el_chavista
7th August 2010, 21:35
By Esteban Morales Domínguez (Havana, 1942), graduated in Economics and Doctor of Science. Lecturer and Research Consultant. A Specialist in topics on U.S. foreign policy and author of numerous texts on the racial issue in Cuba. This article was published on the website of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
source: http://www.desdelahabana.net/?p=2210
When we look closely at the internal situation in Cuba today, we can not doubt that the counter is, little by little, taking positions in certain levels of state and government
Without doubt, it is becoming clear, that there are people in positions of government and state, who are financial leveraging themselves for when Revolution falls, and others who may have almost everything ready to produce the transfer of state assets to private hands, as occurred in the former USSR.
Fidel said that we ourselves could end the Revolution, and I am inclined to think that among other concerns of the Commander in Chief, he was referring to issues related to corruption. Because, being already present, this phenomenon has continued to appear strong.
If not, see what happened to the distribution of land for usufruct in some municipalities of the country: fraud, illegal, favoritism, bureaucratic delay, etc.
Indeed, corruption is far more dangerous than the so-called dissidents. The latter have been isolated: they have no alternative program, no real leaders, not mass. But corruption is to be the true counter, which does the more damage because it happens to be within the government and the state apparatus, which are what really drive the country's resources. But we see something very simple:
When is there milk powder in the black market, which price has been rising up to 70 pesos a kilogram? When milk powder reach the state stores. No better example than that. And so it is with all the products purchased on the black market by the majority of the population.
That is, on account of state resources, there is an illegal market, from which everyone benefits except the state. And what you say about the retailers around the major hard-currency stores, offering everything. It is a corruption in which almost everyone participates, generated by the corruption of state officials. Because, you know, in Cuba there is only one importer, the state. I do not think that what comes in packs from Miami can generate such a large market, much less of durable goods.
Note also the transit of pork from state to private [stands], the sale prices of soft drinks and botled water according to the various channels of tourism. The suspected price differences that we encounter frequently.
That is, evidently, there is an illegal flow of goods between the state and wholesale trade in the streets. An entire underground economy that the State can not control and it will be impossible to order as long as there are major imbalances between supply and demand which characterize our economy even today.
This time, the latter one, deals about a counterrevolution that has hidden leaders, offers alternatives to the state and has a mass practice
But this situation outlined above is the most dangerous part of the case we are now discussing. That is just the popular environment.
What recently has been discovered about the weaknesses of a group of very senior officials -related to favoritism, cronyism, acts of corruption and careless handling of sensitive information, as well as the kind of attitude control by the power present in these officials- was information, which unfortunately, they were already passing into the hands of Spanish intelligence services, although they have been careful not consenting to participe in. These are indeed extremely serious matters.
That is, sensitive issues such as claims and aspirations for power, favoritism, corruption and improper expressions of the highest leadership of the country, already known by foreign special services. A real "political goods" of highest added value in the hands of the enemies of the Revolution.
When the Cuban government gave the FBI all the information available on the activities of the counter in the U.S., whose activity involved the possibility of attacks on the U.S. presidency, what did the FBI then?
Instead of taking counter-measures, instead of acting against the Cuban-American mafia, what they did was to look like real bloodhounds, whence came the information that Cuba had given them, what their sources were and there they are our Five heroes dedicated compatriots, who have been over 11 years of unjust imprisonment in U.S. jails.
Following the statements made by Fidel on that we can destroy ourselves the Revolution, that there are grounds to believe that our revolution is reversible, so what the U.S. special services must be doing is seeking information to substantiate these concerns of Fidel.
They are looking to confirm the words of the Commander in Chief, blindly following what is happening every day in Cuba, delving into everything that allows them to verify where the real counter-revolutionary force in Cuba is, which may ruin the Revolution; force that seems not down but up in the very levels of government and state apparatus.
Formed by the corrupt, and not a minor concern, who are discovered in very high charges and with strong personal connections, internal and external, generated by decades of occupying the same positions of power. Note, none of the "defenestrated" so far (since the Causes 1 and 2, at least) was a mere employee.
More recently, the General Acevedo, director of the IACC (Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba), was removed and what circulates in the unofficial media, about what were the reasons for such removal, are enough to lose sleep.
There must be some truth in these reports, because this is a very small and familiar country, yet the matter has not obtained a comprehensive public explanation, as people expect, because if as it is being said, it is about money and people's resources, which have been squandered in the midst of a very critical financial situation for the country. Then, either to vindicate or condemn Acevedo, they got to explain to the people. Those people that the revolution has created, technically and scientifically trained and within which people are prepared and have sufficient capacity.
