Analyzing the Cuban situation....

[RadioRaheem84]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4R-BwKEfXc&feature=related

A gusano video by I believe Colombian media to discredit the Cuban Revolution. It basically shows how the poorest in Cuban Society are coping with the problems in Cuba. It's not a pretty picture but the media is obviously obfuscating the real issues.

Real problems suffered by the Cuban people in light of the Special Period and the economic stagnation the country has faced since the fall of it's biggest trading partner the USSR is being seen as a discredit to Cuban Socialism.

The media is actually taking advantage of Cuba's dark times and the despair the Cuban workers face under the shrinking economy and are spinning it into anti-socialist gold.

A.) Do they not realize that if Cuba caved in and opened it's markets to foreign investment that it would not raise living standards but them in the same boat as the rest of Latin America that has nothing to offer but cheap labor and a big chunk of their resources to exploit?

B.) Do they not see that despite the level of suffering that the average Cubans have faced during the Special Period and beyond that the Cuban Government still held to some extent a modicum of subsistence to their citizens, where as other nations that embraced neo-liberalism have left their poorest to die as in India, Russia (the whole East) and China.

Any other points that are missing from this picture? Any other points to counter imperialist propaganda? This is not an attempt to excuse the true problems facing the Cuban workforce and to give aid to the government. It is simply an attempt to analyze the situation in Cuba.

Any videos that you guys can link up that show the other side?

I also found this video trailer to a great doc. Anyone have a link to where I can watch the whole thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrRpyPDHiVg

CUBA: Defending Socialism and Fighting Imperialism....

[Chimurenga.]

http://vimeo.com/15363166

http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=14493&news_iv_ctrl=1261
http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=14494&news_iv_ctrl=1261

[ckaihatsu]

On 9/28/10, grok <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> For what it is worth, the U.S. Freedom Socialist Party has renounced
> all support[sic] for the PCC (Partido Comunista de Cuba): and now
> supports political revolution on the island in order to save the
> promise of the earlier, *social* Cuban Revolution (which was, in
> objective fact, primarily a *nationalist* [bourgeois] revolution with
> a thin 'socialist' veneer on it, as with most revolutions of the
> postwar period).
>
> And of course, like most people, they do not want to fully admit that
> they were wrong the whole time in giving even critical support to the
> PCC regime all this time (I myself have always given limited benefit
> of the doubt to the PCC and other like regimes -- while knowing full
> well that the odds were highly against any 'transformation' of
> stalinist bureaucratism into actual worker-controlled *real*
> socialism. And yet the possibility existed: as Marx and Engels
> themselves in fact held out faint hope for a 'parliamentary road' to
> socialism, simply because it _was_ 'objectively' possible... if not
> actually realistic in this Universe. And so I reserved judgement
> myself on the government of the Cuban Revolution. Until now.) But even
> if the FSP is not calling yet for political revolution in Cuba (the
> _social_ revolution having already 'officially' taken place, if only
> pro forma) -- they are _indeed_ calling for political revolution in
> Cuba, against the stalinist dictatorship. But first the preparation
> AND the Party for it.
>
> And so should we all be mobilizing -- for cubans and for ourselves --
> all the time understanding that cuban workers and farmers must make
> their own revolution, but with our help and solidarity: AND all the
> time keeping VERY much in mind that IN NO WAY must we allow the
> imperialists the 'wedge' that they need, to commence operations for
> the counter-revolutionary overthrow of the previous half-century of
> social-revolutionary gains. Few as they've been.
>
>
>
> All Power to the Workers' and Farmers' Councils and Communes.
>
> -- grok.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> TO SAVE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, A NEW SOCIALIST PARTY IS NEEDED:
> <http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/?q=node/1458>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> The Financiers & Banksters have looted untold trillions of our future
> earnings.
> Their bureaucratic police & military goons are here to make us all pay for
> it.
> Forever.
> Well FORGET THAT. Let's get it *ALL* back from them -- and more.
>
> **Socialist revolution NOW!!**
>
> Build the North America-wide General Strike.
> TODO el poder a los consejos y las comunas.
> TOUT le pouvoir aux conseils et communes.
> ALL power to the councils and communes.
>
> And beware the 'bait & switch' fraud: "Social Justice" is NOT *Socialism*...
>




Statement by the Freedom Socialist Party


To save the Cuban Revolution, a new socialist party is needed


October 2010

May Day 2010 march in Havana. Photo by Bob Price / FS

Half a century ago, the Cuban people ignited hope among the globe’s have-nots by making a revolution and building the first workers’ state in the West.

From the first, the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) passionately defended Cuba — defying the U.S. blockade, leading aid caravans, and more. The party was also frank about its disagreements with the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

Over the years, FSP criticized the government’s treatment of lesbians and gays, urged deeper change for women, raised concerns about persistent racism, and called for decision-making by workers and for consistent support to revolutionary uprisings elsewhere. In recent years, FSP argued against the hardening trend toward market “reforms” and privatization.

Unlike many Trotskyists, however, FSP did not call for political revolution, which entails forcibly replacing the existing leadership. As long as the PCC still responded to some extent to popular will, and a capitalist course did not seem irrevocably fixed, FSP believed it would be dangerously irresponsible to press for an alternative party. The right wing lies in wait for just such an opening.

