ECONOMY
9.2 THE CUBAN REVOLUTION
CHAPTER 9
HUMAN AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES,
the revolutionary course and possess a heightened consciousness and an all- embracing cultural intellect. I
The creation of 'the new personality' was viewed as even more decisive for the revolution's future than the drive at the time to produce ten million tons of sugar - a new record the regime hoped would improve Cuba's sagging economy and that relied on full national participation. The desire for meaningful social change was endorsed by members of the Cuban public as follows:
No one knows the Cuban past as only we can, of whoredom and corruption, ofthe infinite capacity to deceive oneself and others, to sell oneself to the highest bidder in all things, to lack faith in anything but the vulgar and to accept the obscene as natural ....
What was Cuba? - an insignificant whorehouse for the West, a country known only for its sugar and the delights of the flesh, a country of 'simple blacks and tropicales', and now we are trying to create 'the new man' (cited in Zeitlin 1970, xlix).
Within two years of the revolution the Cuban leadership had laid the fundamentals for a systematic change in the country's social, economic, and political construction and in 1968 completed the conversion to socialism by eliminating the last remnants of capitalism on the island. It was the initial years that witnessed some of the most profound changes based on a ten-point programme. These included: national autonomy, economic sovereignty, work for all, social fairness, education, political democracy, civil authority, religious freedom, public morality, and constructive friendship with all countries. Evident from this programme was the intention of addressing the historic condition of Cuba US dominance, lopsided reliance on sugar with its attendant social and economic problems, social fragmentation and injustice, and a discredited political system (Wright 1991,21).
The quest for wide-ranging social renewal had great implications - without it Cuba would not have that form of socialism which Guevara and others had hoped for: 'the socialist society that is absolutely democratic and based on the needs and aspirations ofthe people' (Zeitlin 1970, xlix-I, emphasis added).2
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9.2.1 Guevara's critical socialist doctrine
In his role as governmental official, Guevara and his followers, became openly intolerant towards the USSR because, according to their standards, this state's national and foreign programmes did not adhere to basic socialist principles (Mesa-Lago 1974, 7; see Zeitlin 1970; Anderson 1997; Taibo II 1997; Chapter 10). Mesa-Lago is of the view that underlying their doubts were the facts that they were (1) in favour of the strategy of 'permanent revolution' J and (2) opposed to institutionalisation (Mesa-Lago 1974, 7).
According to Zeitlin (1970), during his academic research in Cuba in the early 1960s, Guevara indicated to him,
Our task is to enlarge democracy within the revolution as much as possible . . . . We feel that the government's chief function is to assure channels for the expression of the popular will (Zeitlin 1970, I).
Guevara argued that political forms in the Communist countries, especially the USSR, have led into 'dogmatic extremes', 'cold scholasticism' and 'isolation from the masses' (Zeitlin 1970, I). Guevara furthermore felt that they should seek 'something new' that will lead to:
a perfect identification between the government and the community as a whole, adapted to the conditions of building socialism peculiar to their country and avoiding as much as possible the commonplaces of bourgeois democracy transplanted to the society in formation (Zeitlin 1970, Ii).
The major cause that obstructed Guevara's goals has been the concern that any prescribed mechanism might disconnect them from the masses and the individual, making them lose sight of the 'ultimate and most important revolutionary aspiration" namely, 'to see man freed from alienation' (Zeitlin 1970, Ii). It was their dream, in Guevara's words, 'to make possible humans' conscious, individuaL and collective participation in all mechanisms of directions and productions' and 'the realisation of their fullest human potential' (ibid., viii). Zeitlin argues that this idea of socialism was held by all pre-Stal inist
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revolutionary socialists. It failed to endure in Russia where Stalinist measures led to one-party totalitarian rule and so-called 'democratic centralism', all of which was absent from the original Bolshevik programme to build a real workers' democracy4 (ibid.; see Grant 2002; Deutscher 1964). Vast social disproportion, the support for rigorous competition between workers, and the collapse of class solidarity translated into 'vulgar Marxism' and the return to Russia's 'imperial backwardness' (Zeitlin 1970, vii). Unlike this experience, the Cuban revolutionaries came to power in a society relatively free of chaos, and the spirit and energies of its people were not exhausted - as Russians had been by its civil war - but were 'waiting to be tapped' (ibid, ix).
