By John J. Metzler
Cuba's ongoing political and social upheaval has shocked many observers as a sudden and intense summer storm. Across the island in small towns and provincial centers, protests have erupted like a squall line that ultimately reached the capital of Havana.
Tropical storm "Libertad" was lashing the Island of Cuba while its winds of freedom were blowing across the Florida Straits, triggering major pro-democracy demonstrations in Miami, Tampa and elsewhere.
The Biden administration was caught off-guard by the fast-moving events, only to attempt political damage control later, replacing awkward silence with equivocal platitudes.
Curiously, the uprising started while Cubans were watching the Euro Cup soccer finals between England and Italy; at half-time during the game, a news flash interrupted the broadcast with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel urgently calling on government supporters ― "all the revolutionaries, all the communists" ― to protect the country against the protestors. Brutal crackdowns followed.
It's become popular these days to hear that we must go back to the root causes of any crisis. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris regularly repeats this mantra when speaking about the expanding crisis on the U.S. southern border: we must address the root causes!
So let's do so with Cuba. The roots of Cuba's malaise rest in the Marxist system in power on the island since 1959. This system remains a crisis of systemic communist authoritarianism which has turned a once pretty prosperous place into an economic basket case.
The roots of the Cuban Revolution were woven with envy, hate and false utopianism. But now without the Castro brothers in direct control (Fidel is dead and his brother, Raul, is 90), the cult of power and control by the classic Latin American Caudillo is replaced by a bland regime functionary who seems to be the uneasy custodian of the Castro cult.
The roots of economic discontent are nothing new to Cuba since the 1960s: the longtime subsidies and support from the former Soviet Union are gone, the regime must now fend for itself. Mere slogans about communism don't work. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 11 percent last year.
Tourism, which generates quite a lot of cash from Canadian and European visitors, has dried up since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the lack of vaccines has triggered a health crisis. Ironically many Cuban doctors serving abroad in "internationalist missions" can't help at home.
The roots of endemic shortages are not that Cubans don't work hard but for what? People's labor and toil are wasted for handfuls of worthless pesos while necessities can be purchased in special shops but using the American dollar. Cuban Americans, on the other hand, are not only hard-working but have brought enterprise and entrepreneurialism to new heights in the United States.
There are roots in the U.S. trade embargo on the island, though the embargo doesn't affect Cuba's commerce with Europe, Canada, China nor Latin America. The reason for the embargo, a policy of 14 American presidents, deals with the regime's seizing and expropriation of American-owned property after the Cuban revolution in 1959. In other words, the embargo does not isolate Cuba from the world but from direct commerce with U.S. as its close neighbor.
The roots of Cuba's censorship and surveillance of its population remain a bedrock of the communist regime; what has changed has been information seeping in via social media that cannot be totally controlled. Herein lies a genuine threat to the system.
The roots of Cuba's human, political and religious rights violations have never been condemned by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council!
The roots of political rationalization are nothing new for leftist American politicians. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) long a Pavlovian apologist for the Havana regime, has now couched his words carefully: "All people have the right to protest and to live in a democratic society." Fine, but the root cause remains Cuba's authoritarian regime.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the son of Cuban refugees, stated succinctly, "The first lesson we need to take away from it is that Marxism, socialism, doesn't work." He added, "We don't just condemn this tyranny; we condemn this communism, this Marxist, this socialist tyranny. Call it for what it is."
He cited a powerful new protest song called, "Patria y Vida." "Now, the slogan of the Cuban regime is "Patria o Muerte," meaning "fatherland or death." This song played on that, "Patria y Vida," which means fatherland and life, instead of fatherland or death."
Republican Representative Maria Salazar, (R-FL) herself the daughter of Cuban exiles stated, "Socialism is socialism… It is a sickness that crushes the soul. Cuba is the best example of this." Libertad!
John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism ― The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."
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Tropical storm "Libertad" was lashing the Island of Cuba while its winds of freedom were blowing across the Florida Straits, triggering major pro-democracy demonstrations in Miami, Tampa and elsewhere.
The Biden administration was caught off-guard by the fast-moving events, only to attempt political damage control later, replacing awkward silence with equivocal platitudes.
Curiously, the uprising started while Cubans were watching the Euro Cup soccer finals between England and Italy; at half-time during the game, a news flash interrupted the broadcast with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel urgently calling on government supporters ― "all the revolutionaries, all the communists" ― to protect the country against the protestors. Brutal crackdowns followed.
It's become popular these days to hear that we must go back to the root causes of any crisis. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris regularly repeats this mantra when speaking about the expanding crisis on the U.S. southern border: we must address the root causes!
So let's do so with Cuba. The roots of Cuba's malaise rest in the Marxist system in power on the island since 1959. This system remains a crisis of systemic communist authoritarianism which has turned a once pretty prosperous place into an economic basket case.
The roots of the Cuban Revolution were woven with envy, hate and false utopianism. But now without the Castro brothers in direct control (Fidel is dead and his brother, Raul, is 90), the cult of power and control by the classic Latin American Caudillo is replaced by a bland regime functionary who seems to be the uneasy custodian of the Castro cult.
The roots of economic discontent are nothing new to Cuba since the 1960s: the longtime subsidies and support from the former Soviet Union are gone, the regime must now fend for itself. Mere slogans about communism don't work. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 11 percent last year.
Tourism, which generates quite a lot of cash from Canadian and European visitors, has dried up since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the lack of vaccines has triggered a health crisis. Ironically many Cuban doctors serving abroad in "internationalist missions" can't help at home.
The roots of endemic shortages are not that Cubans don't work hard but for what? People's labor and toil are wasted for handfuls of worthless pesos while necessities can be purchased in special shops but using the American dollar. Cuban Americans, on the other hand, are not only hard-working but have brought enterprise and entrepreneurialism to new heights in the United States.
There are roots in the U.S. trade embargo on the island, though the embargo doesn't affect Cuba's commerce with Europe, Canada, China nor Latin America. The reason for the embargo, a policy of 14 American presidents, deals with the regime's seizing and expropriation of American-owned property after the Cuban revolution in 1959. In other words, the embargo does not isolate Cuba from the world but from direct commerce with U.S. as its close neighbor.
The roots of Cuba's censorship and surveillance of its population remain a bedrock of the communist regime; what has changed has been information seeping in via social media that cannot be totally controlled. Herein lies a genuine threat to the system.
The roots of Cuba's human, political and religious rights violations have never been condemned by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council!
The roots of political rationalization are nothing new for leftist American politicians. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) long a Pavlovian apologist for the Havana regime, has now couched his words carefully: "All people have the right to protest and to live in a democratic society." Fine, but the root cause remains Cuba's authoritarian regime.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the son of Cuban refugees, stated succinctly, "The first lesson we need to take away from it is that Marxism, socialism, doesn't work." He added, "We don't just condemn this tyranny; we condemn this communism, this Marxist, this socialist tyranny. Call it for what it is."
He cited a powerful new protest song called, "Patria y Vida." "Now, the slogan of the Cuban regime is "Patria o Muerte," meaning "fatherland or death." This song played on that, "Patria y Vida," which means fatherland and life, instead of fatherland or death."
Republican Representative Maria Salazar, (R-FL) herself the daughter of Cuban exiles stated, "Socialism is socialism… It is a sickness that crushes the soul. Cuba is the best example of this." Libertad!
John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism ― The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."
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