Now, however, the PCC is unmistakably driving Cuba toward capitalist restoration while shutting down even potential opposition. This became clear for FSP members at a party convention in July through reports by recent visitors to the island and by members who closely studied events of the last few years. After intense discussion, FSP members concluded that the only possible way to save the Cuban Revolution is to create a new party willing to fight for a socialist program and contend for state leadership.

While it is still premature to call for political revolution, the crying need is to build an alternative leadership.

Brought to the brink. Inevitably, an anti-capitalist state exists precariously in a capitalist-dominated world. Cuba’s lot became far more difficult after the collapse of the USSR. Desperate for hard currency and technology — needed to keep people from starving — the government courted foreign investment.

Two decades later, the PCC no longer warns of market methods as treacherous necessities, but touts them. The incursion of capital is eroding stellar achievements in education, healthcare, literacy, and housing. Gossamer threads hold together the core of a workers’ state economy: nationalized property, control of foreign trade, and central planning. (For a full analysis, see "Cuba: Imperiled and Defiant — Can the Revolution Survive?")

Privatization is quickening. In July, the government revealed that one million Cubans will be phased out of state jobs and announced measures to encourage small businesses. In August, it relaxed controls on private sales by farmers and opened 99-year leases to foreigners planning golf resorts and other lavish developments. Then, in September, Fidel Castro told a U.S. journalist that the “Cuban model” doesn’t work — a seeming endorsement of recent “reforms.”

The PCC’s “free market” measures have greatly aggravated social inequality. Women and Black Cubans have lost the most, and their situation will worsen severely if capitalism returns.

Build a revolutionary party. One of Cuba’s main problems is the growth of an increasingly rigid bureaucracy. Workers do not control production or state policy. The government has promoted public discussions. But left critics assert, convincingly, that the real purpose of these is to win cooperation with already decided policies and to stigmatize people who disagree as counterrevolutionaries.

The PCC seems bent on squelching any possibility of correction by its own members. Last year, it indefinitely postponed its next Congress, at which left critics intended to present alternative economic policies and call for more democracy.

This spring, Cuban scholar Esteban Morales wrote that pervasive corruption is the revolution’s greatest threat and called on the PCC ranks to mobilize against it. He claimed that some officials are feathering their own nests as they ready for capitalism’s return. In response, the party booted him out.

In 2008, Cuban scientist Celia Hart told an FSP visitor that Cuba needs a party embracing the internationalism and uncompromising opposition to capitalism advocated by V.I. Lenin and Leon Trotsky. She anticipated taking up this challenge at some point in the future. Just weeks later, a car accident claimed her life.

Since then, the need for leadership to carry out an organized campaign for socialism has sharpened. Capitalist restoration could happen in a heartbeat.

Many in Cuba call for change, but they are not yet united politically or organizationally. Despite the challenges posed by the bureaucracy — indeed, because of those challenges — a disciplined, dedicated party is the only vehicle able to bring this unity about.

The party that the FSP is calling for is a revolutionary and internationalist socialist party. FSP believes that cornerstones of its program would include:

• Protect public ownership, reverse privatization and the invasion of foreign capital, and reassert central planning as the only way to meet people’s needs.

• Build genuine workers’ democracy, including means for workers to control production and make social policy.

• Material and political support to revolutionary uprisings internationally. Contrary to Stalinist notions of appeasing imperialism, this is the best security for Cuba’s own revolution.

Will defenders of socialism in Cuba be able to build such a party? There are no guarantees, but it’s clear that no other road now exists to save the revolution. And it may be that comradeship from abroad will encourage and support Cuban leftists in this essential task.

For too long, the solidarity movement has seen any critique of the PCC as treason — but the true betrayal is to hide from reality. Only a party that is still honestly confident in socialism can give Cuba the strength to hold on until U.S. imperialism is brought down in its homeland. The duty of Cuba’s friends is not to stick to “my party, right or wrong.” It is to support a break with the past that will make possible the future of liberation for which so many Cubans have lived, fought and died.

¡Viva la Revolución cubana!

This article in Spanish / Este artículo en español

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[RadioRaheem84]

Two totally different outlooks!

[ckaihatsu]

Two totally different outlooks!


Both the FSP and PSL maintain their anti-imperialist position in regards to Cuba's external world -- particularly the U.S. empire -- but the FSP notes that the Special Period has left the door open and now things are on a slippery slope, basically out of the control of the Cuban Communist Party.

At the same time the PSL seems to tacitly condone the Communist Party of China's ongoing "socialism with Chinese characteristics" while warning that Cuba could *not* hope to do the same kind of thing without being swamped by U.S. capitalism.





When the Communist Party of China introduced a vast private sector in 1978, they described it not as a temporary retreat from socialism, but as a strategic, long-term policy that was desired. They called the creation of a vast capitalist market “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Foreign corporations were invited in. These corporations were offered the chance to make mega profits from the employment of low-wage labor in China, while China has sought to harness economic benefits, increase income and acquire technology as part of the terms of the deal. The Communist Party of China is aware that the creation of a Chinese bourgeoisie constitutes a political danger, and that the U.S. government will inevitably seek to overthrow the government in China. But China feels that it is strong enough to manage the situation.