9.3 'THE NEW MAN AND WOMAN' AND NEW SOCIETY 9.3.1 Introduction
As a start, soon after the triumph of the Cuban revolution Guevara declared metaphorically that only the 'skeleton' of Cubans' freedom had been achieved, that 'the flesh and the clothing are still lacking' . Hence 'we will create them', he said. (EG 1965/2003u, 227). For him the many and varied contradictions and anomalies in Cuban society compelled the revolution to devise guidelines that would lead to individual and social transformation. He considered for instance, the critical conditions of the Cuban peasantry, calling it 'a class that has been kept in ignorance' and 'isolation' (EG 1963/2003n, 72). Looking at the Latin American continent, he held that the revolution would also spread there because of the 'horrifying conditions of exploitation under which the people live' (EG
1963/2003n, 73).
The re-education of the nation, IS of some importance which should be advanced by 'readings imbued with the spirit and teachings of Jose Marti' (EG 1959/2003a, 94) is of some importance. Guevara posits socialism as 'a goal of humanity' accordingly education - which he perceives as 'the elimination of the vestiges of the old society in people's consciousness' - becomes an important factor in social transformation (EG 1964/2003q, 190). He concludes, proclaiming as Marx does, that 'socialism is the riddle of history solved' (ibid) furthermore, that this will be translated concretely into the 'reconquering of one's true nature through liberated labour, and the expression of one's own human condition through culture and art' (EG 1965/2003u, 220).
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Profound social change, he reasons, also demands 'very profound changes in the mentality of the people' (EG 1960/2003e, 115). Similarly, 'individualism should 'disappear' since it sustains 'the isolated action of a person alone in a social environment' (ibid).
Guevara cautions revolutionaries, not merely to 'offer their wisdom' to the people, but rather to demonstrate that they are 'ready to learn with them', 'to carry out that great and beautiful common experience - to build a new Cuba' (ibid., 117-18).
In his 1962 speech to the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions (EG 1962/2003j), Guevara councils unionists that the new society has not yet been fully created since 'memories of the past, memories of struggle, and the vices of a wretched past that strangled man' have not yet been obliterated (EG 1962/2003j, 146). He points out that the working masses, including himself, are 'human beings' carrying with them a succession of corrupt behaviours inherited from the prior age. Though the primary structure of Cuban society has been transformed, for Guevara the revolution has not as yet erased people's unpleasant attitudes and beliefs (ibid):
we all have those bad habits inherited from the previous epoch, which weighed heavily on us over many years. We are all children from that environment. We have destroyed the fundamental thing and have changed it, but we have not been able to wipe out as rapidly those bad habits from our consciousness (ibid).
9.3.2 The Moral and Human Factor
As with Marti, we find in Guevara's discourse a similar weight on moral and human dynamics, that he felt, ought to launch and permeate the social reconstruction process. Guevara not only consistently advocates consideration of these qualities in his writings and speeches, but he himself is regarded in Cuba and elsewhere as an exemplary model of someone who steadfastly lived by them (See Deutschmann 2003; Kronenberg 2005a; conclusion to Part III).
It is noteworthy, first of all, to observe some of the conclusions he came to for imbuing the new personality and society with human and moral values. Though
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structured as a letter to the Uruguayan weekly Marcha, 'Socialism and man in Cuba' (EG 1965/2003u) is considered by many to be one of Guevara's most significant writings. In writing the piece, Guevara intended to provoke debate and at the same time, provide new viewpoints on some of the fundamentals of socialist thought (Deutschmann 2003,393). In the piece he argues that:
one must have a large dose of humanity, a large dose of a sense of justice and truth in order to avoid dogmatic extremes, cold scholasticism, or an isolation from the masses. We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force (EG 1965/2003u, 226, emphasis added).
From the above a number of things emerge: first, Guevara reasons that the quality of human existence is indistinguishable from the value of existing social standards, like justice and truth. Conversely, the quality and presence of these principles in the social sphere (such as justice and truth) directly determine the value of human life. Second, the above pronouncement clearly defines Guevara's awareness of, and subsequent hostility to, totalitarian political practice. Besides being conscious thereof, and in conflict therewith he also publicly records his sentiments in this regard. Third, he argues that awareness and elevation of the human factor will contradict the ascendancy of doctrinal excesses and bureaucratic tendencies, that is, undemocratic measures, governmental oppression, and governmental self-importance. Their survival, he reasons, disconnects the bond that exists (or should exist) between power structures and the people. This line of interpretation is suggestive of his personal awareness of oppressive conditions prevalent at the time in other revolutionary societies. Last, following closely in the tradition set by Marti, (see Chapter 5) Guevara advances the proposition that 'thought' must translate into actual deeds. In this instance, he holds that mere awareness of the struggle for fairness and legitimacy is not adequate that consciousness must generate the required action. To him this is a model of transformative power in the social reconstruction process.
