Raul Castro Shakes up Cuban Government

[leggy leftist]

I found this at Jazeera but it's probably on all the major news services by now.




Raul Castro, the Cuban president, has sacked the country's foreign and economic ministers as part of a comprehensive government reshuffle.
Castro said the 10 changes among senior officials were intended to make Cuba's government more compact and functional and to work toward "perfecting" the Cuban system.

Felipe Perez Roque who had been Havana's chief diplomat since May 1999, was replaced by his deputy, Bruno Rodriguez.
Carlos Lage, a vice-president who had far-reaching economic powers, was also removed from his post as executive secretary of the Council of Ministers, but it was not clear whether he would stay on as one of the vice-presidents of the Council of State.
He was replaced as cabinet secretary by General Jose Amado Ricardo Guerra, a former top military official.
Lage had been credited with helping to save Cuba's economy by implementing economic reforms after aid from the Soviet Union ended in the early 1990s.
Perez Roque was once personal secretary to Fidel Castro, Raul's brother and the former president, and a former leader of the Communist Party's youth organisation.
Planned changes
Raul Castro, who took over the presidency in February last year from Fidel, had said for months that he would restructure the government to make it leaner and more responsive.
But Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera's Latin America editor, said: "This is an unprecedented shake up, as never before have so many government officials been replaced in one go."
"It is a new direction, we're just not clear what direction Castro is planning - a return to communist orthodoxy or pragmatism? However, Castro does seem to be trying to put in position people closer to him than to his brother, Fidel."
The ousting of Roque was a particular surprise to many analysts, as he was considered one of the most internationally prominent, and successful, members of Castro's government.
Our correspondent adds that the move could also be a message to the US, just a month before the summit of the Americas in Trinidad where the US could be pressured over its Cuba policies, that Cuba is aiming for change.

[crashmcbean]

I've been watching for reactions from the US left, but it's been slow in coming...

[Crux]

This is is a message for "change" allright. The ministers removed are the most prominent characters (save Fidel himself of course) on the left of the beaurocracy in Cuba. This is most likely Raul paving the way for more marketreforms.

[crashmcbean]

This is is a message for "change" allright. The ministers removed are the most prominent characters (save Fidel himself of course) on the left of the beaurocracy in Cuba. This is most likely Raul paving the way for more market reforms.

That's the fear. I'm curious about Ramiro Valdes, though. He was involved with the revolution, and accordingly doesn't seem reformist from what I've read...

[Crux]

Well, when push comes to shove it is not actually the left of the beaurocracy that can save cuba, only the seizing of political and economical power by the worker's themself.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

political reforms would be welcome in Cuba, imo
unfortunately we may be seeing the wrong kind

[chebol]

The ministers removed are the most prominent characters (save Fidel himself of course) on the left of the beaurocracy in Cuba. This is most likely Raul paving the way for more marketreforms. [emphasis mine]

Evidence? Go on. I dare you, supply more than assertions about "market roads" (and the corollary, fantasy stories about "chinese roads").

Most prominent? Where? In the west? Or in Cuba?

Left of the bureaucracy? Lage was a key architect of the economic policy of the special period (backed pragmatically by Raul, to a point, against Fidel's hardline stance). He is more "pro-market" than Raul (as far as that goes), not less.

Perez Roque is generally assumed to be a fierce "Fidelista", but he had a career before and after he was Fidel's PA: first, as head of the communist youth, and, more recently, as possibly the most well-known face of Cuba abroad.

There is no reason - without actual evidence to the contrary - to doubt that the reasons given by the Cuban leadership are anything but more or less accurate, or at the very least, entirely plausible.

Perez Roque and Lage rose through the ranks very rapidly in the 90s, and when there was fierce speculation within Cuba (not to mention elsewhere) about the constellation of forces that would follow Fidel, both names appeared in the discussion.