Cuba is not China. China is huge and far away from the United States. The U.S. capitalist establishment believes that Cuba should belong to it—as it once did—and the capitalists are enraged over the perseverance and tenacity of the revolutionary government.

http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=14493&news_iv_ctrl=1261

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Having been to Cuba and stayed in Centro Habana myself, the first video is certainly not representative of living conditions. Most people live with basic comforts - from a top floor place I was staying in I could see into many apartments on the street I was in, which wasn't even one of the more well off areas of Havana. None of them were what was represented in your first video.

[RadioRaheem84]

Having been to Cuba and stayed in Centro Habana myself, the first video is certainly not representative of living conditions. Most people live with basic comforts - from a top floor place I was staying in I could see into many apartments on the street I was in, which wasn't even one of the more well off areas of Havana. None of them were what was represented in your first video.


Well that is good to know. But where there people living in poverty? What you're saying is that conditions were not this bad for any Cuban?

I am sure the media new team chose the most desolate Cuban, but the point was I still think the media exploit the real suffering of the Cuban people after the fall of the USSR and because of the embargo.

[neosyndic]

x

[RadioRaheem84]

Question:

How does a socialist nation allow for foreign investment without allowing for that capital to exploit it's workers? What kind of return on those investments do investors expect?

[ckaihatsu]

Question:

How does a socialist nation allow for foreign investment without allowing for that capital to exploit it's workers? What kind of return on those investments do investors expect?


The implications of China for world socialism

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/cha1-m09.shtml

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Well that is good to know. But where there people living in poverty? What you're saying is that conditions were not this bad for any Cuban?

I am sure the media new team chose the most desolate Cuban, but the point was I still think the media exploit the real suffering of the Cuban people after the fall of the USSR and because of the embargo.

Well, appreciate that my opinion is obviously subjective because I didn't trawl every street in Havana analysing the socio-economic situation.

However, given that Centro Habana is one of the less well off areas in Cuba, it's fair to say that people do live in what we in the west would term 'relative poverty'. That said, the poverty shown in that video is something that I did not come across. Everyone that I both spoke to and observed were unhappy to a certain extent with the economic situation, but everyone was housed, clothes (well clothed!), fed and had certain amenities. The problems there, from a causal point of view, are purely economic, but there is of course the possibility of social unrest being built into the equation. I fear for Cuba under Raul's 'reforms', mind. Capitalism seems to be the heading, i'm afraid.:(

[RadioRaheem84]

The implications of China for world socialism

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/cha1-m09.shtml

thanks comrade, but I was referring to the Cuban situation. I should've been more specific. What are the dynamics of the private enterprises investors have invested in Cuba?

[ckaihatsu]

Here -- just came across this at another thread -- the revolutionary leftist's "Readers Digest" version....








Its principle international backer in the first decades of the revolution was, of course, the Soviet Union. Denied its geographically ‘natural’ trading partner in the USA, the USSR bought up Cuba’s sugar crop in bulk; this, and other subsidies, kept the Cuban economy afloat. After the fall of the Soviet Bloc in 1989-91, Cuba was plunged into crisis.

Since then, the response of the Cuban state has been to begin edging down the Chinese road - to a mixed economy of state-owned and privately-owned enterprises. The first form this took was the extension of the tourist industry, around which has grown almost an entire economy of its own. The convertible peso, a second currency, was created in order to allow tourists to pay their way without using US dollars.

The amount of money sloshing around in the tourist districts may not look enormous to western eyes - but a $5 tip is a quarter of a week’s wages in Cuba; on top of that, luxury goods are sold almost exclusively in the convertible currency, and wages paid, for the most part, in the non-convertible national peso. Understandably, there has followed general under-utilisation of skilled labour, as engineers and doctors get work as busboys and waiters to obtain riches beyond the purview of their professions.

The large scale privatisation, then, has a serious objective basis - it should not be viewed in standard left-Stalinist terms, as the subjective betrayals of a section of the Cuban leadership (as the Maoists put it, ‘capitalist roaders’). The economic difficulties facing Cuba are real, and need to be dealt with somehow. Pushing onwards to full socialism is impossible in an isolated country - the capitalist road is the only one open to Raul and Fidel under present circumstances.

Indeed, Cuba’s main diplomatic allies in the region are the left-led capitalist regimes of Venezuela and so forth. Hugo Chavez offers discounted oil; in return, Cuba offers medical aid and its own exports. Links with China are also deepening. In this context, it is only natural that the Soviet model of ossified state capitalism should fall by the wayside.

[RadioRaheem84]

Well, appreciate that my opinion is obviously subjective because I didn't trawl every street in Havana analysing the socio-economic situation.

However, given that Centro Habana is one of the less well off areas in Cuba, it's fair to say that people do live in what we in the west would term 'relative poverty'. That said, the poverty shown in that video is something that I did not come across. Everyone that I both spoke to and observed were unhappy to a certain extent with the economic situation, but everyone was housed, clothes (well clothed!), fed and had certain amenities. The problems there, from a causal point of view, are purely economic, but there is of course the possibility of social unrest being built into the equation. I fear for Cuba under Raul's 'reforms', mind. Capitalism seems to be the heading, i'm afraid.:(

I've noticed that a lot of the Cubans in the vids I've seen are quite fashionable. Where do they get their digs considering the blockade?

