Like many of you who understand the gruesome history of U.S. imperialism, I'm watching the events unfolding in Cuba with a close eye. Unlike most of you, I belong to an organization that has required me to seriously study the Cuban Revolution, along with traveling there, for the last three decades. I see what the U.S. has done to sabotage attempts at building socialism in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Libya, among others, but I also know that there are distinct differences between those wonderful people and countries and the Cuban people and their revolution. Since 1959, the Cuban people have worked hard to consolidate the gains of their revolution. They have institutionalized one of the best educational systems in the world, and that's according to the United Nations - no friend to Cuba with its U.S. controlled budget and agenda. So, although I understand the skepticism and concern many of you have, I encourage you to have some faith in the Cuban people and what they have spent the last 55 years consolidating.
Camilo Guevara, the son of Che, was correct when he spoke earlier this week about the approach Cuba will take to this so-called reconciliation with the U.S. And, although Mr. Guevara has no official position in the Cuban government, Marelia Castro, the daughter of Raul Castro and Vilma Espin, was more direct when speaking as the National Director of Human Services (Cuba's equivalent to Planned Parenthood more or less), she said that the U.S. is crazy if it thinks they will move Cuba away from socialist construction.
Here's why I'm not as concerned as many of you. I know that 70% of Cuba's population today was born since the revolution. They have never lived without free education, free health care, and guaranteed employment by the constitution. They have never experienced hunger. Unlike most people in the U.S., who have absolutely no understanding of anything happening outside of their own personal lives, the people of Cuba, according again to the United Nations, are some of the best educated and informed people on the planet. They understand and see what is happening in Eastern Europe with the collapse of the state capitalist sponsored social programs that used to exist there. They see the poverty and increase in crime, things that are nonexistent in Cuba. In other words, Cubans know the benefits of socialism and the hazards and pitfalls of capitalism. They don't want student debt. They don't want health insurance and the bills that come with it. They don't want rent that is 150% of your income. They don't want capitalism. And you better believe they will fight to the death to defend their way of life.
Then why even meet with the U.S.? Why try and build a relationship with the number one imperialist power on the planet? Surely, this must be a trick by U.S. capitalism to take over the Cuban system right? Look, the U.S. is all about hegemony and dominance over everyone. This is an imperialist country right down to the chocolate you eat, so there's no questioning that. Still, try for a second to look at this from the standpoint of the Cubans. Try to resist the programmed input we receive 24/7 that tells us every decision on the planet Earth is engineered by U.S. capitalism. Let's evaluate what's happening here from the perspective of Cuba continuing to build their socialist system. As every critic of capitalism - from Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, to Mao Tse Tung to Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture, have pointed out, since socialism is based on having a planned economy that seeks to organize the available materials within the society into resources that serve the interests of the masses of people who live in that society, a necessary prerequisite for socialism to grow properly is industrialization. This is an important component because industrialization increases production and increased production equals more cash flow. More cash flow permits your country to compete in the capitalist controlled markets. At first, and for the time being, this places socialist countries in a limited position, but while this is happening, those socialist countries are continuing to build the political consciousness of their people. They continue creating a conscious society that encourages moral consciousness over material consciousness. As previously mentioned, Cuba has clearly made concrete strides in this area. So, this industrial development will help them to further consolidate socialism because they will have the capacity to strengthen their industries, thus creating more resources for them to provide even more to their efforts to build up their society. By building up their society I mean their capacity to do even more in the area of medicine to build on their socialist inspired and ground breaking elimination of mother to child HIV transmissions, creating a vaccine for cervical cancer, wiping out ebola in Africa, etc. Building on the wonderful things they are doing is going to be extremely difficult while the economic blockade that has hindered them since 1961, is still in force. So, their motivation for improving relations with the U.S. is unquestionably, to remove the blockade. Not to pave the way for Cuba to become a capitalist country, but to create more resources to further build their socialist system. I believe they are primed to do this. Cuba isn't the same as China, Vietnam, or even Libya, where there isn't the same level of evidence of the type of political consciousness and commitment to socialism that has been clearly displayed in Cuba for decades.
None of this means we shouldn't be concerned. I don't trust Obama and U.S. imperialism any farther than I can pass gas. The point is I have confidence in the Cuban people to uphold the principles of their revolution. Especially since they have been doing that and outsmarting the U.S. for the last 60 years. From the release of Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Juan Almeida, and others from that Mexico City jail in 1955, to the defeat of U.S. forces in Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) in 1961, to the missiles in October the next year, to the Marial boot lift in 1980, to Elian Gonzales in 2000, to I believe, the current scenario, Cuba has been using the U.S. to get what they need to build socialism. And, besides, even if things turn against the Cuban people for some reason, that doesn't defeat socialism. It will just delay it a little longer. So, don't dis-pair. Instead, what we can do to help is start to study Cuba. Read "The Academic Advantage" which will explain to you Cuba's excellent educational program. Read Fidel Castro's "In Defense of Socialism" where he predicts in 1988 everything that is happening now. Study and learn about Cuba's National Assembly, their chief unilateral legislature so that you can stop and resist the constant confusion being articulated that Cuba is a dictatorship and that the people have no democracy. Understand that Cuba has made decisions that dictate that social justice is more important than some personal freedoms so you can't have the freedom to make as much money as is humanly possible there. And, that's a good thing, but people here need to learn to understand why and how that's good. People here need to learn that you have no democracy here so why do you think you are in the moral position to criticize Cuba or anyone else? Also, everyone who truly supports the Cuban Revolution should travel there. Let's build international solidarity with the Cuban people. My political party has been doing that for years. That's why most of our cadre have been to Cuba at least once. We need more of that and I'm not talking about taking your capitalist and white supremacist fueled ideologies down there. I'm talking about taking a true revolutionary consciousness and solidarity there so that the Cuban people know we support them and what they are building. Everything's going to be alright. No matter what happens. Fidel already told us that years before this latest thing.