Perez Roque and Lage have certainly "tasted the honey" of power, as have many of the others removed from their posts. The question is - did it corrupt or tempt them too much? Have they helped give form (consciously or otherwise) to the aspirations of a bureaucratic caste, open to further market reforms, in Cuba, or not? Is this an exercise in rearranging the chairs, to throw the US and co. off guard by removing the most familiar faces in favour of less well known "quantities"?

Or should we simply see this as a power play by Raul, and ignore the fact that there are huge layers of the politics of Cuba that we simply have little or no access to outside?

A bit of imagination, please, beyond the "Raul's gonna make Cuba = China" fairy stories of the Miami set.

[Comrade B]

Fidel trusts his brother. I don't think we will see any terrible changes until after his death, though in my optimism I am thinking they probably will not be big capitalist reforms. We also do need to be replacing old officials- they are getting old- they are getting out of touch. I welcome this change.
The only ones that can understand the modern world are those that know the modern world better than the old world.

[chebol]

This useful post off the Marxmail list:

"Joaquin Bustelo" 03/05/09 5:20 PM
Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque have letters published in today's Granma (at least the online edition) assuming responsibility for mistakes -- though they don't specify what they were-- and resigning not just their government positions but party posts as well, in Perez Roque's case, the Central Committee, in Lage's, the CC and Politburo.

Almost certainly, these changes in government personnel represent not just the alleged personal failings of individuals, but also a political differentiation, at least an incipient one. For nearly two decades Lage has been closely identified with what is perceived or described as economic "liberalization" in Cuba -- greater openness to foreign investment, etc. But there is also a generational differentiation. He was the most prominent leader from the generation that came of age immediately after the victory of the revolution.

Perez Roque has had no particular political coloration attributed to him that I am aware of. He was of the generation following Lage's, born in the baby boom of the first years of the revolution. He has been closely identified with Fidel, having served as his chief of staff before becoming foreign minister, replacing Roberto Robaina, another younger leader who was removed in disgrace in 2002. Later it was revealed that Robaina had had close dealings with a Mexican government official accused of being in the pay of drug cartels, and having accepted gifts from him, although to remodel the foreign ministry, not for personal gain. Three years after his removal from power, Robaina told CNN's (now Al Jazeera's) Lucia Newman that his failing had been not being transparent with his comrades.

As for the failings of Lage and Perez Roque, all we know is what Fidel said in his comment -- "La miel del poder por el cual no conocieron sacrificio alguno, despertó en ellos ambiciones que los condujeron a un papel indigno. El enemigo externo se llenó de ilusiones con ellos."

"The honey of power for which they had not known any sacrifice awakened in them ambitions which led them to an undignified role. The external enemy became full of illusions in relation to them."

The word "indigno" which I have translated as "undignified" is a funny word. It can mean as little as awkward and as much as outrageous. Fidel's comment --by referring to the "external enemy"-- explicitly suggests a political dimension to the changes in government personnel, but doesn't really go beyond suggesting.

The rest of Fidel's comments provide no obvious guidance to his exact meaning, as he appears to suddenly switch from discussing government affairs to discussing baseball.

Perhaps there is a link there, but as someone who became allergic to sports in my teenage years, it eludes me.

Fidel is confident that the Cuban team will be victorious over American and other competitors in an upcoming "Basball Classic," precisely because they are not professional ball players. He adds that Chavez still doesn't understand why the Cubans will beat his wonderful pitchers and batters. Fidel throws a change-of-pace pitch if ever there was one, from suggestive hints about the enemy's illusions evoked by mistakes of two of the most prominent Cuban government officials to needling Hugo Chavez about the Venezuelan baseball team. And he adds that he will accept full responsibility whatever the outcome: the Cuban Team's victories will belong to all, but "defeat will never be an orphan."

It is a shame that Walter Lippmann is no longer on this list, as he may have some insight --or at least a report on the Havana vox populi-- on these matters.

