Questions on Cuba.

[Buddha Samurai Cadre]

Hey
I have some pretty non political questions about cuba,i put it in learning because i want to learn the answers.

Ok is Boxing banned in Cuba, i heard it was.

My auntie has film on her cam corder showing her on a boat ride from her hotle, halfway, some fishermen exchange shark meat and fish for alcohol cigs and nuts, so isnt this barter/free trade, thus illegal.

Has cubas economy been affected by the banks and the ressecion.

Who will become jefe after the castro brothers die.

Thanks if you answer the question, i will really apreciate your time.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Hey
Ok is Boxing banned in Cuba, i heard it was.


No idea, sounds good to me though.


My auntie has film on her cam corder showing her on a boat ride from her hotle, halfway, some fishermen exchange shark meat and fish for alcohol cigs and nuts, so isnt this barter/free trade, thus illegal.

In the sense of fishermen at a pier selling fish and paid in goods? Certainly is barter but "free-trade" is something else- I'm sure it occurs frequently, after all the access to some things are fairly hard (though sometimes with good reason) and some people will decide to go about acquiring it one way or another by barter if they have to. I'm not sure what exactly you are asking with this question, though? Does barter exchanges occur? Most certainly. :confused:

[Buddha Samurai Cadre]

She also said there is a market there that has individual stalls and people make their own prices and sell stuff most people cant get, the government dosent shut it down, so basically there are anew class who make a shit load from free trade inside cuba.

The hotel workers are also hated because they make a shit load more than most.

[manic expression]

Ok is Boxing banned in Cuba, i heard it was.
No, boxing is not banned in Cuba. Cuba has a pretty good reputation in the amateur boxing world, IIRC. Professional boxing is "banned", of course, but the sport itself is alive and well in Cuba.


My auntie has film on her cam corder showing her on a boat ride from her hotle, halfway, some fishermen exchange shark meat and fish for alcohol cigs and nuts, so isnt this barter/free trade, thus illegal.
Not sure, you should talk to someone familiar with the specifics of Cuban law. My first impression is that it probably isn't illegal, since they're not entering products onto a market, but that's just a guess (and plus, it's hard to tell from the short description you gave).


Has cubas economy been affected by the banks and the ressecion.
Tourism has generally declined somewhat since the recession/depression hit. However, Cuba's economy is vastly state-owned, and so the impact of this is, in all likelihood, practically nonexistent when you look at the average citizen's life. Living standards (including employment), as far as I'm aware, haven't changed one bit.


Who will become jefe after the castro brothers die.
Whoever is elected through the democratic processes of the revolutionary government of Cuba.

[the last donut of the night]

Whoever is elected through the democratic processes of the revolutionary government of Cuba.

I actually have a question for you on that. I see myself as a ML, but I'm not sure if Cuba has that aspect of representative democracy. Are leaders elected? If so, why has Castro been in power for so long? You could PM me the answers, if you think they'd derail the thread too much.

[Buddha Samurai Cadre]

They can elect and remove leaders in council and other positions i believe, they just cant vote a party in power that advocates the capitalist system that murders 25 thousand a day.

I hate people who say its a human right to vote for anyone you want, well no its not if you vote for mass murdering meglomaniac warmongers.

[AK]

They can elect and remove leaders in council and other positions i believe, they just cant vote a party in power that advocates the capitalist system that murders 25 thousand a day.
Now I'm far from sympathising with capitalism, but if you say shit like that - as true as it may be - it justs brings you to the level of right-wingers who say something along the lines of "communism has killed 256 billion people" and it makes you sound rather infantile. Just sayin'.


I hate people who say its a human right to vote for anyone you want, well no its not if you vote for mass murdering meglomaniac warmongers.
The "democratic" process worked quite well in 1934 Germany, didn't it? :p

[manic expression]

I actually have a question for you on that. I see myself as a ML, but I'm not sure if Cuba has that aspect of representative democracy. Are leaders elected? If so, why has Castro been in power for so long? You could PM me the answers, if you think they'd derail the thread too much.

I think this is definitely on-topic because it relates to one of the original questions. Leaders in Cuba are fully elected through a system that is exhaustively representative and direct. Below are some links.

First, a summary of the electoral system, with notes on the various levels which keep Cuban workers at the heart of the process:

http://www.cubasolidarity.com/aboutcuba/topics/government/0504elecsys.htm

Second, a first-hand report of Cuban democracy in action by an American professor of sociology:

http://www.quaylargo.com/Productions/McCelvey.html

The Cuban political system is based on a foundation of local elections. Each urban neighborhood and rural village and area is organized into a "circumscription," consisting generally of 1000 to 1500 voters. The circumscription meets regularly to discuss neighborhood or village problems. Each three years, the circumscription conducts elections, in which from two to eight candidates compete. The nominees are not nominated by the Communist Party or any other organizations. The nominations are made by anyone in attendance at the meetings, which generally have a participation rate of 85% to 95%. Those nominated are candidates for office without party affiliation. They do not conduct campaigns as such. A one page biography of all the candidates is widely-distributed. The nominees are generally known by the voters, since the circumscription is generally not larger than 1500 voters. If no candidate receives 50% of the votes, a run-off election is held. Those elected serve as delegates to the Popular Councils, which are intermediary structures between the circumscription and the Municipal Assembly. Those elected also serve simultaneously as delegates to the Municipal Assembly. The delegates serve in the Popular Councils and the Municipal Assemblies on a voluntary basis without pay, above and beyond their regular employment.

