Nations is how the Cuban election system is designed and to what degree are votes cast.. Cubans may begin voting from the age of 16, but Cuban citizens are not obliged to vote. Of those eligible to vote, typically about 97% do so. In the United States it is newsworthy if 50% of those eligible to vote do.

Cuban voting law is not secret. Anyone can easily find information about it. Very little digging is required. In this respect it is hardly different than any other country.

(If any one reading this article would like to find the details of Cuban voting procedure and laws please click on the signature at the end of this issue. By doing so one will find the index listing all the articles of the JvL Bi-Weekly including a recent article on this subject. Just click on this or any article of interest to bring it up).

As to the business of a single party in Cuba… in the light of Cuba´s open society this is equivalent to beating a dead animal.At this point in history one would be hard pressed to detail the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties in the US. Certainly in foreign policy the parties are indistinguishable. And to suggest that there are no differences of opinions being openly expressed in Cuban politics is a nonsense. Some of Fidel´s plans have been overridden. This is certainly the experience of any leader of a democratic country. It is certainly true as in other democracies that Cuba does not welcome overt attempts to overthrow its form of government but as to programming there is continuous discussion. As Sweden is a social democracy in continuous debate, so Cuba is a socialist country overwhelming supported by its population. Cuba´s realistic concern is with the attempts of the US government to overthrow the Cuban government and to reestablish hegemony over Cuba. There are many avenues to social development that encourages citizens to develop and to cooperate. Cuba is certainly a human and a human rights success story even though its post revolutionary history is very short. It will continue to develop, to experiment and to succeed even if the United States continues to exert unwarranted and illegal pressures upon it.

Also, it should be remembered that the US government has supported and/or installed all forms of dictatorships throughout the world. Four obvious examples coming to mind immediately are those of Iran, Iraq, Guatemala, Chile. The list is long.

Therefore, what right does the United States or any other country have to interfere with a sovereign country whose huge majority of citizens support it?

16. What I wondered about… and what I worried about before I visited Cuba was how the Cuban political success would be maintained? I wondered if it was the personality of Fidel that was holding everything together? I think I have a good part of the answer. And that is from the Cuban people themselves. I listened far more than talked, everywhere and with whomever I was with, at the lectures and at the concerts and in the restaurants and in the museums and in the schools, to the bus drivers and to those at the Martin Luther King Center. I wanted to know if the revolution was real, had it taken root in a fertile soil, was it being tended, and watered and watched over, and enriched and allowing for change as the country changed. Yes, Fidel is still at the helm but is he there alone? I listened all the time for the answer as intensely as I could to the Cuban people. I tried to tune in to the Cuban culture, from the classical guitar to the enchanting salsa rhythm. I listened to what my companions had learned and observed, I listened to young Cubans and to young Spanish speaking Americans immersed in Cuban culture. I did hear encouraging words everywhere, strongly and plainly and timidly and pensively. "Don't worry Jimmy, we're safe. There isn't just one Fidel, there are millions."

That is all I have to say at this time.

(I would welcome any responses, comments or questions relating to these political impressions. I will do my best to clarify or document any particular points. James van Luik, channujames@yahoo.com)