But then again Fidel followed up his column on government changes and baseball with one about his meeting with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, the interlinked struggles of Cuban and Dominican patriots, and Fernandez's appreciation of the failings of the free market and neoliberalism.

Perhaps Fidelall this, it will just take some time for us to understand.

Joaquin

[Orange Juche]

This is is a message for "change" allright

I hope so. :D

[RedSonRising]

Raul is definitely changing Cuba for the better, and he is allowing the Cuban system to evolve while maintaining the communist framework. Recently, certain actors have been making progress in legislation for free speech, and many small types of individual control have been restored, though not to the extent of market reforms. Many Cubans are happy with the way things are going with Raul, who I have spoken to, and I trust him.

[jake williams]

CNN's (now Al Jazeera's) Lucia Newman
That explains a WHOLE hell of a lot. She's as far as I know by far the worst "journalist" on the channel - and I'm including the sports reporters.

[Wanted Man]

Funny. A lot of media had already anointed either Lage or Perez as the new president after Fidel and Raul died. But now that they have resigned instead, these same media need to conjure up new analyses after-the-fact to explain this. Reminds me of good old Sovietology. What's funny is that supposed leftists participate in this, and often get a little excited at the prospect of Cuba "going China's way".

[SEKT]

I think this cartoon may help to illustrate the current cuban situation:
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/03/06/cartones/helguera.jpg

For the english speaker people:
*Raul Castro is saying: The fired functionaries had unworthy ambitions
and his brother (Fidel Castro) answers: Yes... They wanted to prevail in power until death!!

[synthesis]

*Raul Castro is saying: The fired functionaries had unworthy ambitions
and his brother (Fidel Castro) answers: Yes... They wanted to prevail in power until death!!

Maybe the drugs are making me delirious, but isn't it the other way around?

In any case, my best guess is that Raul was/is insecure in his position and simply made a move against those he considered rivals. It seems probable to me that these were officials who were "dissenting" in their minds, and yet to Raul they were "challenging his authority" and he decided to get rid of them all at once in order to prevent a coalition being formed and also in order to send a message to the rest of the Party.

Perhaps I have been reading too much Sun Tzu recently.

[SEKT]

Maybe the drugs are making me delirious, but isn't it the other way around?

In any case, my best guess is that Raul was/is insecure in his position and simply made a move against those he considered rivals. It seems probable to me that these were officials who were "dissenting" in their minds, and yet to Raul they were "challenging his authority" and he decided to get rid of them all at once in order to prevent a coalition being formed and also in order to send a message to the rest of the Party.

Perhaps I have been reading too much Sun Tzu recently.

That is precisely the meaning of the cartoon!!!!

[manic expression]

My word, the Cuban government can't blow its nose without some would-be expert claiming it's about to collapse. From what we can tell, most of the new officials were deputies who worked directly below their predecessors, and there is no sign that this will result in fundamental changes in actual policy (that is, reforms to the right). At any rate, I have confidence in Raul and, most importantly, the revolutionary Cuban workers. Every socialist should as well.

[SEKT]

My word, the Cuban government can't blow its nose without some would-be expert claiming it's about to collapse. From what we can tell, most of the new officials were deputies who worked directly below their predecessors, and there is no sign that this will result in fundamental changes in actual policy (that is, reforms to the right). At any rate, I have confidence in Raul and, most importantly, the revolutionary Cuban workers. Every socialist should as well.

I agree in the part that its responsability of the cuban working class to sustain their revolution and improve it.

In the other hand I don't have your confidence on the Bureaucracy (starting with Raul Castro) because they are now, as in the Soviet Union, more worried for conserving their position - even though it would mean right-wing reforms - than in taking the revolution to the next level.

For that I think more than ever the working class has to rise not only in Cuba but in the whole world.

[Charles Xavier]

I agree in the part that its responsability of the cuban working class to sustain their revolution and improve it.