Lastly, a quick bio on a remarkable individual who has gone through this process to be elected to the National Assembly before her 19th birthday:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7784234.stm

On the length of Fidel's term, I think it's best explained by the confidence put in him by the Cuban working classes. Fidel's leadership was invaluable during the Revolution, the imperialist invasion, the missile crisis, the blockade, the internationalist missions in Africa and so on. In terms of being qualified, I can't think of anyone who was more fit for the job than him. I think that is one of the big reasons why Fidel sustained a high level of support from the Cuban workers and thus kept his office for so long. In addition, the importance of stability when a country is under a ruthless imperialist siege should not be overlooked, although I don't think that has been a primary concern.

[Ismail]

Fidel Castro enjoyed a consistent process of reelection because there is no meaningful political opposition in Cuba. Even though other parties "exist" (de facto, apparently, albeit not de jure as only the PCC is legal) they enter the legislature as independents and are subordinate to the ruling Communist Party. The Communist Party dominates pretty much every organization in Cuba, so any "independent" comes to power based on an agreement to not oppose the Party and to gain the confidence of the Party in the electoral organs which nominate said candidate.

It's a lot like East Germany, wherein there was actually a multi-party National Front (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Front_of_East_Germany), but it had no real power outside of Front meetings wherein there would be tepid discussions over broad national issues.

There is no revolutionary democracy in Cuba, only demagogical pseudo-democracy which paints itself as a system similar to other bourgeois-democratic parliamentary regimes.

If Cuba is such a wonderful "revolutionary" parliamentary democracy, where are the reactionaries who oppose Fidel (or the revisionist Party) openly within the legislature?

[Buddha Samurai Cadre]

They were ran out with the bordello owners and the mafia, you see cuba dosent home reactionaries since this thing that happened.

A revolution

[Tifosi]

Boxing banned in Cuba? No way!

Almost every Olimpic's you see a Cuban boxer go far.

http://cubaboxingstory.blogspot.com/

[Ismail]

They were ran out with the bordello owners and the mafia, you see cuba dosent home reactionaries since this thing that happened.Doesn't explain the many criminals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift) who fled in the 1980's. Or the continued émigrés who still arrive today.

[Sam_b]

They were ran out with the bordello owners and the mafia, you see cuba dosent home reactionaries since this thing that happened.

A revolution

Did they run out with the independent Trade Union leaders as well?

[manic expression]

Fidel Castro enjoyed a consistent process of reelection because there is no meaningful political opposition in Cuba. Even though other parties "exist" (de facto, apparently, albeit not de jure as only the PCC is legal) they enter the legislature as independents and are subordinate to the ruling Communist Party. The Communist Party dominates pretty much every organization in Cuba, so any "independent" comes to power based on an agreement to not oppose the Party and to gain the confidence of the Party in the electoral organs which nominate said candidate.
If "meaningful opposition" means "popular opposition", then you might have a point. I freely admit that there is no popular opposition against socialism in Cuba. There are, however, more than a few groups who oppose the socialist government and have received a lot of support from outside of Cuba for their anti-socialist work. Oswaldo Paya, the Varela Project, the Ladies in White, the Catholic Church are just a few.

But this begs the question, why is the measure of a healthy socialist society opposition to socialism? Your litmus test makes no sense. Cuban socialism faces so little Cuban opposition precisely because the Cuban Revolution receives so much support from the Cuban workers, as evidenced by the continued election of the PCC to power today.

Lastly, your arguments fly in the face of facts. The PCC does not control the electoral process, as it cannot nominate candidates. That is done only by the workers of Cuba in local community meetings. You need to do your homework, because your basic assumptions about Cuba are flatly wrong.


There is no revolutionary democracy in Cuba, only demagogical pseudo-democracy which paints itself as a system similar to other bourgeois-democratic parliamentary regimes.
I've already shown this to be incorrect. Independent reports continue to confirm the democratic nature of the Cuban revolutionary state. The socialist democracy of Cuba is extremely different from bourgeois "democracy" both in form and in rhetoric. Political parties do not nominate candidates, the basis of the Cuban electoral system is local meetings through which nominees to the National Assembly are decided upon. I could go on, but anyone who reviews the evidence presented on this thread will find that you are spectacularly wrong.


If Cuba is such a wonderful "revolutionary" parliamentary democracy, where are the reactionaries who oppose Fidel (or the revisionist Party) openly within the legislature?
They're too busy not getting elected because the workers of Cuba don't endorse your politics.

[RadioRaheem84]

But this begs the question, why is the measure of a healthy socialist society opposition to socialism? Your litmus test makes no sense.

As Richard Levins pointed out in a brilliant article in last month's Monthly Review, a lot of criticism toward Cuba is more often than not liberal criticism of capitalism that critics bring with them to Cuba.