CUBA: A Response to State Dept. Annual Report

Arnold August: Response to State Dep't Annual Report on Cuba
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" walterlx@earthlink.net walterlx
Wed May 28, 2008 5:32 pm (PDT)
Response to State Department Annual Report on Cuba
May 28, 2008,
by Arnold August.

Today the U.S. Statement Department released its annual Country Report in Advancing Freedom and Democracy dated May 27th, 2008. Regarding Cuba, one of the countries listed in the Report, it begins in Part 1, as follows: "Cuba is a totalitarian state led by a president, General Raul Castro. In 2008 National Assembly elections that were neither free nor fair, the Communist party won 98% of the votes. ...In February 28 the National Assembly appointed Raul Castro president of the Council of State..."

In the Country Report, countries are listed from the following regions: Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Near East and North Africa, South and, Central America, South and Central Asia and the Western Hemisphere.

It is noticeable which countries are omitted. From Europe and Eurasia: France, UK, Germany, and in fact all of the western countries are not listed. From East Asia and the Pacific: Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are not on the bench of the accused. From the Western Hemisphere: the U.S.A. and Canada escape scrutiny.

It is very obvious that the report consists of yet another political attack on the so-called Third World countries based on the Eurocentric notions of freedom, democracy and elections. The U.S. has no right to judge other countries on these issues. The Eurocentric notion on these matters dates back from the darkest period of colonialism 500 years ago. It initiated from Europe and inherited and further developed with a great deal of enthusiasm by the U.S. and its closest allies.

This policy is directed not only against the people of the "Third World" but the native peoples of North and South America. It is racist to the core, considering these peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America to be incapable of building their own political systems based on their own heritage, thinking, traditions and struggles. The Country Report is another manifestation violating the international principle which consists of the right of peoples including Cuba to self determination and independence.

In 1959 Cuba finally broke away from several centuries of Spanish and U.S. colonialist and imperialist domination. Starting from this time on close to 50 years ago, the Cuban people were able to advance on the road towards freedom and democracy for the vast majority of Cuban people. While doing this, Cuba did not spare human lives and expenses to help other countries such as in Africa to liberate themselves from colonialism and imperialism.

Cuba was able to resist for fifty years and hold its own, thus providing the time, the base and the inspiration for many other countries in Latin America and Central America. The latter have begun to once again stand up to U.S. and European pressures and domination by replacing this by building a new alliance of nations that are independent and sovereign.

In the course of this process, they are transforming the social/economic base as best as they can by taking into account the conditions and limitations in order to serve the interests of the people of the area. Only by opposing Eurocentric notions and the capacity to delve into their own respective heritage allows these counties to move forward. It goes without saying that these countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador are also the target of the latest U.S. Country Report released today.

The State Department Report makes references to the Cuban political system and elections. The charge is that the National Assembly elections were not free nor fair because the "Communist Party won 98% of the vote". What are the facts? First, 97% of the elected deputies happen to be members of either the Communist Party of Cuba or the Communist Youth League (5.6 percent of the 619 deputies are between the ages of 18-30, making them eligible members of the Communist Youth League). The most important point is that the CP does NOT nominate the candidates for elections for the National Assembly.

It is the mass organisations that carried out all the nominations. Up to half of those nominated were elected to the Municipal Assemblies following direct nomination by citizens from amongst their neighbours followed by a multi-candidate secret ballot vote. The candidacy commissions are themselves composed of mass organisation representatives and presided over by the National Trade Union Central, at the national, provincial and municipal levels.

These commissions gather the suggestions from the mass organizations and consult widely with the peers in the respective places of work, educational centers and neighbourhoods. Membership in the Communist Party or the youth wing is not a criterion. Secret universal suffrage elections took place on January 20th. In order to be elected, candidates need to garner at least 50% of the votes. Ninety-seven percent of the elected Deputies are members of the Party or Communist Youth.

However, they were not proposed by their fellow citizens to be candidates in the first place because of party affiliation or lack thereof. The Party does not nominate. Once they are elected, the Deputies do not represent the CP or the Youth wing. They rather are in service of the electorate in the municipality from which they are elected and answerable to them.

The elected are also responsible for taking into account the over-all interests of the entire nation. The fact that there is such a high proportion of Communists deputies is an indication that the CP holds a high prestige on the island. Those who are most dedicated to the revolution, independence, and sovereignty and have close links to their peers at the place of work, educational centers or in their neighbourhood are proposed by their mass organisations and peers to be nominated for elections.

Many of them are Party or Youth wing members. They become members of the Party or the Youth league in the first place in the main as result of their activity and attitude in the place of work, educational centers or neighbourhoods. Once elected the Deputies do not represent the place of work or educational center or the party/youth wing cell therein. In the National Assembly the elected Deputies represent in a participative manner their municipal constituents and the national interests.

The CP does not nominate nor participate in the elections. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, approved by more than 97% of the people in a secret ballot referendum, Article 3 states: "Sovereignty lies in the people, from which originates all power of the state. That power is exercised directly or through the assemblies of People's Power..." Article 15 states: "The Communist Party of Cuba, a follower of Marti's ideas and of Marxism-Leninism... is the highest leading force of the society and the state..." In Cuba, Fidel Castro and his collaborators led the establishment the new communist party based both on the international thinking of the time as well as the heritage coming from Marti.

The latter's lessons consisted of the need for one revolutionary party, not an electoral party, to lead the nation and avoid division which had plagued the Cuban independence movement. How do the Cubans balance these two points that is the CP as the leading force in society, but not being an electoral party thus staying out of elections? The Cubans are doing it. While it is not perfect and and there may be some secondary anomalies, the Cubans are always the first to proclaim that there are needs for improvement. One thing for sure, the Cubans do not need any advice from the U.S. State Department.

While mentioning that a high percentage of the deputies are members of the CP or youth league, the U.S. Report glosses over the most important questions: who does the National Assembly represent and to whom is it accountable? Who are these Deputies? What are their qualities in terms of human beings characterised on the hand by close ties with their electors, their daily problems and suggestions for solutions and/or expertise in various fields?

Based on my many interviews carried out last winter in Havana with Cuban Deputies, what stands out is their quality as Deputies, whether they are members of the Party or not. Comparing this to many of the elected representatives in the U.S. and some other western countries imbued with their Euro centrism, we are talking about two different systems.

The US should stop meddling in Cuban affairs. The Canadian government should not follow in the footsteps of the U.S. administrations, and in fact distance itself from them. Instead countries such as the U.S.A., Canada and the EU should adopt a friendly policy of mutual respect towards Cuba. Mutual respect between Cuba on the one hand and other countries such as the U.S. and Canada has as its first principle the recognition of the right for Cuba to self-determination, independence and to Cuba's own social and political socialist system for which they have voted time and time again.

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WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"

important. From the Walte Lippman link:

"The Eurocentric notion on these matters dates back from the darkest period of colonialism 500 years ago. It initiated from Europe and inherited and further developed with a great deal of enthusiasm by the U.S. and its closest allies.

This policy is directed not only against the people of the "Third World" but the native peoples of North and South America. It is racist to the core, considering these peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America to be incapable of building their own political systems based on their own heritage, thinking, traditions and struggles. The Country Report is another manifestation violating the international principle which consists of the right of peoples including Cuba to self determination and independence.

Thanks, magbana.