Cuba guide
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| © New Internationalist |
Is Cuba a tropical paradise of progressive citizenship or the last island gulag of a dying ideology? Those who visit with an open mind will find evidence to support either position. Now past the 50th anniversary of the 1959 revolution, Cuba is a living paradox at once castigated for denial of personal freedoms whilst equally admired for achievements in education and health on shoestring budgets. Even the country's harshest critics respect its sheer resilience to a US embargo which confounds any basis of international equity.
updated February 2009
Poverty in Cuba
Cuba has an international reputation for delivering human development results which punch way above the country's modest economic weight. Supported by relatively high spending priorities for education, health and social welfare, Cuba has already attained three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is considered likely to achieve the others before 2015.
The risk of falling into extreme poverty is largely eliminated by a state ration book system which provides a mix of free or subsidised provisions, mainly food. Inequality remains the lowest in Latin America. Universal primary education was reached in the 1990s for both boys and girls and, according to government statistics, child mortality is the lowest in Latin America. Women play a full role in society, holding 66% of professional and technical jobs, 36% of seats in parliament - and 49% of judges are women.
Health in Cuba
Thanks to its free and widespread national health system, Cuba enjoys much better indicators than neighbouring countries, the US included. Community participation in public health is at the foundation of the system. All strata of society are involved when health emergencies occur, as in the last outbreak of dengue fever in 2006, to an extent virtually impossible elsewhere.
Similar resolve was invested to combat the surging epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s when Cuba implemented the much debated sanatorium policy. All HIV+ individuals were compelled to reside in sanatoriums where good living conditions were provided in exchange of being "quarantined". HIV prevalence is still less than 0.1%, mostly concentrated in the stigmatized group of men having sex with men.
Cuba also provides medical assistance to other developing countries, by sending as many as 30,000 national staff to the field. It also grants scholarships to thousands of foreign medical and nursing students who make a commitment to future work in disadvantaged communities - this scheme even attracts US students. These specialised health services have an economic as well as social mission, being offered in exchange for commercial goods, especially oil from Venezuela.
Whilst the number of trained medical staff per capita in Cuba is unquestionably high, this strategic allocation of doctors and their expertise to the country's import/export requirements is far from neutral in its consequences. Extravagant and prioritised treatment for rich foreign patients exposes divides which contradict Cuban values. The quality of local health services suffers from a chronic shortage of drugs and medical equipment, especially in the provinces. Low salaries compel even doctors to engage in secondary jobs, diminishing the overall quality of care. These problems need to be addressed if Cuba is to retain its hard-earned reputation for health provision.
Food Security in Cuba
There are further faultlines in the generally positive picture for social welfare in Cuba. The US embargo which denies Cuba access to international trade and credit acts as an impediment to human development. Although agribusiness lobbies in Congress have led to concessions for some single states to export food to Cuba, the limited amounts permitted are insufficient to overcome the country’s chronic food insecurity.
Inefficiencies of state-owned farms and water infrastructure limit production to just 20% of total food requirements. The shortage of affordable protein is the principal cause of very high incidence of anaemia, especially in the poorer eastern provinces where more than 50% of children are affected. The World Food Programme manages a long term project to address this problem but the impact of the 2008 spiral in food prices hit Cuba particularly hard.
There are about 250,000 small private farms in Cuba. Their efficiency relative to the large state farms is such that they account for 70% of production on less than a third of cultivated land. In belated recognition of reality, the government’s response to the food crisis is centred on leasing uncultivated state land for private use. Small farmers will also be allowed to purchase inputs independent of the state.
Climate Change in Cuba
Taking the full force of the Caribbean hurricane season, Cuba has grounds for considerable grievance over the potential injustice of climate change. Per capita emissions of greenhouse gases are amongst the lowest in the world, yet any increase in frequency or magnitude of the cyclones threatens not only human safety but food security and health. The storms are believed to be influenced by El Nino and La Nina, phenomena which are difficult to predict in climate change models.
However, the 2008 season offers ominous evidence. Hurricane Gustav was judged to be the worst storm since the 1950s and was followed within 10 days by Ike, of almost comparable intensity. Nearly half a million homes were damaged and 30% of crops lost. The cost of reconstruction has been estimated at $5-$10 billion.
Predictions of decreasing rainfall and rising sea levels are more confident, raising concerns that greater salinity and drought will depress crop yields. Despite government commitment to reforestation and environmental sustainability, desertification is becoming evident in some eastern regions. Water and sewer networks are shambolic and forests are logged for firewood.