One of the overriding factors that initiates a revolutionary response for social change is for Guevara, the legacy of the oppressive and exploitative Batista
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dictatorship. He writes, 'It is for that reason that the revolution is compelled to destroy the roots of the evil that afflicted Cuba'. He sees this 'evil' in the broader context as 'having defended the interests of the reactionary class - the large landowners, parasitic capitalists closely linked to foreign colonialism' (EG
1960/2003c, 102-3).
9.3.3 Role and character of the cadre
In his writings and speeches during the unfolding of the revolution Guevara places great trust in the devoted revolutionary - 'the cadre' - to launch the goals and principles of the new Cuban society. For him the cadre himlherself should be imbued with certain qualities that must serve as an example to others. He defines the 'true cadre' as an individual who has achieved 'sufficient political development to be able to interpret the larger directives emanating from the central authority, make them hislher own, and convey them as an orientation to the masses. The cadre must at the same time also perceive the signs manifested by the masses of their own desires and their innermost motivations. In this sense, then, for Guevara, the cadre forms the highly significant conduit between the ruling party and the people. Furthermore, Guevara perceives the cadre as someone of 'ideological and administrative discipline', who knows and practises 'democratic centralism' and who knows how to 'evaluate the contradictions in current methods in order to make the best of them'. In the field of production, the cadre knows how to practise the principle of collective discussion and individual decision-making and responsibility. He or she is a 'creator', 'a leader of high standing', 'a technician with a good political level', he wTites. The cadre 'reasons dialectically and can advance his sector of production, or develop the masses from his position of political leadership' (EG
1962/2003k, 155).
In building a new Cuban society, Guevara argues that closely connected to the concept of cadre is the concept of 'capacity for sacrifice', 'for demonstrating through personal example the truths and watchwords of the revolution'. The cadres, as political guides, should earn the respect of the workers by their actions and not simply as 'transmitters of slogans or demands', he writes (EG 1962/2003k, 156-7).
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9.3.4 Internationalism & universal solidarity 5
Emanating from the above standpoints is Guevara's spacious stance concerning the plight of humanity as a whole, and subsequently Cuban revolutionaries' responsibilities thereto. This arguably forms the basis of his concentrated viewpoint on the establishment of internationalism and universal solidarity (see chapter 11).
In his 1962 address to representatives of various youth organisations, Guevara advises that they should feel 'honoured for being part of the emancipatory process'. They should develop a 'great sense of duty' not only towards their new society, but also towards their 'fellow men and women', and furthermore, 'all men and women around the world'. Along with that they should cultivate a 'deep sensitivity to all problems', 'sensitivity to injustice', and develop 'a spirit that rebels against every wrong, whoever commits it' (EG 1962/20031, 165-66).
Revolutionaries, he says, should 'question anything not understood, discussing and asking for clarification on whatever is not clear'. They should always pay attention to the mass of human beings, always being open to new experiences.
'Everyone must be essentially human and be so human that he draws close to humanity's best qualities'. The 'new man and woman', Guevara pronounces, should 'distil the best of what humanity is through work, study' and 'ongoing solidarity with the people and all the peoples of the world'. The new personality should 'feel anguished when someone is murdered in any comer of the world' and 'enthusiasm when a new banner of freedom is raised in any comer of the world' (EG 1962/20031, 166).
To construct the new man and woman 'we have to work every day, work in the inner sense of improving ourselves, of inquiring, finding out, and knowing why things are the way they are and always conSidering humanity's great problems as our own' (EG 1962/20031, 167).
Addressing some of the same topics in his later piece 6 Guevara reasons that the new Cuban personality gains authenticity when he/she is guided by 'great feelings oflove' (EG 1965/2003u, 225). To Guevara, it is 'impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality'. Vanguard revolutionaries, he
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says, 'must idealize this love of the people, of the most sacred causes, and make it one and indivisible'. Guevara holds that the new individual plays a role in mobilising and leading the masses insofar as he/she embodies the highest virtues and aspirations of the people' (EG 1965/2003u, 225-26).
Already in his 1961 address to the Inter-American Economic and Social Council in Paraguay, Guevara sought to advocate that the Cuban revolution is a 'revolution with humanist characteristics' that it seeks to affirm 'the dignity of the human being' (EG 196112003i, 252-53, emphasis added).