Not sure whether this should be a conversation, opinion, a question, something serious, etc. Though, I want to let out my thoughts on Cuba currently. I want people and their input. Merely something I just wanted to put out because as of recent, there is news of the possibility of the U.S. invading Cuba and whatnot. I am not sure whether to look at this with indifference, or disgust. One thing is though, is that I am understanding of the multitude of peoples opinions and merely just want to let mine out. I want this to be a conversation of respect and understanding, and critical thinking.
As a Cuban-Mexican Marxist, I have to grapple with the fact of Cuba every day. My family, along with most of the Cuban diaspora, views the "revolutionary" government with distaste. This fervor is fueled by genuine loss, real human suffering, displacement, etc. It is something to understand. Yet, to look at Cuba from a perspective such as mine, is one that doesn't lie with Trumpist rhetoric of Florida or the slogans of state-fueled propaganda. My heart lies with the Cuban proletariat, those on the Island, having to navigate "revolution" which was materially doomed by a globally capitalist world.
In order to stand with the Cuban working class today is to oppose U.S. intervention and embargo, which serves to choke the proletariat in the name of "discipline". Though, it also requires a genuine account of how the revolution was doomed toward a centralized, suffocating, bureaucratic state apparatus.
Tensions such as this are understood through the lives of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. They represent the tragedy of the revolution, and its limits.
In its early stages, the revolution bore the marks of genuine mass participation. Cienfuegos, to me was the "lost heart" of the movement, a man cascaded in obscurity. He represented an organic leader, whose praxis was rooted in vitality of the guajiros. Che had embodied heights of revolutionary internationalism. He understood the fundamental truth of Marxism, that socialism on a small island could not stand on its own, in isolation. Their fate is symbolic of the revolution, as it was materially doomed.
The Cuban project in the 60s was forced to pivot itself towards the aid of the Soviet Union, almost parasitic in nature, trading its autonomy for a weakening lifeline. It is a material reality that those must face, we must no longer live in idealistic dogma but in an understanding light.
The Cuban revolution had eventually failed, due to its constraints of being a sugar-monoculture, being caught in the gears of the Cold War. Cuba had grown vulnerable once the Eastern Bloc collapsed.
People such as my brother and mother, they see the scars of collapse and call it the failure of ideology. Though, I see it has the tragedy of revolution under siege. Standing with the Cuban proletariat means that we cannot see their suffering and struggle as caricatures. We must defend the social gains of the revolution, we must see its boost in literacy, healthcare, defiance of systemic racism, etc.
Though, we cannot deny the fact the state structures and repression that limit the agency of the proletariat. To truly be "for Cuba" is to stand for a country waged by workers, by people who deserve rights and dignity. My opinion is not one that should be the "right", a monolith, but merely a piece of many.