Conflict between Cuba and United States
Since 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed leadership in Cuba and replaced it with a communist government, the US has single-mindedly endeavoured to bring about the downfall of the regime. None of their methods has yet proved successful; not the economic sanctions, nor the expensive production of Radio and TV Marti, nor even the CIA's bungled assassination attempts.
Another method is enabled by the US Cuban Adjustment Act which provides favourable treatment to illegal Cuban immigrants. They become entitled to permanent residency if they touch US soil and if they declare themselves to be political refugees. This has fostered the balseros boat people who cross the Straits of Florida in defiance of tough Cuban laws to discourage them. With over one million refugees in the US, this tug-of-war between the two countries has created many tragic family circumstances which raise human rights concerns.
Since the 1960s in varying degrees the US has enforced an economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. In addition, it has taken unpopular steps through the Helms-Burton Law to impose similar restrictions on non-US businesses. The exiles themselves are restricted in their right to visit the island and send remittances. The "blockade", as the Cubans call it, deprived the national economy of $3.8 billion in 2007 and is responsible, according to the Cuban government, for all the problems on the island.
Whilst the new Obama administration has softened the rhetoric, any significant change of policy may not be forthcoming without Cuban commitment to reforms. The international community views the US persecution of Cuba as outdated anti-communism and inconsistent with its toadying to other unsavoury regimes. Every year the overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly approves a resolution condemning the embargo.
Politics in Cuba
Such sympathy for Cuba does not extend to endorsement of its one-party political structure. Political institutions in Cuba share many characteristics with the communist model. Participation in public life is more or less compulsory through a combination of grassroot organisations, such as workers' councils or Committees for Defence of the Revolution (CDRs), and vast national membership bodies such as the Cuban Women's Federation. The CDRs administer or, more pragmatically, control small local districts, from civil defence to social activities. They lie at the bottom of a capillary political structure, selecting candidates for municipal councils from which it is possible to rise through the political hierarchy by a combination of supervised selection and popular vote.
The process is extremely complex, with no explicit role for the Cuban Communist Party, and its adherents claim democratic credentials not always present in more familiar western models. Nevertheless, at the highest level of the National Assembly (the parliament), opposition voices are conspicuous by their absence. Members of the Assembly elect the 31-member Council of State which carries executive power and chooses Ministers and the Head of State. As the National Assembly meets only twice a year, the true legislative power is held by the Executive which exercises it through decrees.
Until July 2006 politics in Cuba had been epitomised by the unique figure of Fidel Castro, one of a handful of instantly recognisable world leaders. His endless, eloquent, figurative speeches regulated all aspects of Cuban society, from international relations to the way of cooking rice and beans. Unable to arrest his declining health, Castro eventually retired in February 2008. His younger brother Raul was elected by the National Assembly, having already served as interim president for over two years.
The new leader has offered no concessions to western ideals of democracy but he has announced a Party congress for late 2009, the first to be held since 1997. With Fidel Castro now believed to be seriously ill, and young Cubans increasingly reluctant to relate to the legend of the revolution, the congress may be an opportunity for radical change.
Human Rights in Cuba
The Nobel laureate writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a long term supporter of the Cuban revolution, once said that human rights to health, education and welfare are respected in Cuba whilst civil rights - freedom of expression and assembly, and judicial independence - are not respected. More than 200 political dissidents are currently in jail and access to them is denied to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Local human rights groups are refused any status and Amnesty International has not been allowed into Cuba since 1988.
In May 2006 a total of 135 countries out of 191 voted for Cuba to be a member of the newly established UN Human Rights Council, despite vociferous protests of several international human rights groups. Pouring oil on troubled waters, the new Council in June 2007 ordered an end to special UN investigations into human rights violations in Cuba. During 2008, the government signed two important UN human rights covenants related to basic freedoms. However, the agreements have not yet been ratified by the National Assembly and there has been no relaxation in the exercise of authority.
The US has created its own bed of nails on human rights in Cuba. It assiduously promotes annual UN resolutions condemning human rights violations by the Cuban government, seemingly unaware of the irony of its own notoriety for abuses conducted within an area of Cuban territory held on a disputed long lease - Guantánamo Bay.
Information and Media in Cuba
Ranking 169/173 in the 2008 Press Freedom Index, Cuba is the world's second largest prison for journalists, with over 20 incarcerations. All media is state-controlled, cultural magazines included. Access to the internet is restricted to selected users such as medical doctors and institutions dependent on international communication. However, even Cuban state authority struggles to lay its heavy hand on the internet and troublesome content often finds its way into the public domain.
