Where is Cuba headed?

[Hannah Bell]

The Cuban government of Raúl Castro announced last week that it would push 500,000 workers out of state jobs next year. According to the official trade union at least half of the 500,000 workers would be given new licenses for self-employment, and another 200,000 would be absorbed into cooperatives. The layoff announcement marks the latest stage of Raúl Castro's drive to transform the Cuban economy from the heavily state-owned economy that dates back to the years after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

Sam Farber is a veteran socialist who was born and raised in Cuba. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the country, including The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered. He spoke to Alan Maass about the meaning of the layoff announcement--and what's ahead for Cuba.



WHAT'S THE background to the dramatic announcement about Cuba shedding half a million state jobs?

I THINK it's important first of all to place this in the context of the Cuban regime being in decline, and that decline being accelerated because of the terrible economic situation...

But the objective possibility of a radicalization and a higher level of struggle will be considerably increased with the kinds of measures that the regime is taking. I have no doubt about that.


http://socialistworker.org/2010/09/20/where-is-cuba-headed

[NBachers]

1. So, uh, is it time to completely dismantle the blockade yet?

Don't make any snap decisions, now

[Ken Burch]

2. The existing model is being restructured

but it doesn't necessarily follow that a restoration of the old days is coming.

There's still a possibility that the next step, following some primitive capital accumulation, would be to remake Cuba on genuinely socialist(rather than state capitalist)lines. This would mean switching, in the end, to democratic management of cooperatives and of the remaining state-owned concerns, rather than the bureaucratic command structure that Cuba felt forced to take on when U.S. hostility drove it into an alliance with the Soviets shortly after the revolution.

[SoCalDem]

3. and people often forget that OTHER countries have been doing business with and in

Cuba for a very long time. There will be foreign investment as the communist tendencies start to unravel more.

The US will be edged out on many opportunities as Cuba starts its new phase.