Cuba and the Alleged Failure of Socialism

Elio Delgado Legon

HAVANA TIMES — Detractors of the Cuban revolution (and socialism in general) love to repeat that socialism has failed, that the Cuban economy is a disaster and innumerable other lies to try and justify the frank betrayal of their peoples.

When East European socialism collapsed (as a result of many mistakes and betrayals), the enemies of socialism began shouting that the system was a failure from the rooftops. However, the truth is quite different from this.

Like any other political system, socialism can have problems. It is, after all, a human system, and nothing that humans do can be called perfect. When one makes a mistake, however, one fixes it and moves on. What you don’t do is give up and surrender to the enemy. Having refused to do this is what makes Cuba’s socialist revolution great.

When Cuba found itself caught in the crossfire – facing both the implacable US blockade and enduring the suspension of all trade with the former members of the socialist bloc–, the leaders of the revolution told the people: “either we stand our ground or we lose everything we have achieved under socialism.”

And the Cuban people preferred a long period of privations, the “Special Period in Times of Peace”, saving the achievements of socialism, instead of surrendering to the enemy.

Any other government in any other country would probably have been overthrown by the people, intent on changing their country’s course in the search for a better life. The Cuban people, however, placed their trust in their revolution and its leaders, and they chose wisely.

It’s true we went through very rough times, but, at no point were workers laid off en masse, no one was abandoned to their own resources and, with the very few resources available, the country began to lay the foundations for its development.

When Cuba found itself caught in the crossfire – facing both the implacable US blockade and enduring the suspension of all trade with the former members of the socialist bloc–, the leaders of the revolution told the people: “either we stand our ground or we lose everything we have achieved under socialism.”

Well-trained professionals continued to graduate from Cuban universities and the development of the science and technology sector went on unhindered – anything else would have been jeopardizing the nation’s future.

One of the mistakes made at the time was having neglected the countryside, having failed to distribute idle lands to those willing to work them, as has been done in recent years, and not having raised the price of agricultural products to motivate farmers. These mistakes have been rectified and we’re all already seeing the results.

No one with at least a couple of working neurons could say that socialism has failed. In Cuba, at least, this is not the case: the country is moving forward, perhaps not as quickly as we would want, because there are many obstacles in our way, but it is growing and developing in a sustained and sustainable fashion, no matter what those who want to ignore or cover up this fact say.

Other socialist countries are also experiencing sustained growth, even today, in the midst of the world economic crisis unleashed by the capitalist system, which does appear to be in its final and dying phase.

The socialist system is not in crisis because its fundamental concern continues to be the wellbeing of the people, and everything it does is aimed at that. Great thinkers, sociologists, analysts and social activists concur on this point.

An authority as important as the Pope of the Catholic Church (an institution that has over a billion followers) has touched on this point on several occasions. Pope John Paul II raised the banner of human solidarity, a concept which is entirely foreign to the capitalist system, which is intrinsically egotistical and reveres only money and profit, indifferent to the fact that millions of children die of hunger around the world every year.

Well-trained professionals continued to graduate from Cuban universities and the development of the science and technology sector went on unhindered – anything else would have been jeopardizing the nation’s future.

More recently, Pope Francisco was even more direct than his predecessor at a mass celebrated before over 300,000 people, when he declared: “Forgive me if these words are a bit of strong, but I tell the truth when I say: the lack of work deprives one of one’s dignity. Where there is no work, there is no dignity! And this tragedy is the consequence of a system that idolizes a god called money.”

Later, the Pontiff added: “Men and women must be the center of our economic system. Our current economic system is leading us to tragedy (…) What we want is a just system that benefits everyone.”

Even the Pope is convinced capitalism has failed and that we need a just system that can help everyone. That system can be nothing other than socialism, though some, in order to justify their betrayal, continue to vociferate that it has failed.