So you think that Cuba is headed down the China path too ,eh? Even with ALBA around the corner? Maybe they're just trying to have the Venezuelan model of two economies sitting side by side to each other (not that that works).

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Raheem - Check my other thread, where i've been enquiring about the viability of Cuba securing an independent and, more importantly, Socialist economic future by integrating itself with ALBA and the new SUCRE currency, and also with the South American version of our EU - IRASUR.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

There's also certainly a lot of fake designer gear going around in Cuba, to address your other point.

One of the guys I stayed with in Centro Habana was an electrician, so i'm assuming he was employed by the state and not paid more than the average worker, yet he kitted himself out in a whole host of (probably fake) designer gear, had a huge television in his apartment, etc.

There's certainly some luxury goods around in Havana, there is a big clothes store in Parque Central selling pretty nice clothes, although out of any normal person's (and, to my consternation, to mine also!) price range.

Just a shame that milk still costs $5 or more for a small, warm, non-pasteurised bag. Fuck the embargo.:(

[RadioRaheem84]

How do people even get by with milk costing five pesos and the average monthly salary being 20 pesos?

Something is not right here.

Do many Cubans have side jobs?

[RadioRaheem84]

Raheem - Check my other thread, where i've been enquiring about the viability of Cuba securing an independent and, more importantly, Socialist economic future by integrating itself with ALBA and the new SUCRE currency, and also with the South American version of our EU - IRASUR.

Link to the other thread?

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Well, there is of course the state food ration, so many staples seem to be found in all fridges - copious amounts of jam, cheese, bread, delicious fruit. The stores do sell cheap wheat/maize staples - pasta, rice and drink is all readily available at knockdown prices.
I'm not sure how plentiful amounts of good meat is procured. Most of it is shite, granted. I've seen lobster being caught and sold 'on the side', so to speak.

I've no idea how the milk thing goes, i'd assume that a portion is included in the state monthly food ration, though I never saw huge amounts of milk around, tbh.

You may or may not be familiar with the informal profession of the Jineteros/as, or informal hustlers. Not hustlers in a particularly aggressive sense, just normal Cubans who want you, as a conspicous gringo, to buy them a drink and spend an hour or two having a perfectly friendly chat.

There is also prostitution which, while I evidence it there, isn't quite as widespread as some make out.

Also, link to the other thread: http://www.revleft.org/vb/showthread.php?t=142577

Would appreciate some feedback on my ideas in that thread.

[RadioRaheem84]

thanks for the link comrade.

BTW, would you have any idea on just how the Cuban State controls foreign investment so as to not allow for their workers to be exploitated?

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Well, that was a good question, and after a bit of research, I have a good, not to mention interesting, answer for you:

http://www.cubaminrex.cu/english/look_cuba/economy/economy_about%20foreign%20investment.htm

^^^ From the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here is the text:

INTRODUCTION

The study of the Cuban experience of the first sixty years of the 20th century shows that the total deregulation of the economy and of the investment process did not bring about the required conciliation between national interests and those of foreign investors. Economic policies and strategies were required, supported by adequate instruments to implement them that would better guide the investment flows.

Toward 1925, 75% of the main productions and basic services (communications, power generation, oil refining) were carried out by foreign enterprises. The banking system was controlled by U.S. and English banks. A total of 80% of the best cultivated lands were in the hands of sugar and cattle corporations from the United States, and this country controlled 75% of Cuban foreign trade.A few years later, the U.S. enterprises displaced the companies from other countries, and 95% of the accumulated foreign investment corresponded to them. Economic control of society went hand in hand with political control.During the decade of the fifties wide facilities were created with the purpose of undertaking a tourist development lan, and credits were granted with national re-sources to encourage foreign companies to build hotels in Cuba.

In 1959 foreign investments in Cuba came to an end. The companies were nationalized and agreements were signed with almost all countries whose enterprises or citizens had been affected with the purpose of granting due compensation. Although the Cuban government proposed a plan to compensate the U.S. companies and citizens, it has not been possible to discuss that plan - or any other - since the U.S. administrations have refused to do so and have forbidden the affected enterprises and individuals to negotiate directly with Cuba.

POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK
In 1988 a new stage opened when the first joint venture was created between a Cuban enterprise and a Spanish company with the purpose of building a hotel in the tourist resort of Varadero on the basis of Decree-Law No. 50 of 1982.

From 1991 to 1994, foreign investment was accelerated as one of the important steps taken by the Cuban authorities to recover from the serious impact to the Cuban economy caused by the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the economic links with other Socialist countries in the framework of the Council of Mutual Economic Aid (COMECON). This impact resulted in the loss of 35% of Cuba's GDP in the first three years of the nineties with strong economic and social effects. From 1997 on, foreign investment further expanded and more complex deals were agreed with important partners in newly opened sectors.

Today, investors from 46 countries operate in almost 400 ventures in 32 sectors of the Cuban economy; 52 % of those investors are from European Union countries: 24% from Spain, almost 15% from Italy, 4% from France, 3.5% from the United Kingdom. Tourism, Oil and Gas, Mining,Energy and Telecoms are the main sectors of investment. Thus, foreign direct investment, focused on the search for new external markets, competitive technologies and financing (mainly long term) has played an important role in the country's economic recovery.

