redstar2000
1st October 2003, 13:31
Generally, I dislike long "cut & paste" posts as much as most people.
This one is an exception--a criticism of Cuba from the anarchist position.
I think it should give us all something to think about.
:redstar2000:
===============
Proletarian solidarity? A large delegation of syndicalists arrive in La Havana to the sound of La Marseillaise. Because paper supports anything that is written on it, it is stated that they came to "strengthen the bonds of friendship and exchanges with the Cuban workers from the food industry", already established for a decade. But they did not visit the crumbling, half-paralyzed or non-productive factories of this industry, they did not care to inform themselves about the hard reality these workers must endure and even less, the systematic violation of the workers labour and social rights. Either they didn't have time or it was not "part of the programme" for the virtual visit to this paradise of "revolutionary" labour.
They were met by Pedro Ros Leal, general secretary of the Cuban Workers' Central, at the headquarters of the institution [a branch of the Cuban Communist Party - tr]. There, they only hear talk about productivity, victories, emulations, great achievement at work, efficient ways to better the quality of life, all those nonexistent facts on the other side of those doors in this building where they tend the tomb of the Cuban workers' rights. The members of the Agro-food Federation (FNAF) of the French CGT had no opportunity to witness "in situ" the reality behind the cocktails, the "Cuba Libres" and other liquid and solid specialties offered to them by those "representing" the Cuban proletariat.
With a monthly income of 265 pesos - ten dollars at the official exchange rate - the workers in the Cuban food industry from can buy just one litre of oil, a kilo of meat and some instant soup cubes to survive for the whole month.
Beyond that they need - but have no right to demand - minimal decent working conditions, shoes and clothing, adequate tools and machinery, or respect for the collective work agreements between the unions and the bosses - the State - as there are about 58,000 workers who, subjected to the different so-called stimulation systems for production results, services and a reduction of costs for raw materials, received just 57% of their earnings for the year 2000, and less than that for 2001 and 2002.
Not to mention the lack of liberty to organise themselves in self-managed unions, independently from the State.
This reality, where frequently there are disgraceful situations regarding obligations outside working hours, namely ideological and political brain-washing, was surely not brought to the attention of the FNAF by the CTC officials.
While Christian Alliawne, general secretary of the FNAF and head of the visiting delegation was saying "surely from now on, this already close relationship will become even closer", the independent syndicalists Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, Carmelo Díaz Fernández, Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, Nelson Molinet Espino, Héctor Raúl Valle Hernández, Lázaro Felipe Fuentes and Iván Hernández Carrillo, are suffering prison sentences of between 12 and 26 years in different prisons on the Island, for having defended the rights of a working class which, according to the French delegation, lives in liberty, something only possible due to their blindness or to the exploiters' confabulations.
If in Cuba there is no freedom; if equality is a dream and fraternity a sarcasm, the unavoidable question is: why don't they go elsewhere with their Marseillaise and stop playing the game of those who, instead of representing the workers and their interests, repress and exploit them, and try to hide all this by firing people from their jobs or throwing them into prison or, at the very least, manipulating information?
If the Cuban-French syndicalist encounter was in reality for the good of the workers, the French syndicalists should have demanded that their Cuban peers, as a bare minimum, put into practice the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), something which would have represented a true act of solidarity.
The Cuban proletariat today is subjected to double oppression: by international Capital, which is once more getting its claws into the Island, making it again a paradise for exploiters, and by the Castrofascist dictatorship that refuses the right to self-organisation and, with this, the right to strike and to demand better living conditions. This is why the proletariat comes back to the fore of History and opposes itself clearly to the Capital and the State.
The present-day fight of the Cuban proletariat against Castroist totalitarianism is remarkable for its increasing tendency to self-organise and for its proletarian practice against capitalist exploitation, against the State, for their living conditions and in defiance of the impositions of the party and the official union.
For international solidarity! Solidarity with the Cuban People, not with Castro! For the revolutionary destruction of the market society! For Libertarian Communism!
Cuban Libertarian Movement (in Exile) September 2003 [source: red-libertaria.net ] [translation by A-Infos]
=====================
Two small points, one good, one bad.
To appeal to the "conventions" of the "International Labor Organization" demonstrated either foolishness or ignorance. The ILO is international capital's "tame" labor organization. You might just as well "appeal" to the World Bank!
On the other hand, the demand for the revolutionary destruction of the market society is, in my view, entirely correct!
Not because it is "do-able" in the immediate future (in Cuba), but because it shows the right direction to take.