In the other hand I don't have your confidence on the Bureaucracy (starting with Raul Castro) because they are now, as in the Soviet Union, more worried for conserving their position - even though it would mean right-wing reforms - than in taking the revolution to the next level.

For that I think more than ever the working class has to rise not only in Cuba but in the whole world.


Which right-wing reforms?

[SEKT]

Which right-wing reforms?

Are you asking about the reforms implementes in the USSR or in Cuba?

Because at the present Cuba is still hanging between a socialist way or the chinese one; it means no major right-wing reforms such as the proliferation of private property of the means of production (that in the case of Cuba are owned by the State not by the working class).

[Davie zepeda]

Cuba never truly followed the ussr model in fact they were critical of it.
The point is capitalism is in crisis and cuba now need's to open it's markets up, the special period is over comrades and it is time to industrialize cuba.
Cuba has had a backward economy for more than half century of course because of the blockade but the people are getting sick of hearing blockade,blockade! It's time to deliver what the people want and that is a modern state.

The reforms that are taking place in cuba are not of the bureaucracy but the peoples and workers demands of private ownership,Bonuses for better workers,Free press.

Just the other day i read in the granma about how children in the rural parts of cuba were working for low wages in dangerous conditions it makes me sad to know that there is still improvement to be made but it made me happy that the people can voice there opinion so socialism can finally progress in cuba!

You may say this is reformist then you are the enemy of the people The workers are the party! If they want these changes we give them these changes because we serve the workers and no one else.

[Magdalen]

Just the other day i read in the granma about how children in the rural parts of cuba were working for low wages in dangerous conditions it makes me sad to know that there is still improvement to be made but it made me happy that the people can voice there opinion so socialism can finally progress in cuba!

Are you not getting confused with the letter the Argentinian woman living in Cuba had written about conditions in her homeland in the 1960s? The English translation was rather awkward and I initially mis-read the article as referring to Cuba itself.

I'll deal with the rest of your post later, I'm just away out.

[Davie zepeda]

Yes it could be true but understand the revolution in Cuba is still in process we can't get disillusioned . But i think Cuba is not heading toward reforms as many think it just preparing it self for a huge surplus of money which will come with central and south America trading with it in 2009. As well as the new factories being built by china.

Yup i may be talking about her or him. It was confusing how? I talk with many comrades and they tell me how Cuba has Hugh gains and how the workers manage a lot but the state is there as well. There is difference in wealth in Cuba but the more privileged help with the unprivileged so the community is constantly helping. Don't worry comrades the people in Cuba are well educated and the revolution will not fall if it continued to be isolated maybe but no longer is it isolated. Smile comrades we are in the pinnacle of history today is capitalism tomorrow socialism the future communism.

[Jack]

If he moves Cuba to the right that just further proves Leninism's flaws.

Something else interesting, in 90/91 the private sector only employed about 10% of the workers, now it is about 20%. Looking alot more like Scandanavian "socialism".

[Red Rebel]

Suprised this wasn't posted earlier.



Reflections of Fidel
Healthy changes within the Council of Ministers (http://www.granma.cu/INGLES/2009/march/mar3/10reflex-i.html)
(Taken from CubaDebate)