Cuba is located in a region whose share in world investment flows is rapidly growing. This, together with the country's potential and prospects for attachment to the Latin American integration process, makes hundreds of business people contact the Economic Office of the Cuban Embassy in London in search for information about investment opportunities.

Foreign investment is not associated to a privatisation process in Cuba; it is rather focused on specific objectives that complement national development efforts. Hence it is important to note what those objectives are and and the space they offer for foreign capital involvement.

In 1992, the National Assembly of the People's Power (Cuba's Parliament) approved a number of ammendments to the Constitution of the Republic with a view to recognising forms of ownership other than the State ownership.Joint ventures were legalised and FDI-associated aspects defined. The latter include: the recognition by the Cuban State of the assets of legally constituted joint ventures and economic partnerships, and their use, enjoyment and disposal shall be governed by the provisions of the law and treaties, as well as by their own by-laws and rules.

A new Foreign Investment Legislation (Law No.77) was passed in 1995. This legislation is in line with international practice. Some of the regulations thereof are:

Ø Foreign investment in Cuba may adopt the form of: a Joint Company, an Economic Association Contract or a Wholly-owned Foreign Company -where the investor is acknowledged full conduction of the company and enjoyment of all rights, as well as the responsibility for all the obligations stipulated in the authorisation

Ø The authorisation of investments in Cuba is a faculty of the State. There are two organs empowered to grant authorisations: the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers and a Government Commission appointed by that Council, according to the case.

The procedure to obtain the authorization results from a previous negotiation between the national investor and the foreign investor, in the case of a joint venture of a contract of international economic association, or between the foreign investor and the ministry in charge of the corresponding branch, sub-branch or economic activity in which the investment is to be carried out, which is the case of a company totally of foreign capital. Both parties, the national and the foreign investor, will submit the corresponding application to the Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC) to examine and channel the proposal for final approval. Once the required economic and legal documentation on the proposed business has been prepared and submitted to MINVEC, the decision denying or approving such foreign investment is handed down within a period of 90 calendar days.

Ø Some of the guarantees granted to investors, as provided for in the Law include:full protection and security; their asset cannot be expropriated, save cases of extreme social interest, in which case prior compensation to be paid; tax-free freely transfer of their dividends; right to sell or transfer, subject to prior authorisation by the Government, their shares.

Ø Foreign investors can directly export and import whatever is necessary for their purposes.

Ø A special taxation regime provides for:

. the application of a 30% net profit tax and,

. the application of a 11% payroll tax and 14% as a employer's contribution to social security which apply to the total wages and other income that may be received by workers of the entity except those granted as economic stimulation.

Ø Authorisation for the establishment of duty free zones and industrial parks in properly delimited regions within the Cuban territory.

Ø Foreign investment in Cuba has increased.Today almost 400 joint ventures are operating in the country , with a strong presence in sectors such as mining, oil prospecting and extraction, tourism, industries and telecommunication. Lately other ventures and negotiations have expanded in new sectors, such as power generation by natural gas, expansion of the cities domestic gas supplies, etc.

Ø Investors from more than 40 countries have placed their capital in Cuba. Outstanding among them are: Spain, Canada, Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

The Economic Office of the Cuban Embassy in London can help with the general and specific information that may be necessary to participate in the Cuban foreign investment procedure: including the organisation of contacts, meetings or other arrangements with Cuban officials or possible counterparts which could facilitate British investment.

CUBA'S COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Cuba's comparative advantages for foreign investment include the following:

Ø A highly skilled labor capable of assimilating, in a short period of time, any new technology;

Adequate infrastructure; 95% of the national territory is electrified; additionally, the country's basic infrastructure in terms of power generation and distribution, oil extraction, prospection and refining, and communications, has remained and even developed supported by foreign investment.

Ø Social stability and safety climate for foreign investors;

Ø Bilateral agreements on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments entered into with more than 50 countries, and 5 agreements for the avoidance of double taxation, while others are being negotiated.

FREE ZONES AND INDUSTRIAL PARKS
After approval of Law No.77 of Foreign Investment, Decree Law No. 165 on Free Zones and Industrial Parks was issued on June 22, 1996. This legislation defines Free Zones as areas within the national territory, duly limited, without a resident population , of free import and export of goods, not linked to the customs boundaries. Industrial, trade, agriculture, technological and services activities will be allowed in this area under application of a special regime.

This special regime is concerned with regulations relative to the customs, banking, tax, labour, migratory and public order systems, less burdensome and strict than the ordinary regulations, as shown below:

Customs regime:

- It rules the total exception of custom duties and other duties to be collected by customs for the introduction of goods destined to the development of the authorized activities;

Tax regime:

- For concessionaires and operators of productive activities there is total exemption of income taxes and taxes for the use of labor force, for a period of 12 years, and a bonus of 50% for another 5 years.

- In the case of operators of trade and service activities, the total exemption of the above mentioned taxes will be for 5 years, and the 50% bonus for another 3 years.

- More favorable exemptions may be granted after particular analysis of each case, and the terms may be extended.

Concessionary:

Promotes and develops with his own resources the necessary infrastructure for the operation of the duty free zone and assumes or delegates its management.

Operator:

Is authorized to establish himself in the duty free zone in order to carry out production, trade or service activity.