Actually, I must say, at the level of an argument, that what has happened to the IACC, is not unique, it has been discovered in other places and there may even be more companies in which it is occurring. That is, where heads may be receiving commissions and opening bank accounts in other countries. Which is a valid working hypothesis to open other research and that such matters can not catch us by surprise.
In economics there is a "surprise audit", which is not to offend anyone and that nobody can be bothered. Auditing is not to offend, is a mechanism that helps forecast honesty.
One element that we can not fail to take into consideration is that long ago (1986 - 1994) the focus of U.S. policy toward Cuba changed. Now attention is fundamental to the internal reality of Cuba. It is not an absolute orientation, but fundamental priority. All that is happening internally in Cuba, is being watched, monitored by U.S. politicians and in particular by the U.S. special services.
For obvious reasons, not necessary to explain, the Americans should know better than us who and how many Cubans have accounts abroad. Who receives commissions, and what businesses does.
For all these companies, with which Cuba does business, have intelligence apparatus and almost all services are coordinated with the Americans, and if not, there are civil servants that, as they have in hand a sensitive information about Cuba, try the link to American services, which by the way, they pay very well for this information.
The most regrettable thing is that Americans are better informed services than we do about all the possible movements of our businessmen. And if that information is left running, ie build, it is an excellent way to bribery, blackmail and recruitment of any Cuban official.
Not that it always work, there may be who have become corrupted, but not left to recruit, because it is a very subtle. But who calls for corruption to enrich himself, it is very difficult to retain after even other values.
A Cuban official that in his relations with any foreign company is corrupted should know that such information might fall into the hands of the special services of any country and from there into the hands of North American services. Immediately a file is open, which continues to be filled until it is deemed necessary or appropriate to carry out an activity of official bribery, blackmail or recruitment.
This is not paranoic, it's foolish not to know that any sensitive information about Cuba, its activities abroad or with respect to any Cuban official, is considered useful, it is very well paid by the U.S. special services. And if at this point we do not know why we are liquidated.
It is thus a hidden area of the work of subversion against Cuba, in the medium and long term, producing very good political dividends. This is an area of the counter, that has nothing to do with the so-called dissidents, the small groups or the so-called "ladies in white."
Behold, how the weaknesses of some Cuban officials were already being transferred to the Spanish intelligence services. Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior, involved in drug trafficking -discovered by Cuba in 1989 but it was privileged information in the hands of the DEA, FBI and other U.S. special services.
Such actions would seriously affect the country's ability to move forward and is met -lide a mathematical algorithm- that the capacity of any nation to face the international confrontation, is measured primarily by its internal strength.
If Cuba could at least discover their corrupt beforehand, the damage would be lower.
source: http://www.desdelahabana.net/?p=2210
When we look closely at the internal situation in Cuba today, we can not doubt that the counter is, little by little, taking positions in certain levels of state and government
Without doubt, it is becoming clear, that there are people in positions of government and state, who are financial leveraging themselves for when Revolution falls, and others who may have almost everything ready to produce the transfer of state assets to private hands, as occurred in the former USSR.
Fidel said that we ourselves could end the Revolution, and I am inclined to think that among other concerns of the Commander in Chief, he was referring to issues related to corruption. Because, being already present, this phenomenon has continued to appear strong.
If not, see what happened to the distribution of land for usufruct in some municipalities of the country: fraud, illegal, favoritism, bureaucratic delay, etc.
Indeed, corruption is far more dangerous than the so-called dissidents. The latter have been isolated: they have no alternative program, no real leaders, not mass. But corruption is to be the true counter, which does the more damage because it happens to be within the government and the state apparatus, which are what really drive the country's resources. But we see something very simple:
When is there milk powder in the black market, which price has been rising up to 70 pesos a kilogram? When milk powder reach the state stores. No better example than that. And so it is with all the products purchased on the black market by the majority of the population.
That is, on account of state resources, there is an illegal market, from which everyone benefits except the state. And what you say about the retailers around the major hard-currency stores, offering everything. It is a corruption in which almost everyone participates, generated by the corruption of state officials. Because, you know, in Cuba there is only one importer, the state. I do not think that what comes in packs from Miami can generate such a large market, much less of durable goods.
Note also the transit of pork from state to private [stands], the sale prices of soft drinks and botled water according to the various channels of tourism. The suspected price differences that we encounter frequently.
That is, evidently, there is an illegal flow of goods between the state and wholesale trade in the streets. An entire underground economy that the State can not control and it will be impossible to order as long as there are major imbalances between supply and demand which characterize our economy even today.
This time, the latter one, deals about a counterrevolution that has hidden leaders, offers alternatives to the state and has a mass practice
But this situation outlined above is the most dangerous part of the case we are now discussing. That is just the popular environment.
What recently has been discovered about the weaknesses of a group of very senior officials -related to favoritism, cronyism, acts of corruption and careless handling of sensitive information, as well as the kind of attitude control by the power present in these officials- was information, which unfortunately, they were already passing into the hands of Spanish intelligence services, although they have been careful not consenting to participe in. These are indeed extremely serious matters.
That is, sensitive issues such as claims and aspirations for power, favoritism, corruption and improper expressions of the highest leadership of the country, already known by foreign special services. A real "political goods" of highest added value in the hands of the enemies of the Revolution.
When the Cuban government gave the FBI all the information available on the activities of the counter in the U.S., whose activity involved the possibility of attacks on the U.S. presidency, what did the FBI then?
Instead of taking counter-measures, instead of acting against the Cuban-American mafia, what they did was to look like real bloodhounds, whence came the information that Cuba had given them, what their sources were and there they are our Five heroes dedicated compatriots, who have been over 11 years of unjust imprisonment in U.S. jails.
Following the statements made by Fidel on that we can destroy ourselves the Revolution, that there are grounds to believe that our revolution is reversible, so what the U.S. special services must be doing is seeking information to substantiate these concerns of Fidel.
They are looking to confirm the words of the Commander in Chief, blindly following what is happening every day in Cuba, delving into everything that allows them to verify where the real counter-revolutionary force in Cuba is, which may ruin the Revolution; force that seems not down but up in the very levels of government and state apparatus.
Formed by the corrupt, and not a minor concern, who are discovered in very high charges and with strong personal connections, internal and external, generated by decades of occupying the same positions of power. Note, none of the "defenestrated" so far (since the Causes 1 and 2, at least) was a mere employee.
More recently, the General Acevedo, director of the IACC (Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba), was removed and what circulates in the unofficial media, about what were the reasons for such removal, are enough to lose sleep.
There must be some truth in these reports, because this is a very small and familiar country, yet the matter has not obtained a comprehensive public explanation, as people expect, because if as it is being said, it is about money and people's resources, which have been squandered in the midst of a very critical financial situation for the country. Then, either to vindicate or condemn Acevedo, they got to explain to the people. Those people that the revolution has created, technically and scientifically trained and within which people are prepared and have sufficient capacity.
Actually, I must say, at the level of an argument, that what has happened to the IACC, is not unique, it has been discovered in other places and there may even be more companies in which it is occurring. That is, where heads may be receiving commissions and opening bank accounts in other countries. Which is a valid working hypothesis to open other research and that such matters can not catch us by surprise.
In economics there is a "surprise audit", which is not to offend anyone and that nobody can be bothered. Auditing is not to offend, is a mechanism that helps forecast honesty.
One element that we can not fail to take into consideration is that long ago (1986 - 1994) the focus of U.S. policy toward Cuba changed. Now attention is fundamental to the internal reality of Cuba. It is not an absolute orientation, but fundamental priority. All that is happening internally in Cuba, is being watched, monitored by U.S. politicians and in particular by the U.S. special services.
For obvious reasons, not necessary to explain, the Americans should know better than us who and how many Cubans have accounts abroad. Who receives commissions, and what businesses does.
For all these companies, with which Cuba does business, have intelligence apparatus and almost all services are coordinated with the Americans, and if not, there are civil servants that, as they have in hand a sensitive information about Cuba, try the link to American services, which by the way, they pay very well for this information.
The most regrettable thing is that Americans are better informed services than we do about all the possible movements of our businessmen. And if that information is left running, ie build, it is an excellent way to bribery, blackmail and recruitment of any Cuban official.
Not that it always work, there may be who have become corrupted, but not left to recruit, because it is a very subtle. But who calls for corruption to enrich himself, it is very difficult to retain after even other values.
A Cuban official that in his relations with any foreign company is corrupted should know that such information might fall into the hands of the special services of any country and from there into the hands of North American services. Immediately a file is open, which continues to be filled until it is deemed necessary or appropriate to carry out an activity of official bribery, blackmail or recruitment.
This is not paranoic, it's foolish not to know that any sensitive information about Cuba, its activities abroad or with respect to any Cuban official, is considered useful, it is very well paid by the U.S. special services. And if at this point we do not know why we are liquidated.
It is thus a hidden area of the work of subversion against Cuba, in the medium and long term, producing very good political dividends. This is an area of the counter, that has nothing to do with the so-called dissidents, the small groups or the so-called "ladies in white."
Behold, how the weaknesses of some Cuban officials were already being transferred to the Spanish intelligence services. Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior, involved in drug trafficking -discovered by Cuba in 1989 but it was privileged information in the hands of the DEA, FBI and other U.S. special services.
Such actions would seriously affect the country's ability to move forward and is met -lide a mathematical algorithm- that the capacity of any nation to face the international confrontation, is measured primarily by its internal strength.
If Cuba could at least discover their corrupt beforehand, the damage would be lower.