The Economy in Cuba
Cuba is one of the last socialist command and control economies in the world, although cracks are beginning to open. Withdrawal of Soviet economic assistance after the fall of the Berlin Wall triggered an economic collapse. This ultimately forced the introduction of market activity on the fringes of the economy as well as free circulation of the dollar. Cuba progressed from an economy based on agricultural exports (mainly sugar) to a service economy with tourism as the main provider of hard currency, alongside overseas remittances and the mining of nickel. Dependency on concessionary trade has switched to Venezuela and China.
Nevertheless, for their everyday needs Cubans must employ a variety of resources of which conventional wages are of least value. Workers are paid in Cuban pesos to a value of little more than $20 per month; even professionals are paid within this range. Furthermore, only limited consumer items are available in this currency and all imported goods (food, toiletries, clothes, etc.) have to be bought in hard currency. This dual economy has greatly exacerbated social differences and fostered illicit ways to obtain hard currency such as prostitution. Private ownership of property remains forbidden.
In his public acknowledgement that Cuba's wages are insufficient to meet essential living requirements, and that a differential structure of wage rewards should be permitted, Raul Castro has struck at the bastion of his brother’s ideology. Since securing the presidential office, he has announced a sequence of economic measures which imply a more liberal direction. The culture of the paternalist state has been shaken by the decision to raise retirement ages of both men and women by 5 years. Conversely, permission to buy mobile phones and household electrical appliances represents a valued freedom as much as recognition that the electricity infrastructure is improving.
Whatever new philosophy lies beneath these initiatives, it has been thwarted by the food crisis, hurricane damage, the collapse of the price of nickel and global recession – a combination which has prompted talk of crisis in Cuba to match that of the Soviet exodus.
The OneWorld Cuba Guide was first published in January 2008 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Flora Bertizzolo
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| School in Cuba © Flora Bertizzolo |
The risk of falling into extreme poverty is largely eliminated by a state ration book system which provides a mix of free or subsidised provisions, mainly food. Inequality remains the lowest in Latin America. Universal primary education was reached in the 1990s for both boys and girls and, according to government statistics, child mortality is the lowest in Latin America. Women play a full role in society, holding 66% of professional and technical jobs, 36% of seats in parliament - and 49% of judges are women.
Health in Cuba
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| Cuban school children © Flora Bertizzolo |
Similar resolve was invested to combat the surging epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s when Cuba implemented the much debated sanatorium policy. All HIV+ individuals were compelled to reside in sanatoriums where good living conditions were provided in exchange of being "quarantined". HIV prevalence is still less than 0.1%, mostly concentrated in the stigmatized group of men having sex with men.
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| Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep |
Whilst the number of trained medical staff per capita in Cuba is unquestionably high, this strategic allocation of doctors and their expertise to the country's import/export requirements is far from neutral in its consequences. Extravagant and prioritised treatment for rich foreign patients exposes divides which contradict Cuban values. The quality of local health services suffers from a chronic shortage of drugs and medical equipment, especially in the provinces. Low salaries compel even doctors to engage in secondary jobs, diminishing the overall quality of care. These problems need to be addressed if Cuba is to retain its hard-earned reputation for health provision.
Food Security in Cuba
There are further faultlines in the generally positive picture for social welfare in Cuba. The US embargo which denies Cuba access to international trade and credit acts as an impediment to human development. Although agribusiness lobbies in Congress have led to concessions for some single states to export food to Cuba, the limited amounts permitted are insufficient to overcome the country’s chronic food insecurity.
|
| Farmland in Cuba © Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy |
There are about 250,000 small private farms in Cuba. Their efficiency relative to the large state farms is such that they account for 70% of production on less than a third of cultivated land. In belated recognition of reality, the government’s response to the food crisis is centred on leasing uncultivated state land for private use. Small farmers will also be allowed to purchase inputs independent of the state.
Climate Change in Cuba
|
| Vinales view, Cuba © Flora Bertizzolo |
However, the 2008 season offers ominous evidence. Hurricane Gustav was judged to be the worst storm since the 1950s and was followed within 10 days by Ike, of almost comparable intensity. Nearly half a million homes were damaged and 30% of crops lost. The cost of reconstruction has been estimated at $5-$10 billion.
Predictions of decreasing rainfall and rising sea levels are more confident, raising concerns that greater salinity and drought will depress crop yields. Despite government commitment to reforestation and environmental sustainability, desertification is becoming evident in some eastern regions. Water and sewer networks are shambolic and forests are logged for firewood.
Conflict between Cuba and United States
Since 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed leadership in Cuba and replaced it with a communist government, the US has single-mindedly endeavoured to bring about the downfall of the regime. None of their methods has yet proved successful; not the economic sanctions, nor the expensive production of Radio and TV Marti, nor even the CIA's bungled assassination attempts.