Banking and financial regime:

- The possibility exists of establishing banking and financial services if the license is previously obtained from Banco Central de Cuba;

- The capital obtained from operations may be freely transferred abroad; and

Labor regime:

- The Ministry of Labor and Social Security will determine the minimum salaries.

- The concessionary of mixed capital may act as employing entity to engage his workers and those required by the operator. The concessionary of wholly foreign capital will engage the workers through an entity proposed by the Ministry for Foreign Investment and approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Other incentives of the Cuban legislation are the following:

- It creates a system that allows the investor to perform any application or handling before state entities or institutions through a sole point or Central Office at the Free Zone.

- It allows the operator to allocate up to 25% of the goods resulting from his activities in the domestic market.

- For reasons of availability of labor force, transportation or handling of raw materials, the operator may be authorized to perform specific activities outside the duty free zone area.

- Both concessionaires and operators may purchase goods and services offered by the country's enterprises outside the area where they are established. In this regard, a program of cooperation between the industries located in the duty free zone and the national industry is being drawn up.

These regulations are applicable to concessionaries and operators of free zones as incentives for investment.

There are 3 zones operating: Berroa and Wajay, both in the City of Havana, and Mariel in the Province of Havana, with 365 authorised operators.

THE MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

The Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC) is the Central Administration Agency of the Cuban Estate responsible for governing and controlling the foreign investment process and the development of Free Zones and Industrial Parks. It is also in charge of preparing the relevant legislation in this field.

Its main functions include:

Ø Promotion of inward and outward foreign investment;

Ø Guiding the negotiation process for the establishment of economic associations or any other forms of foreign investment;

Ø Assestment of compliance with the bases and principles set forth for economic associations between Cuban and foreign entities;

Ø Implementation of the economic cooperation policy; governing and controlling the development of the technical assistence provided to and by the country;

Ø Preparation, negotiation and signing of agreements and conventions entered into with official foreign institutions dealing with foreign investment.

THE INVESTMENT PROMOTION CENTRE

The Ministry for Foreign Investment has, since 1994, its own Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) which is responsible for promoting the existing business opportunities for foreign capital involvement in Cuba, as well as overseas investment by Cuban companies.

Main services provided by CPI include:

Ø Provision of up-to-date information on the country, foreign investment regulations, and opportunities for foreign investment involvement in the domestic economy;

Ø To arrange meetings with would-be Cuban partners for foreign investors interested in investing in Cuba;

Ø To prepare for business delegations the required program of meetings with Cuban agencies and entities, as well as to organise tours to places of business interest;

Ø Provision of information on investment-aid programmes that may favor investment flows into Cuba;

Ø Organising investment seminars, lectures, meetings, events and fora, both in Cuba and abroad;

Ø Making consultations within Cuba or from abroad in connection with the feasibility of any investment project in particular;

Ø Provision of up-to-date information to the business press and international institutions that contribute to promote investment;

Ø Overseas promotion of investment by Cuban companies with comparative advantages.

To render such services, CPI relies on a highly qualified staff composed of updated experts with broad knowledge and skills on business promotion techniques used at international level and for the carrying out of opportunity-prefeasibility studies. This group of experts works jointly with national organisations and entities in defining projects for foreign capital involvement.

This all seems rather capitalist to me. I've seen words like 'incentives' and 'capital' used. The 'duty free zones' and 'industrial parks' sound suspiciously like the SEZs in China. I didn't realise this had been going on for almost 20 years. Amazing what you can find sometimes. Very disappointing, this is.

[LETSFIGHTBACK]

the formula of political revolution does not apply to cuba, because cuba is not an example of existing socialism. the formula of "political revolution" was proposed by Leon Trotsky on the premise of there existing a priori an existing socialism that has "degenerated" or has been the subject of "deformation". there has never been a state of existing socialism in cuba that could have "degenerated".

this call for "political revolution" is out of context, absurd and irresponsible; sadly characteristic of the theoretical bankruptcy of the anglo-saxon subset of the western left; incapable of creating its own language and analysis to discern the objective realities of the present, forever quoting Marx and Trotsky in the manner a puritan colonist would have quoted the old testament, forever postrate to liberal prejudices and values, forever pandering to the mythical "lesser evil" and to the "politically correct" as substitute for any credible action to DEFEAT global capitalism and not capitulate to it. the anglo-saxon subset of the western left has degenerated completely; borderline to becoming as openly counterrevolutionary as the social-liberal and social democrat satraps it apes so consistently.

in defense of Mr.Trotsky; the theory of the political revolution will be useful AFTER existing socialism is accomplished in the ALBA context as a product of the successful conclusion of the second independence against United State imposed neocolonialism; when AMERICA LATINA OBRERA (the workers latin america) is in control; THEN it will be necessary for the workers to be on guard against the possibility of bureaucratic degeneration. the liberated OBREROS SIN PATRON (workers without bosses) of the future must be always ready to enact political revolutions against any one person or group that attempts to take power away from them. Mr Trotskys' theory will be there to serve as reference to the Obreros Sin Patron of the future, to arm them politically.

the freedom socialist group is placing the cart before the horse; and dangerously giving a "left" cover to the miami based couterevolutionary mafia. a "revolution" against the government of the revolution in cuba would only be used by the united states as an opportunity to return cuba to pre-1956 neocolonial status. such an outcome would be disastrous to the second independence of latin america as Cuba is the first and only latin american country to have accomplished national liberation form united states imposed neocolonialism.

