Pedro Campos

January 1, 1959 marked the glorious triumph of the Cuban people over a dictatorship. What came afterwards was steered away from the democratization and socialization of political and economic power demanded by a socialist revolution, which has been spoken about but never materialized, not to this day.

Another absurd prohibition has been eliminated in Cuba, but this new measure does not go to the root of the crisis – it merely secures more money for the bureaucracy and projects a false image of economic liberalization.

My greatest wish for the New Year is for Cuba to find the peaceful means to have all Cubans, without exception, become reconciled, in a country where peace, friendship and respect towards the rights of everyone, including minorities, becomes our daily bread.

There have been numerous reports about the repressive measures the Cuban government and its security apparatus took against dissidents who had planned a peaceful celebration of the 65th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this past December 10. Was this really necessary?

Those in Cuba who once bet on the complete expropriation and nationalization of foreign capital today beseech foreign capital to come in their aid, offering investors every imaginable guarantee. The Cuban State economy is in crisis, but not as a result of the imperialist blockade or the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the defenders of “State socialism” often say.

These remarks are addressed to You: to President Raul Castro, the leadership of his government and Party, and the military officers heading the “reform process.” The measures implemented, which, in some measure, benefit we, the people, have been pragmatically designed to garner You greater benefits.

Recently, the Cuban government set down regulations that barred private businesses from selling imported clothing and industrial articles, a practice that had gained ground over the last two years owing to the scant impetus given the self-employed sector by the so-called “reform process.”

Part of the international Left, the Old Left that never managed to get in step with the times, fails to understand that the Cuban leadership has slowly become a new Right.

What could have been and never was a socialist system, the dreamed-of society of the people, by the people and for the people, became a neo-Stalinist, bureaucratic, authoritarian and counterrevolutionary mess that imperialist powers and the Cuban leadership agree to continue to call “socialism.”

Owing to the Cuban government’s long-standing policy of excluding the public from decision-making processes, many will likely say: “I don’t care what they finally approve. I’m indifferent to everything this government does.” This is a serious mistake…