Camilo Guevara, the son of Che, was correct when he spoke earlier this week about the approach Cuba will take to this so-called reconciliation with the U.S. And, although Mr. Guevara has no official position in the Cuban government, Marelia Castro, the daughter of Raul Castro and Vilma Espin, was more direct when speaking as the National Director of Human Services (Cuba's equivalent to Planned Parenthood more or less), she said that the U.S. is crazy if it thinks they will move Cuba away from socialist construction.
Here's why I'm not as concerned as many of you. I know that 70% of Cuba's population today was born since the revolution. They have never lived without free education, free health care, and guaranteed employment by the constitution. They have never experienced hunger. Unlike most people in the U.S., who have absolutely no understanding of anything happening outside of their own personal lives, the people of Cuba, according again to the United Nations, are some of the best educated and informed people on the planet. They understand and see what is happening in Eastern Europe with the collapse of the state capitalist sponsored social programs that used to exist there. They see the poverty and increase in crime, things that are nonexistent in Cuba. In other words, Cubans know the benefits of socialism and the hazards and pitfalls of capitalism. They don't want student debt. They don't want health insurance and the bills that come with it. They don't want rent that is 150% of your income. They don't want capitalism. And you better believe they will fight to the death to defend their way of life.
Then why even meet with the U.S.? Why try and build a relationship with the number one imperialist power on the planet? Surely, this must be a trick by U.S. capitalism to take over the Cuban system right? Look, the U.S. is all about hegemony and dominance over everyone. This is an imperialist country right down to the chocolate you eat, so there's no questioning that. Still, try for a second to look at this from the standpoint of the Cubans. Try to resist the programmed input we receive 24/7 that tells us every decision on the planet Earth is engineered by U.S. capitalism. Let's evaluate what's happening here from the perspective of Cuba continuing to build their socialist system. As every critic of capitalism - from Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, to Mao Tse Tung to Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture, have pointed out, since socialism is based on having a planned economy that seeks to organize the available materials within the society into resources that serve the interests of the masses of people who live in that society, a necessary prerequisite for socialism to grow properly is industrialization. This is an important component because industrialization increases production and increased production equals more cash flow. More cash flow permits your country to compete in the capitalist controlled markets. At first, and for the time being, this places socialist countries in a limited position, but while this is happening, those socialist countries are continuing to build the political consciousness of their people. They continue creating a conscious society that encourages moral consciousness over material consciousness. As previously mentioned, Cuba has clearly made concrete strides in this area. So, this industrial development will help them to further consolidate socialism because they will have the capacity to strengthen their industries, thus creating more resources for them to provide even more to their efforts to build up their society. By building up their society I mean their capacity to do even more in the area of medicine to build on their socialist inspired and ground breaking elimination of mother to child HIV transmissions, creating a vaccine for cervical cancer, wiping out ebola in Africa, etc. Building on the wonderful things they are doing is going to be extremely difficult while the economic blockade that has hindered them since 1961, is still in force. So, their motivation for improving relations with the U.S. is unquestionably, to remove the blockade. Not to pave the way for Cuba to become a capitalist country, but to create more resources to further build their socialist system. I believe they are primed to do this. Cuba isn't the same as China, Vietnam, or even Libya, where there isn't the same level of evidence of the type of political consciousness and commitment to socialism that has been clearly displayed in Cuba for decades.
None of this means we shouldn't be concerned. I don't trust Obama and U.S. imperialism any farther than I can pass gas. The point is I have confidence in the Cuban people to uphold the principles of their revolution. Especially since they have been doing that and outsmarting the U.S. for the last 60 years. From the release of Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Juan Almeida, and others from that Mexico City jail in 1955, to the defeat of U.S. forces in Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) in 1961, to the missiles in October the next year, to the Marial boot lift in 1980, to Elian Gonzales in 2000, to I believe, the current scenario, Cuba has been using the U.S. to get what they need to build socialism. And, besides, even if things turn against the Cuban people for some reason, that doesn't defeat socialism. It will just delay it a little longer. So, don't dis-pair. Instead, what we can do to help is start to study Cuba. Read "The Academic Advantage" which will explain to you Cuba's excellent educational program. Read Fidel Castro's "In Defense of Socialism" where he predicts in 1988 everything that is happening now. Study and learn about Cuba's National Assembly, their chief unilateral legislature so that you can stop and resist the constant confusion being articulated that Cuba is a dictatorship and that the people have no democracy. Understand that Cuba has made decisions that dictate that social justice is more important than some personal freedoms so you can't have the freedom to make as much money as is humanly possible there. And, that's a good thing, but people here need to learn to understand why and how that's good. People here need to learn that you have no democracy here so why do you think you are in the moral position to criticize Cuba or anyone else? Also, everyone who truly supports the Cuban Revolution should travel there. Let's build international solidarity with the Cuban people. My political party has been doing that for years. That's why most of our cadre have been to Cuba at least once. We need more of that and I'm not talking about taking your capitalist and white supremacist fueled ideologies down there. I'm talking about taking a true revolutionary consciousness and solidarity there so that the Cuban people know we support them and what they are building. Everything's going to be alright. No matter what happens. Fidel already told us that years before this latest thing.
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