IN response to changes made within the executive, certain news agencies are throwing up their hands in horror.
Several of them are saying or echoing "popular" rumors about the substitution of "Fidel’s men" for "Raúl’s men."
The majority of those who have been replaced were never proposed by me. Almost without exception, they were proposed for their posts by other comrades within the leadership of the Party or the state. I never devoted myself to that task.
I have never underestimated human intelligence or the vanity of men.
I was consulted about the new ministers who have just been appointed even though there was no rule obliging those who proposed them to consult me, given that I renounced the prerogatives of power some time ago. They acted simply as genuine revolutionaries who carry within them loyalty to principles.
There has been no injustice committed against certain cadres.
Neither of the two individuals mentioned by news reports as the most affected have uttered a word to express any disagreement with the decision. It had nothing to do with an absence of personal value. It was another reason. The sweetness of power for which they had made no sacrifice awoke in them ambitions that led them to an unworthy role. The external enemy was filled with illusions about them.
I don’t accept the gossip being mixed in with the Baseball Classic that is about to commence. I stated very clearly that our baseball players were first-rate young men, men who believe in "Patria o Muerte" (Homeland or Death).
As I have stated on other occasions, we will return with the shield or on the shield.
We will win because we know how to and we can combine something that only free men can, those who have no owners, not professional players.
Leonel Fernández was telling me yesterday afternoon that some of the excellent professional Dominican ballplayers didn’t want to take part in this competition; they would be absent, which would be sad for their people, who watched them grow.
Chávez still doesn’t know why his magnificent pitchers and hitters will be defeated by our athletes.
The Cuban national team that will measure its strength this year against the best professional players from the Major Leagues in the United States and Japan is much stronger and better prepared than the one of three years ago.
Many of them are already veterans despite their youthful age. None of the players who made the team stayed behind, except for health reasons.
I assume full responsibility for success or the opposite. The victories will be for all of us; defeat will never be bereft.
Patria o Muerte! Venceremos!

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 3, 2009
11:32 a.m.
Translated by Granma International


Originally I thought Raul was merely getting rid of "Fidel's men" and replacing them with his own; however, it appears this is not the case. Never was a huge Lage fan, but I really liked Perez Roque. I hope to see him return to a governmental position sometime in the near future. The idea that this is a move towards "market reform" has no foundation. None of these people appointed are liberals or revisionists. Because if they were every damn capitalists news agency would be talking their heads off about this and the coming collaspe of the PCC.

manic expression summed it up rather nicely with this quote: "My word, the Cuban government can't blow its nose without some would-be expert claiming it's about to collapse."

[Qayin]

Viva Cuba!

I hope Raul does make some market reforms to fight the growing black markets in Cuba.Hoping he will work with the world to maybe end the blockade.

Give the workers control of production? One can only hope

[Charles Xavier]

Cuba never truly followed the ussr model in fact they were critical of it.
The point is capitalism is in crisis and cuba now need's to open it's markets up, the special period is over comrades and it is time to industrialize cuba.
Cuba has had a backward economy for more than half century of course because of the blockade but the people are getting sick of hearing blockade,blockade! It's time to deliver what the people want and that is a modern state.

The reforms that are taking place in cuba are not of the bureaucracy but the peoples and workers demands of private ownership,Bonuses for better workers,Free press.

Just the other day i read in the granma about how children in the rural parts of cuba were working for low wages in dangerous conditions it makes me sad to know that there is still improvement to be made but it made me happy that the people can voice there opinion so socialism can finally progress in cuba!

You may say this is reformist then you are the enemy of the people The workers are the party! If they want these changes we give them these changes because we serve the workers and no one else.

No this isn't the case. Cuba has more material wealth and higher living standards than the rest of Latin America. There is mistakes within the Cuban society and there are contradictions which havent been solved but this is a contradiction of the whole world when imperialists are striking everywhere they can get.

The ones clamouring for private ownership are the fatcats in Miami and capitalist class world wide. Why would a working class Cuban want to work for private ownership? The trade union movement in Cuba is not making this a demand.

Please you are a liberal not a communist. Why do you believe the bullshit of the right-wing media?

[bobroberts]

If he moves Cuba to the right that just further proves Leninism's flaws.

Something else interesting, in 90/91 the private sector only employed about 10% of the workers, now it is about 20%. Looking alot more like Scandanavian "socialism".

It depends on whether or not you believe worker co-operatives to be part of the private sector.

[manic expression]

In the other hand I don't have your confidence on the Bureaucracy (starting with Raul Castro) because they are now, as in the Soviet Union, more worried for conserving their position - even though it would mean right-wing reforms - than in taking the revolution to the next level.