Another method is enabled by the US Cuban Adjustment Act which provides favourable treatment to illegal Cuban immigrants. They become entitled to permanent residency if they touch US soil and if they declare themselves to be political refugees. This has fostered the balseros boat people who cross the Straits of Florida in defiance of tough Cuban laws to discourage them. With over one million refugees in the US, this tug-of-war between the two countries has created many tragic family circumstances which raise human rights concerns.
Since the 1960s in varying degrees the US has enforced an economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. In addition, it has taken unpopular steps through the Helms-Burton Law to impose similar restrictions on non-US businesses. The exiles themselves are restricted in their right to visit the island and send remittances. The "blockade", as the Cubans call it, deprived the national economy of $3.8 billion in 2007 and is responsible, according to the Cuban government, for all the problems on the island.
Whilst the new Obama administration has softened the rhetoric, any significant change of policy may not be forthcoming without Cuban commitment to reforms. The international community views the US persecution of Cuba as outdated anti-communism and inconsistent with its toadying to other unsavoury regimes. Every year the overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly approves a resolution condemning the embargo.
Politics in Cuba
|
| Downtown Trinidad, Cuba © Flora Bertizzolo |
The process is extremely complex, with no explicit role for the Cuban Communist Party, and its adherents claim democratic credentials not always present in more familiar western models. Nevertheless, at the highest level of the National Assembly (the parliament), opposition voices are conspicuous by their absence. Members of the Assembly elect the 31-member Council of State which carries executive power and chooses Ministers and the Head of State. As the National Assembly meets only twice a year, the true legislative power is held by the Executive which exercises it through decrees.
|
| Fidel Castro © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep |
The new leader has offered no concessions to western ideals of democracy but he has announced a Party congress for late 2009, the first to be held since 1997. With Fidel Castro now believed to be seriously ill, and young Cubans increasingly reluctant to relate to the legend of the revolution, the congress may be an opportunity for radical change.
Human Rights in Cuba
The Nobel laureate writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a long term supporter of the Cuban revolution, once said that human rights to health, education and welfare are respected in Cuba whilst civil rights - freedom of expression and assembly, and judicial independence - are not respected. More than 200 political dissidents are currently in jail and access to them is denied to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Local human rights groups are refused any status and Amnesty International has not been allowed into Cuba since 1988.
In May 2006 a total of 135 countries out of 191 voted for Cuba to be a member of the newly established UN Human Rights Council, despite vociferous protests of several international human rights groups. Pouring oil on troubled waters, the new Council in June 2007 ordered an end to special UN investigations into human rights violations in Cuba. During 2008, the government signed two important UN human rights covenants related to basic freedoms. However, the agreements have not yet been ratified by the National Assembly and there has been no relaxation in the exercise of authority.
The US has created its own bed of nails on human rights in Cuba. It assiduously promotes annual UN resolutions condemning human rights violations by the Cuban government, seemingly unaware of the irony of its own notoriety for abuses conducted within an area of Cuban territory held on a disputed long lease - Guantánamo Bay.
Information and Media in Cuba
|
| Cuban journalist Guillermo Farinas on hunger strike © Cubanacán Press / Committee to Protect Journalists |
The Economy in Cuba
Cuba is one of the last socialist command and control economies in the world, although cracks are beginning to open. Withdrawal of Soviet economic assistance after the fall of the Berlin Wall triggered an economic collapse. This ultimately forced the introduction of market activity on the fringes of the economy as well as free circulation of the dollar. Cuba progressed from an economy based on agricultural exports (mainly sugar) to a service economy with tourism as the main provider of hard currency, alongside overseas remittances and the mining of nickel. Dependency on concessionary trade has switched to Venezuela and China.
|
| Street in Youth Island, Cuba © Flora Bertizzolo |
In his public acknowledgement that Cuba's wages are insufficient to meet essential living requirements, and that a differential structure of wage rewards should be permitted, Raul Castro has struck at the bastion of his brother’s ideology. Since securing the presidential office, he has announced a sequence of economic measures which imply a more liberal direction. The culture of the paternalist state has been shaken by the decision to raise retirement ages of both men and women by 5 years. Conversely, permission to buy mobile phones and household electrical appliances represents a valued freedom as much as recognition that the electricity infrastructure is improving.
Whatever new philosophy lies beneath these initiatives, it has been thwarted by the food crisis, hurricane damage, the collapse of the price of nickel and global recession – a combination which has prompted talk of crisis in Cuba to match that of the Soviet exodus.
The OneWorld Cuba Guide was first published in January 2008 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Flora Bertizzolo
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