viva la revolución, maybe

[Warning, this is a fairly political post. Visiting Cuba, it cannot be avoided.]

I decided to visit the museum of the revolution today. It is located in one of the lavish buildings of the Batista era. I thought it would provide a good context for my research, it has.

Having grown up in Canada during the winding down of the cold war, I was eager to hear the Cuban side of the story. Canadians are usually very sympathetic to the Cuban experience, both trying to forge our own way on the doorstep of the world's last standing superpower (both of us having aligned ourselves with 'competing' powers in the past, Canada with Britain and Cuba with the USSR). That being said, Canada, like most western democracies, is an unashamedly capitalist country, with some social democracy leanings (a thousand miles left of America and a couple hundred kilometres right of Sweden).

Not surprisingly the display in the museum was characteristic of what I would expect in Latin America. Due to poor English signage I went through the museum backwards. Starting with the Post-Revolution and building a Socialist Society then to the 1959 revolution and finishing up with a floor dedicated to Batista and prior revolutions, including the overthrow of Spanish rule and a small display showing the slave revolt and some interesting information on the indigenous peoples and the early colonial period.

The museum itself presents a very interesting aesthetic. The building is very 'bourgeois' (I imagine this is why it was abandoned), the old rooms are essentially left as they were... paint is peeling and flaking and all the old shuttered windows are open to a very 'naked' Havana. The displays house fascinating and some very moving relics, but have the feel of a small-town museum with cracked perspex boxes, and yellowed newspaper clippings. Some of the translations are also a little lacking. Despite those shortcomings you can see the touch of the 'people'. My feelings about Cuban Socialism are thus: At the time it was a reaction to a nasty oppressive regime. The socialist concept offered not only a way for the average person to get their 'dues' back from the capitalists, but a supposedly bright and equitable future. When the initial 'payback' was sorted, through a mass re-distribution of wealth, the people found themselves having still a very small share of the 'wealth'. Cuba today is probably more equitable than many other countries. Leaps and bounds beyond other Latin American countries. It is, however, missing the engine that generates 'wealth' (I use this term quite differently than pure economic growth). Maybe this is because it is an island of socialism in a sea of capitalism, or maybe the great socialist economists were wrong. We know that so many of their capitalists counterparts were. The system has seemed to curb some social ills like 'rampant want-itis'. People still acquire things, but they take greater care with what they have. There are, however, greater limits to what you can own here. You can, in theory, own up to a few acres of land, a decent house, the newest Nash Rambler, maybe even 4 Nash Ramblers... but cannot be a 'millionaire'. The system does not allow it, therefore the population adapts. I have not met anyone here who yearns for the same type of boundless power, fame and wealth. That isn't the driving force in Cuba. That isn't to say that people don't collect useless junk and aspirational goods. Believe me, there is a black market and it is saturated.

I consider values of popular representation and property rights to be central to the British way of life (and many other associated cultures). However, I feel that what these rights actually mean is a lot different than what people (esp popular opinion) think they mean. To own something in some sense, I think, really means means to exclude or control other's use of that thing. Under simple circumstances this makes sense. However, large corporations have skewed these rights to the point where ownership and control of most things has once again been put in the hands of a few. There are a lot of things wrong with society, but I suppose not enough wrong to want a revolution. One thing is certain, there is a great need for honesty and integrity.

The Americans' dealing with Cuba are a good example of 'ends justifying the means' tactics. [For an amusing look at this, check out this film.] The ends in the Americans' case were entirely selfish (although they'd clearly dispute that assertion). Today, in the museum, I saw some of their acts of terrorism toward Cuba. Releasing swine fever on pigs, tobacco viruses, leaf rot, assassination attempts, blowing up ships and aeroplanes, etc... Outright attacks to 'get back' at the Cubans for 'stealing' American property.

It is interesting how the Cubans have not bowed to American pressure in the last 50 years. It is likely that if the Americans had been a little less harsh initially, they could have used Cuba as a bridge to the Soviets, rather than building their own 'iron curtain' around the country. I mean, in the same 50 years they have extended their global business influence deep in to the Canadian economy, rigged the 1963 election, negotiated a free trade system gets turned off when it suits them and a laundry list of other minor atrocities. Lest I sound too negative, their copious capital has helped employ many a Canadian, but it always comes at a price, which is usually not in the favour of the 'client nation'.

I would assert that international relations in the future might be best based upon fair deals rather than thinly veiled self interest.