I look forward with interest to your comments.
http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas
This one is an exception--a criticism of Cuba from the anarchist position.
I think it should give us all something to think about.
:redstar2000:
===============
Proletarian solidarity? A large delegation of syndicalists arrive in La Havana to the sound of La Marseillaise. Because paper supports anything that is written on it, it is stated that they came to "strengthen the bonds of friendship and exchanges with the Cuban workers from the food industry", already established for a decade. But they did not visit the crumbling, half-paralyzed or non-productive factories of this industry, they did not care to inform themselves about the hard reality these workers must endure and even less, the systematic violation of the workers labour and social rights. Either they didn't have time or it was not "part of the programme" for the virtual visit to this paradise of "revolutionary" labour.
They were met by Pedro Ros Leal, general secretary of the Cuban Workers' Central, at the headquarters of the institution [a branch of the Cuban Communist Party - tr]. There, they only hear talk about productivity, victories, emulations, great achievement at work, efficient ways to better the quality of life, all those nonexistent facts on the other side of those doors in this building where they tend the tomb of the Cuban workers' rights. The members of the Agro-food Federation (FNAF) of the French CGT had no opportunity to witness "in situ" the reality behind the cocktails, the "Cuba Libres" and other liquid and solid specialties offered to them by those "representing" the Cuban proletariat.
With a monthly income of 265 pesos - ten dollars at the official exchange rate - the workers in the Cuban food industry from can buy just one litre of oil, a kilo of meat and some instant soup cubes to survive for the whole month.
Beyond that they need - but have no right to demand - minimal decent working conditions, shoes and clothing, adequate tools and machinery, or respect for the collective work agreements between the unions and the bosses - the State - as there are about 58,000 workers who, subjected to the different so-called stimulation systems for production results, services and a reduction of costs for raw materials, received just 57% of their earnings for the year 2000, and less than that for 2001 and 2002.
Not to mention the lack of liberty to organise themselves in self-managed unions, independently from the State.
This reality, where frequently there are disgraceful situations regarding obligations outside working hours, namely ideological and political brain-washing, was surely not brought to the attention of the FNAF by the CTC officials.
While Christian Alliawne, general secretary of the FNAF and head of the visiting delegation was saying "surely from now on, this already close relationship will become even closer", the independent syndicalists Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, Carmelo Díaz Fernández, Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, Nelson Molinet Espino, Héctor Raúl Valle Hernández, Lázaro Felipe Fuentes and Iván Hernández Carrillo, are suffering prison sentences of between 12 and 26 years in different prisons on the Island, for having defended the rights of a working class which, according to the French delegation, lives in liberty, something only possible due to their blindness or to the exploiters' confabulations.
If in Cuba there is no freedom; if equality is a dream and fraternity a sarcasm, the unavoidable question is: why don't they go elsewhere with their Marseillaise and stop playing the game of those who, instead of representing the workers and their interests, repress and exploit them, and try to hide all this by firing people from their jobs or throwing them into prison or, at the very least, manipulating information?
If the Cuban-French syndicalist encounter was in reality for the good of the workers, the French syndicalists should have demanded that their Cuban peers, as a bare minimum, put into practice the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), something which would have represented a true act of solidarity.
The Cuban proletariat today is subjected to double oppression: by international Capital, which is once more getting its claws into the Island, making it again a paradise for exploiters, and by the Castrofascist dictatorship that refuses the right to self-organisation and, with this, the right to strike and to demand better living conditions. This is why the proletariat comes back to the fore of History and opposes itself clearly to the Capital and the State.
The present-day fight of the Cuban proletariat against Castroist totalitarianism is remarkable for its increasing tendency to self-organise and for its proletarian practice against capitalist exploitation, against the State, for their living conditions and in defiance of the impositions of the party and the official union.
For international solidarity! Solidarity with the Cuban People, not with Castro! For the revolutionary destruction of the market society! For Libertarian Communism!
Cuban Libertarian Movement (in Exile) September 2003 [source: red-libertaria.net ] [translation by A-Infos]
=====================
Two small points, one good, one bad.
To appeal to the "conventions" of the "International Labor Organization" demonstrated either foolishness or ignorance. The ILO is international capital's "tame" labor organization. You might just as well "appeal" to the World Bank!
On the other hand, the demand for the revolutionary destruction of the market society is, in my view, entirely correct!
Not because it is "do-able" in the immediate future (in Cuba), but because it shows the right direction to take.
I look forward with interest to your comments.
http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas