Cuba & the U.S. (11 of 11): Why Cuba will probably not improve its relations with the U.S. too much; references

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary: Efficient dictators always make sure they have an enemy to distract their subjects.

Having said all this, I don’t think Cuba under the Castros will ever normalize relations with the U.S. For dictators such as Hitler, Stalin, and Fidel, there is an advantage to having their subjects paranoid about foreigners. The foreigners serve as the focus of hatred and fear, distracting the dictator’s subjects from the causes and effects of unbearable conditions at home. If the subjects had too much time to think about their situation, they might just decide to rebel against the dictator.

Statism—in fact and in principle—is nothing more than gang rule. A dictatorship is a gang devoted to looting the effort of the productive citizens of its own country. When a statist ruler exhausts his own country’s economy, he attacks his neighbors. It is his only means of postponing internal collapse and prolonging his rule. A country that violates the rights of its own citizens, will not respect the rights of its neighbors. Those who do not recognize individual rights, will not recognize the rights of nations: a nation is only a number of individuals.

Statism needs war; a free country does not. (Ayn Rand, “The Roots of War”)

To the Castro brothers, the United States has been a godsend: an enemy who is nearby, powerful, and yet exceptionally unlikely to invade the country, unless it suffers a massive attack first. Fidel and Raul Castro may try to get more money via trade or aid, but they will never welcome the U.S. as a friend.

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Suggested Readings by Ayn Rand and Objectivist Scholars

Rand, Ayn. “The Cuban Crisis,” “How to Demoralize a Nation,” and “The Munich of World War III?” The Ayn Rand Column. 1991.

Rand, Ayn. “The Roots of War.” The Objectivist, June 1966; reprinted in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (Signet, 1986).

Schwartz, Peter. The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America. 2004.

 

Sources Consulted

Aside from the speeches referred to in the text, see:

CIA World Factbook for Cuba: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/cu.html (accessed 4/27/09)

“Organization of American States” in Wikipedia.

Parmet, Herbert S. "Kennedy, John Fitzgerald"; http://0-www.anb.org.library.nysoclib.org:80/articles/07/07-00152.html ; American National Biography Online Feb. 2000. Access Date: Wed May 21 08:43:15 EDT 2008

Paterson, Thomas G. "Cuban Missile Crisis"; www.anb.org/articles/cush/e0377.html ;
The Oxford Companion to United States History, Paul Boyer, ed., 2001. Access Date: Wed May 21 08:41:58 EDT 2008

U.S. State Department, Background Report on Cuba: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm (dated 8/08, accessed 4/27/09)

 

Scholarly Sources Recommended by the Above

Blight, James, et al. Cuba on the Brink. 1993.

Chang, Laurence, and Peter Kornbluth, eds. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. 1992.

Fursenko, Aleksandr, and Timothy Naftali. One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964. 1997.

Gleijeses, Piero. “Ships in the Night: The CIA, the White House, and the Bay of Pigs.” Journal of Latin American Studies 27 (Feb. 1995): 1-42.

Nathan, James, ed. The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited. 1992.

Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. 1994.

White, Mark J. Missiles in Cuba: Khrushchev, Castro, and the 1962 Crisis. 1997. 

Cuba & the U.S. (10 of 11): Why would Cuba consider closer relations with the U.S.?

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary:  Improved relations with the U.S. would give Cuba more hard currency and the prestige of having “forced” the U.S. to back off a long-standing policy.

Socialist policies lead to weak economies. Increased trade with the U.S. would bring Cuba much-needed hard currency. Easing the restrictions on remittances would have the same effect, except that the Cuban government would not need to produce any goods in exchange. Remittances are estimated at $600 million to $1 billion per year, even though President Bush reduced the maximum permissible amount from $3,000 to $300. The government takes 10% of the remittance amount when converting it to pesos. If the dollars are spent in “dollar stores,” the prices of goods are often at least doubled. Again, the extra money goes to the government.

On a moral level, getting concessions from the United States would give Cuba the chance to boast of having made the United States back off. The Castro brothers are certain to put this spin on any rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba. If Cuba is reinstated as a full participant in the Organization of American States, the same spin will be applied.

Cuba & the U.S. (8 of 11): Cuban Foreign Relations

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here

.Summary:  Cuba’s friends are other totalitarian dictatorships and other communist or socialist nations. Raul Castro and the Cuban Constitution both condemn the United States.

One of the delights of Facebook is being able to check what friends you have in common before accepting a new friend. Who are Cuba’s friends, now that the Soviet Union is gone?

In a speech of 12/2/2006, Raul Castro referred to his “president and brother, Hugo Chavez,” the socialist dictator of Venezuela. As mentioned above, Chavez signed an agreement with Fidel by which Venezuela provides Cuba with heavily subsidized oil in return for goods and services.

In a speech of 7/26/2007, Castro mentioned “our brothers in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, and our solid ties to China and Vietnam.” China recently invested $500 million in Cuba. In the same speech, Raul mentioned the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, whose past presidents include Tito of Yugoslavia, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Fidel Castro of Cuba. Other members of the Movement include North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Syria, and Sudan. (Am I the only one who thinks their logo of a globe surmounted by an olive branch looks like a grenade?)

On the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, right there beside Iran, Syria and Sudan, is Cuba. It maintains relations with several guerrilla and terrorist groups and provides refuge for some of their members.

How does Raul Castro feel about the U.S.? In a speech of 12/2/2006, he noted that “the U.S. government, in the opportunistic manner characteristic of them, have stepped up their hostility and aggressiveness against Cuba to an unprecedented high, in the hope of economically suffocating the country and overthrowing the revolution by intensifying their subversive acts.” He refers to “Washington’s multimillion-dollar campaigns of disinformation, the blackmail and brazen interference.” In a speech of 7/26/2007, he refers to “3,478 victims of terrorist acts directly organized, supported or allowed to happen by the United States authorities,” and states that “There has been not one minute of truce in the face of the politics of the United States government, aimed at destroying the Revolution.” He describes the U.S. trade embargo as a “blockade” that “constitutes a relentless war against our people.” In a speech of 1/1/2009, he refers to the “unhealthy and vindictive hatred” of the U.S., and calls it “aggressive, treacherous and dominant.” In short, his attitude has not changed over the past few years, and indeed, one would not expect it to, given that the Cuban Constitution refers explicitly to “Yankee imperialism” (Preamble).

What points is Raul Castro willing to negotiate about? Back on 12/2/2006 Raul Castro publicly stated, “We take this opportunity to once again state that we are willing to resolve at the negotiating table the longstanding dispute between the United States and Cuba, of course, provided they accept, as we have previously said, our condition as a country that will not tolerate any blemishes on its independence, and as long as said resolution is based on the principles of equality, reciprocity, non-interference and mutual respect.”

That means: “We’ll accept your money and goods, but do not make any demands in return.”

Cuba & the U.S. (7 of 11): The Cuban Economy

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary:  The Cuban economy cannot operate without substantial foreign subsidies, and it is deeply in debt.

The Cuban economy is socialist, and in accordance with the Constitution, it is directed and planned by the state (Art. 9a). The state owns the means of production and operates under the principle “from each according to his capacity, to each according to his work” (Art. 14). Except for a few small farms, private ownership is banned. Workers are allowed to join one and only one union, whose primary duty is to ensure that the state’s production quotas are met. The expropriation of private property is authorized “for reasons of public benefit or social interest and with due compensation,” but the compensation takes into account “the economic and social needs of the person whose property has been expropriated” (Art. 25): no wealthy capitalists need apply. Today the Cuban government says that 76% of the labor force works for the government, although the U.S. State Department estimates the total at more like 93%.

In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped subsidizing its satellites and allies. Cuba lost a significant portion of its revenue (an estimated $4 to $6 billion annually), and entered what the Castro brothers called the “Special Period.” From 1989 to 1993 the country’s GDP dropped by an estimated 35%. Raul Castro is sometimes credited with proposing to revive the moribund economy by action on the Chinese model: lifting some restrictions on business, trade, and tourism while maintaining strict political control.

Then, in 2000, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez—an admirer of Cuba’s socialist programs—signed an agreement by which Venezuela sent some 100,000 barrels of heavily subsidized oil to Cuba daily, in exchange for assorted goods and services. By 2001, the economic reforms of the “Special Period” were being revoked.

In 1986, Cuba defaulted on most of its international debt. It has not resumed payments, and therefore is ineligible for loans from institutions such as the World Bank. When the Republic of Cuba needs to borrow to purchase food, it must do it at short-term rates of up to 22%.

Cuba suffers dire shortages of basic goods. Raul Castro spent a substantial portion of his “21st Century Socialism” speech (7/26/2007) discussing in mundane, boring detail how milk could be more efficiently distributed. The Cuban government made headlines a few years back when it bought rice cookers to distribute to housewives. Buried in the text of the story was the fact that the rice cookers were distributed because of their low energy consumption. Demand for electricity was overloading Cuba’s Soviet-era electrical system to the point where blackouts were common, even in Havana.

When there are shortages, Cuban leaders are wont to demand more sacrifices and order more controls as the economy worsens. In Raul’s “21st Century Socialism” speech, he called for “organized work, control and dedication, day after day; systematic rigor, order and discipline, from the national level down to the thousands of places where something is produced or a service is offered.”

As always, the inefficient state-controlled economy has spawned an “informal” economy where buyers and sellers exchange scarce goods at mutually agreeable prices. It has been estimated that 40% of Cuban economic activity is on the black market.

The Index of Economic Freedom (compiled by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation) rates economic freedom based on such factors as tax rates, tariffs, property rights and government size. This year it ranked Cuba 177th out of 179 countries in economic freedom—trailed only by Zimbabwe and North Korea.

Cuba & the U.S. (6 of 11): Individual Rights and Civil Liberties

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary:  Cuba is a repressive totalitarian dictatorship in which the rights of individuals are subordinated to the needs of the state.

Cubans have “the rights to assembly, demonstration and association” (Article 54), but “None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary … to the existence and objectives of the socialist state, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism” (Art. 62).

Free speech and a free press are guaranteed, but only “in keeping with the objectives of a socialist society.” The press, radio, television, cinema “and other mass media” are “state or social property and can never be private property” (Art. 53). The Constitution allows freedom of artistic expression “as long as its content is not contrary to the Revolution” (Art. 39d).

Only recently have Cubans been allowed to own cell phones, but the cost of wireless service is several months’ salary (a typical worker makes $17 per month), and must be paid in convertible pesos, which can be acquired only by those who have U.S. dollars. Computer ownership was recently legalized, but access to the Internet is severely restricted with respect to who can gain access and what sites are available.

The Constitution “recognizes, respects and guarantees freedom of religion” (Art. 8), but religious groups that do not register with the state are subject to official harassment and repression. Assemblies of more than three (three!) people—for religious meetings or any other purpose—are illegal without government permission.

Movement within Cuba is restricted. Police routinely stop cars to interrogate passengers. Dissidents are often sent from urban centers back to their home towns for years, on grounds that they are “socially dangerous.” The penalty for attempting to flee the island illegally by boat or raft is several years in prison. The permissions required to leave the country legally cost about three years’ salary. Since much Cuban immigration was illegal, it’s difficult to get an accurate tally of how many fled Cuba. The ballpark figures seem to be over 100,000 from 1960 to 1979, and another 125,000 during the Mariel boatlifts of 1980.

According to the Constitution, Cuba has only one political party—the Communist Party—and it is “the highest leading force of society and of the state, which organizes and guides the common effort toward the goals of the construction of socialism and the progress toward a communist society.” In the elections for the National Assembly held in 2008, the Communist Party won 98% of the vote. In the elections within the National Assembly for president, Raul won 100% of the vote. While membership in the Communist Party is not mandatory, it is required de facto for promotion or for holding any office.

The U.S. State Department estimates that there are some 200 political prisoners in Cuba and that another 5,000 people are or have been held on the vague charge of “dangerousness,” for which no proof is required. Police can detain without a warrant anyone accused of a crime against state security. Detainees can be held for years without a trial.

Two years of military service are required for both men and women. The current size of the armed forces is about 49,000, down from a peak of 235,000 in 1994, when Cuba was sending “advisors” to help Communist rebellions around the world. Since much of the Cuban army was funded by Soviet subsidies, the army’s shrinking size reflects financial considerations rather than a turn toward pacifism.

Cuba & the U.S. (4 of 11): Raul Castro's Rule, 2008 to present

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary:  Raul Castro operates on the same principles as Fidel.

Fidel isn’t in day-to-day control of Cuba any more; his brother Raul is. What do we know about Raul?

In 2006, 80-year-old Fidel, who needed surgery, temporarily handed political power to Raul, a spring chicken at age 76. In February 2008, a few days after Fidel announced that he would not run again for president of Cuba, Raul was unanimously elected president by the National Assembly (the Cuban equivalent of Congress). Raul now controls the military and the state security services, and is the Second Secretary of the Communist Party in Cuba.

Fidel, however, is still very much alive. He is First Secretary of the Communist Party and writes regularly for the official newspaper Granma, occasionally chastising Raul’s actions. (See, for example, the Wall Street Journal report of 4/23/09.) A substantial number of Cubans consider themselves not socialistas but  fidelistas—faithful followers of the charismatic leader of the Revolution. Fidel’s influence in Cuba remains very strong.

Raul fought alongside Fidel and Che Guevara during the Revolution. He was Fidel’s enforcer, supervising the summary execution of dozens of Batista’s supporters. In the decades that followed, he was a member of Fidel’s government, albeit a rather quiet one. There is no evidence that he has ever disagreed with Fidel’s actions in principle, nor that he has any desire to change the aims and methods of the Communist Party in Cuba.

Let us now look at what Cuba and Raul Castro stand for, working from the broadest abstraction—their ideology—to its implications for individual rights, civil liberties, the economy, and foreign relations.

Cuba & the U.S. (3 of 11): Fidel Castro's Rule, 1959-2008

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary: Fidel Castro ruled as a totalitarian dictator for almost 50 years, and during the Cold War had close ties with the Soviet Union.

On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, after ousting Fulgencio Batista, the American-supported dictator of Cuba. (There isn’t much good to say about Batista, except that he was somewhat less destructive of individual liberties and the economy than Fidel.) Fidel set out to nationalize all businesses, including those owned by Americans. Furthermore, at a time when the Cold War was heating up and the Soviets were developing ever more sophisticated weapons, Fidel became a devoted comrade of the Soviets. Many other nations worldwide did the same, but Cuba was a mere 90 miles off the coast of Florida: the perfect launch site for a naval invasion or for missile bases, and hence an immediate and dire threat to American security.

In October 1960, the U.S. imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba. It also imposed severe restrictions on travel to the island and on the amount of money (“remittances”) that could be sent by the many Cubans who had settled in the U.S. to their families in Cuba. The U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in early January 1961. President Eisenhower contemplated sending a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro, but by the time he left office in mid-January 1961, he thought that the exiles were not well-prepared enough to be successful.

President Kennedy thought otherwise. In April 1961 he was just finishing his first 100 days in office, the darling of the media and much of the American public. He authorized an expedition of 1,400 exiles to the island, but tried to conceal U.S. involvement with it. The latest-model American fighter jets stayed in neutral air space while the exiles were strafed by Soviet-made jets and run down by Soviet-made tanks. The Cuban people did not rise up to support the exiles. Within three days, the expedition ran out of ammunition and its members were captured or killed near the Bay of Pigs, where they had first landed.

Eighteen months later, in October 1962, JFK confronted Castro and Soviet Premier Khruschev. Soviet troops were helping Cubans construct missile silos capable of launching nuclear warheads that could easily reach Washington, D.C., or anywhere in the American South and Midwest. The president demanded that the missiles (which were in transit) not be landed and installed.  After many tense days, Soviet Premier Khruschev backed down. This confrontation is perhaps the closest the Cold War ever came to a Hot War.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, Cuban soldiers and advisors were the heavily subsidized fighting arm of Soviet-style Communism as it expanded in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980s, Cuba lost billions of dollars in subsidies and fell into what was euphemistically called the “Special Period.” In an attempt to revive the economy, Fidel instituted some economic reforms regarding private ownership of farms and small businesses. These reforms were quickly phased out after 2000, when he gained the economic support of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

This action is worth noting because it’s a reminder that time has not mellowed Fidel: he has no inclination to allow capitalism a toehold in Cuba.

Cuba & the U.S. (2 of 11): Upcoming issues

If you prefer, you can read the whole Cuba report as a PDF by clicking here.

Summary: The embargo on trade with Cuba and Cuba’s status in the O.A.S. are under discussion.

Two issues are upcoming in relations between Cuba and the U.S.: the trade embargo imposed by the U.S. in 1960 (with its related issues of restrictions on travel to Cuba and restrictions on money sent there), and Cuba’s status in the Organization of American States. Both were raised in April at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. The O.A.S. will meet June 2-3, 2009.

By executive order, Obama has already relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans, and has increased the amount of money they can send to family members in Cuba. He has stated that before making further concessions, he hopes for reciprocal acts from Cuba: for example, the release of political prisoners and the reduction of the fees charged by the Cuban government for converting American dollars to Cuban currency. Discussion of the decades-long U.S. embargo of trade with Cuba seems likely. Since Congress must approve the lifting of the embargo, we can expect to see Obama attempting to build public support for such an action.

The other issue up for discussion is Cuba’s status in the Organization of American States. The treaty establishing the O.A.S. was signed in 1948. Like NATO, the organization was conceived as a defensive alliance to prevent the spread of communism. In 1962, after Castro took power in Cuba, the O.A.S. voted that Castro’s Marxist-Leninist ideology made Cuba’s goals incompatible with those of the O.A.S. The resolution stated that while the current government was in power, Cuba would retain its membership in the O.A.S. but would not be allowed representation or participation. This O.A.S. resolution has been challenged several times in the past decades, and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has said he will raise it again at this year’s O.A.S. meeting, June 2-3 in Honduras.

Let’s put these two issues in perspective by asking: Why was the embargo originally imposed in 1960? Is the situation now essentially different? What are the principles that should be considered when analyzing this situation and choosing a course of action?

Relations between Cuba and the U.S. (1 of 11)

I'll be posting here as a multi-part blog entry a report on relations between Cuba and the U.S., particularly re the raising of the embargo and Cuba's status in the Organization of American States. If you prefer, you can read the whole report as a PDF by clicking here.

Contents:

What issues are upcoming between Cuba and the U.S.? Summary: The embargo on trade with Cuba and Cuba’s status in the O.A.S. are under discussion.

Fidel Castro’s Rule, 1959-2008. Summary: Fidel Castro ruled as a totalitarian dictator for 49 years, and during the Cold War had close ties with the Soviet Union.

Raul Castro’s Rule, 2008 to present. Summary:  Raul Castro operates on the same principles as Fidel.

Cuban Ideology. Summary:  Cuba’s government today is explicitly socialist, as it has been for 50 years.

Individual Rights and Civil Liberties. Summary:  Cuba is a repressive totalitarian dictatorship in which the rights of individuals are subordinated to the needs of the state.

Economy. Summary:  The Cuban economy cannot operate without substantial foreign subsidies, and is deeply in debt.

Foreign Relations. Summary:  Cuba’s friends are other totalitarian dictatorships and other communist or socialist nations. Raul Castro and the Cuban Constitution both condemn the United States.

Philosophical principles. Summary: Cuba should be treated as an enemy because it has consistently and for decades espoused principles that are opposed to those of the United States, and has repeatedly threatened U.S. citizens and expropriated their property.

Why would Cuba even consider closer relations with the U.S.? Summary:  Improved relations with the U.S. would give Cuba more hard currency and the prestige of having “forced” the U.S. to back off its long-standing policy.

Why Cuba will probably not improve relations with the U.S. too much. Summary: Efficient dictators always make sure they have an enemy to distract their subjects.

Suggested Readings by Ayn Rand and Objectivist Scholars

Sources Consulted

Other Recommended Readings

NOTE: Most of the statistics in this report come from the U.S. Department of State’s 2008 Background Report on Cuba (dated August 2008) and the CIA World Factbook entry for Cuba (last updated 4/23/2009).