there will be no ripe fruit falling on washingtong's lap or the freedom socialist sect anytime soon.

ii.

very anglo-saxon puritan to utilise the term "saved". is the freedom socialist sect arguing for a tent revival in havana perhaps ?

a few comments on the declaration issued by the FSP:

1. The situation for the LGBT community in cuba was radically improved in the 1990's. Sexual relations between same-sex consenting adults 16 and over have been legal in Cuba since 1979; this was one of the progressive transformations accomplished in cuba after the consolidation of Revolutionary Democray in 1975. Havana now has a lively and vibrant gay scene. Anti-homophobic educational campaigns on LGBT issues are currently implemented by the National Center for Sex Education, the Cuban GLBT community is very well organised in context of Cuba's system of collective representation of socially organised actors (the premise of the post-liberal revolutionary democracy).Cuba is a country where citizens can have sex reassignment surgery for free.

2. The "racism" charge is ridiculous. no country in the americas has had more affirmative action for women and afro-descendent populations than cuba. it is typical for anglo-saxon leftists to cite the nostrums of liberal identity politics out of their cultural context, usually when there is no basis in objective argumentation and as a substitute for these.



3. There is no "herding train" towards market reforms and privatisation in Cuba. the efficiency reforms taking place in cuba at present constitute the second phase of a technical and social process of reorganisation of the cuban economy that will permit the cuban revolutionary democracy to integrate itself into ALBA and create the objective conditions for the emergence of an existing socialism in context of the greater process of second Latin American independence now under way. the government of the cuban revolution is not "driving Cuba toward capitalist restoration", quite the contrary it is working to enhance the basis of objective liberation from neocolonial status in context of seeking to create the conditions for the emergence of a viable and sustainable existing socialism.

4. it remains the case that it is dangerously irresponsible, unnecessary and uncalled for to press for an "alternative party" in cuba. (what sort of "party" is the FSP calling for ? yet another social liberal satrap ?) The "right wing" (the miami based CIA linked gusano mafia and the United States government) lies in wait for just such an opening, in order to return Cuba to neocolonial status. the fall of the cuban revolutionary government would significantly undermine the process of second independence in Latin America.

5. there is no need or call in cuba to "build an alternative leadership". the governemt of the cuban revolution is acting rationally and within the parameters of dialectical understanding to carry out necessary reforms that will create objective conditions for the emergence of direct working class rule in context of latin american second independence. if the proposals of the freedom socialist sect where enacted the only "alternative leadership" taking power would be that of the gusanos and the CIA behind them.

6. there has been no "incursion of capital"; rather during the first phase of the reform process (2003-2008) substantial joint venture investment by Chinese, Brasilian, Italian, Venezuelan and Spanish investors have allowed the upgrade of cuba's fiber optics network, telecommunications, transportation and energy grids. cuba is the only nation in the americas that has solar powered schools and public buildings. the government of the cuban revolution takes very seriously the need for ecologically sustainable growth and development. this first phase of technical reorganisation of production made it possible for cuba's GDP to grow 7% in 2007. there was a contraction in GDP growth after 2008, but that is the result of the impact of the global dinancial crisis and cannot be blamed on the government of the cuban revolution. precisely because this contraction in growth took place after 2008 it is necessary to expedite the rationalisations, retraining and reallocation of cuba's labour force in context of accelerating integration with Venezuela in context of ALBA and the new SUCRE monetary system. /n2

I have to say, there is something not right here. It seems to me your comments are peppered with counter revolutionary paranoia when a person criticizes the existing leadership. it is really sad, when it comes to Castro, how various groups become all mushy and star struck, and have forgotten that to have a top down bureaucratic caste lording over the people, to pass any economic policy, regardless of what the people feel about it, without the input of the people,or workers councils is not socialism. and if you criticize the policies, and organize the people against them in a truely democratic group whose representatives are elected by the people and subjected to instant recall anytime,it is people like you that have thrown true marxism, true socialism out the window, because now if any person or group expresses opposition to those policies, they are labled "dangerously irresponsible" or "a CIA trap". whats next, a mass round up and and being throw in prison.

[pranabjyoti]

Comrade El Granma, you are a Cuban and I think you can best answer the question. How prospective Cuba is for foreign scientists and qualified people to continue their research and new ideas? I hope you know that one of main reason of US to be a world leader is the supply of brains around the world to it, specially from third world countries. Can you tell me how many scientists and technical people, who are not born and brought up in Cuba are now working in Cuba?
Secondly, how prospective Cuba is for "not so qualified" innovative people? US has many drawbacks and problems, but it's a very good point that there you don't need to have "some level of educational qualification" to be innovative. Bill Gates doesn't need a college degree to be the IT pioneer.
I have raised this issues in some other posts, but rarely got a response and the responses are too much superficial so far. I hope your reply wouldn't belong to that category.

[RadioRaheem84]

El Granma, thanks for the link.

It seems like the situation in Cuba in regards to foreign investment seems a lot like the Chinese and Vietnamese free zones. I am assuming that Cuba still retains a little more control, but I hardly read anything on just how this affects workers on the island?

Are they being exploited because of these investments? I am assuming so since no investor would want a low added value from their investment so they have to be getting something out participating with Cuba and it has to be due to cheap labor.