The bureaucracy answers to the Cuban workers, which is why I (and every other well-informed socialist) have confidence in the socialist state and its position today.


The reforms that are taking place in cuba are not of the bureaucracy but the peoples and workers demands of private ownership,Bonuses for better workers,Free press.

There isn't an ounce of evidence to support this conclusion.

[SEKT]

The bureaucracy answers to the Cuban workers, which is why I (and every other well-informed socialist) have confidence in the socialist state and its position today.

But as I know (as well-informed socialist) the State should be ruled by workers not bureaucracy, so I don't know why bureaucracy needs to be supported anymore. Instead the full working class control of Cuba is needed.

[manic expression]

But as I know (as well-informed socialist) the State should be ruled by workers not bureaucracy, so I don't know why bureaucracy needs to be supported anymore. Instead the full working class control of Cuba is needed.

You can't have a modern state without having some form of a bureaucracy. At any rate, a bureaucracy isn't a problem onto itself at all, it just depends on to whom it answers to. In Cuba, the workers control the state and thus the bureaucracy.

[chebol]

Actually, you don't need (indefinitely), and shouldn't want, a "bureaucracy". What you do need is an administrative apparatus, directly answerable to and made up of the working class.

In Cuba, because of its material limitations, part of the existing administration is continually under pressure to crystalise into a bureaucratic layer, whose interests are different to those of the working class.

The constant struggle for revolutionary progress in Cuba has a few key facets - international revolution to alleviate the material limitations of the Cuban economy, temporary internal economic reforms for the same reason, and a constant struggle to maintain working class democracy in the face of the constant threat of bureaucratic backsliding.

Leaving aside the first two points, both Castro brothers (along with a number of other long-term leaders of the revolution) have been at the forefront of battling the tendency towards bureaucratisation since the beginning of the revolution.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that those who are involved in the administration of a workers' state (of whatever form or shape) are all necessarily part of a bureaucratic caste.

[manic expression]

Actually, you don't need (indefinitely), and shouldn't want, a "bureaucracy". What you do need is an administrative apparatus, directly answerable to and made up of the working class.

I don't see what the difference is. I was referring to the Cuban bureaucracy as just that: "an administrative apparatus, directly answerable to...the working class", because that's precisely what it is.


In Cuba, because of its material limitations, part of the existing administration is continually under pressure to crystalise into a bureaucratic layer, whose interests are different to those of the working class.


But don't make the mistake of thinking that those who are involved in the administration of a workers' state (of whatever form or shape) are all necessarily part of a bureaucratic caste.

They aren't all professional bureaucrats, if that's what you mean. However, I would venture to say that to effectively administer an army, a judicial system, a police force and industrial production, you do need a bureaucracy of some sort. However, I also say that it must be under the control of the workers, which it is in Cuba. Perhaps this is a question of terminology.

At any rate, your points are well-taken and I agree with your general position.

[SEKT]

II would venture to say that to effectively administer an army, a judicial system, a police force and industrial production, you do need a bureaucracy of some sort. However, I also say that it must be under the control of the workers, which it is in Cuba. Perhaps this is a question of terminology.

I still don't get the point, are you refering to a "Modern State" a society with a "complex" division of labor??

Because as I said that is precisely what the workers have to take care about in order to abolish such division of labor.

I now the cuban position with the American menance (which maybe is not so strong) but it is still the same condition of posponing socialism because of complexity of society.

Is the same bourgeois argument for representative "democracy" instead direct democracy!!

In any case I would support Council communism in Cuba instead the "Democratic bolshevik centralism" of bureaucracy.

[Davie zepeda]

Call me liberal or what slander is worthless i am not a disillusion with perfection i know there will be imperfections and Cuba is still on the road towards fixing it's issue's. Did i say i wanted private ownership ?that's not my decision to make it's the Cuban ppl's decision so don't put words in my mouth. Criticism is needed for the progression of socialism if there's no criticism then opportunist who truly are against the working class take over.