Cuba: Fading Star in the Caribbean (1986)

1986 pamphlet critique of Cuba by the U.S.-based (then) unorthodox Trotskyist group the Revolutionary Socialist League:

The Cuban government and its supporters make great claims for Cuban society: it is a homeland for socialism, a militant anti-imperialist fighter and a model of social equality and economic development. They claim Cuba is socialist, that the workers and peasants rule the society. Supposedly, the government of Fidel Castro has developed Cuba's economic potential well beyond the bounds imposed by imperialism on dependent capitalist societies. This development has brought wide-ranging gains in the living standards of the masses and great strides towards equality.

Cuba's domestic achievements are matched, it is said, by its role in world affairs. Cuba is held up as an example for its break with U.S. imperialism and its continued defiance of the U.S. It is praised for being an active, militant force internationally for socialism and anti-imperialism, from Che Guevara in Bolivia, to the troops in Africa, to the support for the Central American leadership, a model for overcoming dependency a revolutionary force.

These claims are false or greatly exaggerated. The Cuban state is not socialist. It is state capitalist. Cuba has not broken the chains of imperialism. It remains a dependent capitalist country in a world dominated by imperialism. Castroism is not a force for national liberation and socialism. It is an obstacle in the road to constructing a truly internationalist, revolutionary socialist political force. This pamphlet will examine the role of Cuba in the world. To do so, it must first explore the nature of Cuban society, for Cuban foreign policy reflects and is shaped by the needs, goals and methods of the Cuban state. The first sections of this pamphlet will therefore explain the nature of Cuban state capitalism. A discussion of Cuba's foreign policy will follow

- Brent Davis

Contents:

Cuba: Fading Star in the Caribbean by Brent Davis page 2

The Movie Improper Conduct and the Discussion over Cuba
- Statement by the Revolutionary Socialist League page 23
- Review by Judy Garson and Ian Daniels page 24
- Interview with Ana María Simo page 25

Libcom note:
The U.S. based Revolutionary Socialist League (1972-1989), was a small but interesting and unusual organization that over time carried its critique of state-capitalism into a general rejection of Trotskyism and Leninism and moved toward anarchism. When the RSL disbanded in 1989 most of its active members joined the network supporting the bi-lingual revolutionary anarchist newspaper Love and Rage.

This pamphlet was written prior to the RSL's full break with Leninism and so some of the concepts and language in this pamphlet will be at odds with the politics of libcom. Nonetheless it is being published because it's a critique of the Cuban regime and Castroism that libertarian anti-capitalists will find useful.