[ckaihatsu]

http://links.org.au/node/1916


Cuba: Economic changes and the future of socialism -- interview with Cuban professor José Bell Lara


Urban organic food garden in Cuba.

[PHOTO]

Dr José Bell Lara, professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Havana (FLACSO-Cuba), interviewed by Johannes Wilm. Bell Lara has written essays such as "Globalisation and Cuban Revolution" (2002) and "Cuban socialism within Globalisation" (2007), and is part of the international advisory board of the journal Critical Sociology. This interview was conducted in Havana in September 2010.

* * *

Johannes Wilm: The Cuban government recently announced some changes. Among other things, it will be possible for more people to work independently. What is it that Cubans expect from these changes?

[ckaihatsu]

Well, that was a good question, and after a bit of research, I have a good, not to mention interesting, answer for you:

http://www.cubaminrex.cu/english/look_cuba/economy/economy_about%20foreign%20investment.htm

^^^ From the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here is the text:







This all seems rather capitalist to me. I've seen words like 'incentives' and 'capital' used. The 'duty free zones' and 'industrial parks' sound suspiciously like the SEZs in China. I didn't realise this had been going on for almost 20 years. Amazing what you can find sometimes. Very disappointing, this is.


This practically sounds like a *&^#@$%! prospectus....

I'd just like to add that 'self-employed' should be / should have been setting off alarm bells with us -- I've heard this kind of language from the likes of nationalist libertarians who use the term in a joking manner whenever they're away from their day trading for a few moments....

From Stalinist, revisionist Cuba this is nothing but the policy of pure capitulation -- it's effectively turning an entire section of the workers of that former quasi-collectivist state into lumpen-proletarians, inevitably to become dependent on wherever hard currency can be sourced from -- Western tourism, as a foot in the door. Then this prospectus for SEZs, etc....

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Yep, the hard currency point is a big issue. The dual economy has meant there is huge demand, from Cubans as well as tourists, for hard currency - CUC especially, but also GBP and EUR. Because there is a flourishing market a la izquierda (on the left - meaning the black market, basically) which deals mainly in hard currency, the CUP is not valued by ordinary Cubans as a currency and is thus worthless. Many Cubans told me that as soon as they get their salary, which is worth around $15CUC per month (they receive it in national pesos, though), they try to transfer it as much as they can into convertible pesos, because with this they can buy non-rationed foods and other household goods - soap, for example.

Pranabjyoti - I am not a Cuban, first of all. My knowledge of the island comes from a visit I made a few months ago. Obviously, as a particularly interested observer, I took much more in than your average visitor. My first hand knowledge, of course, is only relating to Havana city and Havana province (to the east), where I stayed.

In terms of exploitation of people, as far as I know, in the inner city where I was there was not much of this. People generally recieve their $15CUC or so state salary per month, plus maybe $10CUC in pension payments, although i'm not so sure about the pensions situation.
Those who are self-employed, have been up until now, literally 'one man band' people, so to speak. Research the paladares for a typical example of a self-employed person in Cuba. In all fairness, I have no problem with the self-employed people who run paladares (basically a restaurant in their own home, with tight restrictions on the type of food sold, number of people that can be seated at one time [12] and a high fee paid to the state every month). It is not capitalist, it involves only national pesos and is a pretty fair deal for both the people who serve, the people who eat and also the Cuban state.

[RadioRaheem84]

El Granman, sorry to bother you with all the questions

I was wondering about exploitation going on in the tourist zones where foreign investment is high. Are workers exploited in the businesses where foreign investment is high? Oil extraction, tourist industry, biotechnology?

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Honestly, I couldn't tell you about oil and biotech extraction.

As far as tourism goes, most tourism is state-sponsored, so no, there's not exploitation per se.

As I said earlier, the main problem with tourism is that it has combined with dual currency - tourists come with lots of hard currency and it means that the national peso is just worthless and unwanted. You can't get many goods with the national peso, hence the difficulties for ordinary Cubans.

[etjusticepourtous]

You fucking idiot, that's fucking normal. I live in the Dominican Republic, a supposed democracy and people live worst than that. You're just brainwashed from living in America or wherever you live. You have to understand that poverty will exist wherever you go, there a lot of democracies that have worst living conditions than Cuba.

[RadioRaheem84]

Brainwashed? I am not knocking the Cuban Revolution. I was saying the entire time that Cuba's economic woes are being deliberately misinterpreted by the media as a socialist problem, when it has a lot to do with the Embargo and the loss of their major trading partner; the USSR.

[etjusticepourtous]

Brainwashed? I am not knocking the Cuban Revolution. I was saying the entire time that Cuba's economic woes are being deliberately misinterpreted by the media as a socialist problem, when it has a lot to do with the Embargo and the loss of their major trading partner; the USSR.

I'm sorry I misinterpreted your post. :)

[neosyndic]

x

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

You fucking idiot, that's fucking normal. I live in the Dominican Republic, a supposed democracy and people live worst than that. You're just brainwashed from living in America or wherever you live. You have to understand that poverty will exist wherever you go, there a lot of democracies that have worst living conditions than Cuba.

Comrade, not that I am one to preach or patronise, but you'd do well to adopt a more conciliatory tone. We're (mostly!) all on the same side here.