Economic sanctions against Cuba under the Obama administration

The coming to power of President Obama in the United States in 2008 marked a departure in style from the previous Bush administration toward Cuba. However, with the exception of the lifting of some restrictions on travel, economic sanctions continue to apply, including those of an extraterritorial nature. French academic Salim Lamrani gives some recent examples ahead of a nationwide speaking tour this month.

During his election campaign in 2007, then-candidate Barack Obama made a lucid observation on the outdated US policy toward Cuba. Once elected, he declared his willingness to seek "a new beginning with Cuba".

"I think we can take the relationship between the US and Cuba in a new direction and launch a new chapter of engagement that will continue during my tenure, " he said.

Obama had denounced his predecessor's policy toward Cuba, which had severely restricted the travel of the Cuban community in the United States. "This is both a strategic and humanitarian issue. This decision [...] has had a profoundly negative impact on the welfare of the Cuban people. I will grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island," he pledged.

Obama kept his word. In April 2009, he announced the lifting of some restrictions affecting those Cubans who lived in the United States and who had relatives on the island, which came into force on 3 September 2009. Since then, Cuban-Americans can travel to their home country without any hindrance (instead of for just fourteen days every three years) and send unlimited remittances to their families (instead of USD $100 per month).  

Extraterritorial application of economic sanctions against Cuba

However, Washington has not hesitated to apply economic sanctions, including extraterritorial, seriously violating international law. Indeed, extraterritorial blockade laws provide that national legislation can be offshore, i.e. outside the country applied. Thus, Brazilian law does not apply in Argentina. Similarly, Venezuelan law can not be applied in Colombia. But the US law of economic sanctions against Cuba is applied in all countries of the world.

Indeed, in June 2012, the Dutch bank ING had the largest penalty ever handed down since the beginning of economic siege against Cuba in 1960. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department sanctioned the financial institution with a fine of 619 million dollars for making dollar transactions made with Cuba through the US financial system between 2002 and 2007.

The Treasury Department also forced the Dutch bank to sever its commercial relations with Cuba and announced that “ING assured the Office of Foreign Assets Control, that it had put an end to practices that led to today's settlement." So, Washington effectively banned a European bank from having any commercial transactions with Cuba.

The Cuban government denounced this new extraterritorial application of economic sanctions, which, besides preventing all trade with the United States (except limited raw food products), constitutes the main obstacle to the development of trade relations between Cuba and the rest of the world.

"The US government unilaterally fined ING bank for handling, in conjunction with its subsidiaries in France, Belgium, Netherlands and Curacao, financial and commercial transactions with Cuban entities, prohibited by the criminal policy of blockade against Cuba," said an official statement.

Szunin Adam, Director of OFAC, used the occasion to warn foreign firms about trade with Cuba. This penalty "should serve as a clear warning to anyone considering taking advantage of evading US sanctions," he said, reaffirming that Washington would continue to implement its extraterritorial measures.

Other foreign firms were also sanctioned for trade relations with Cuba. Thus, the Swedish multinational Ericsson, specialising in the field of telecommunications, had to pay a fine of $1.75 million for repairing, through its subsidiary based in Panama, Cuban equipment worth $320,000 in United States. Three employees involved in the case were also dismissed.

On 10 July 2012, the Treasury Department imposed a fine of $1.35 million on the US firm Great Western Malting Co. for selling barley to Cuba, through its foreign subsidiaries between August 2006 and March 2009. However, international humanitarian law prohibits any embargo on food commodities and drugs, even in wartime. Now, officially, Cuba and the United States have never been in conflict.

In France, Mano Giardini and Valérie Adilly, two directors of the US travel agency Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), were fired for selling tour packages to Cuba. The company runs the risk of receiving a fine of $38,000 per trip sold, angering some employees who could not understand the situation. "Why did Carlson not withdraw the Cuba tours from our reservation system if we had no right to sell them," asked an employee.

CWT directors commented on the matter: "Under these conditions, we must apply the US rule that prohibits journeys to Cuba, even for subsidiaries." Thus, a US subsidiary based in France is required to abide by US law on economic sanctions against Cuba, ridiculing the national legislation in force.  

Google censored and a budget of $20 million for the "digital democracy"

More unusual economic sanctions prohibit Cubans from using some functions of Google search engine, such as Google Analytics (that calculates the number of visits to a website and its origin), Google Earth, Google Desktop Search, Google Toolbar, Google Code Search, Google AdSense and Google AdWords, depriving Cuba of access to these new technologies and many downloadable products. The US company provided an explanation by his representative Christine Chen: "We had it written in our terms and conditions. Google Analytics can not be used in countries subject to embargoes ".

Meanwhile, at the same time that Washington imposes restrictions on the use of Google’s digital services in Cuba and prohibits Havana from connecting to its fibre optic cable for Internet, the State Department announced that it would spend, via the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the sum of $20 million on "human rights activists, independent journalists and independent libraries on the island", for the purpose of disseminating "digital democracy".

The Obama administration, far from adopting "a new beginning with Cuba", continues to impose economic sanctions affecting all categories starting with those most vulnerable, women, children and the elderly. It does not hesitate to punish foreign companies violating international law by applying extraterritorial measures. It also refuses to hear the unanimous demand of the international community, which condemned in 2013 for the twenty-first consecutive year, the imposition of an anachronistic, cruel and ineffective state of siege which is the main obstacle to the development of the nation.

For full details of Salim Lamrani’s speaking tour, please visit the Cuba Solidarity Campaign website.

You can also order Lamrani’s book The Economic War Against Cuba

Gentrification in Cuba? The Contradictions of Old Havana

Old Havana shops, housing. Credit: Ben Achtenberg

Strolling down the narrow boutique-lined streets on a recent Saturday afternoon, admiring the stunningly refurbished colonial facades and elbowing streams of tourists, we could have been in Soho or any other upscale urban shopping district—but for the colorful laundry hanging from upper-story balconies and the kids of all skin tones racing through the central plaza.

This is Old Havana, where a 20-year old experiment in urban planning and historic preservation has essentially revitalized a decaying historic center without displacing its poor and working class population. Now, the question is whether Cuba’s recent market-based housing and economic reforms could significantly alter the character of dynamic neighborhoods like this one, creating new gentrification pressures that reinforce persistent class- and race-based inequalities in Cuban society.

The restoration of Old Havana—a 826 square mile district containing some 3,370 buildings and 66,750 residents, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982—has been carried out under a unique model of self-financing and sustainability that has achieved worldwide recognition. Since 1993, the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana (OCH) has had broad authority over all planning, land use, development, and investment activities within the historic district, including the ability to develop and operate stores and hotels, tax businesses, carry out construction projects, and use its earnings to finance housing renovations, community facilities, and social services for local residents.

This novel approach is linked to a new focus on tourism that began in the 1990s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union wreaked havoc on Cuba’s economy. It also marked a recognition that the Revolution’s rural priorities, which had diverted resources away from Havana for decades, were exacerbating the destruction of the city’s architectural heritage. (The process of neglect and deterioration had begun much earlier, leading to a proposed U.S.-style urban renewal plan by the Batista dictatorship that would have demolished much of Old Havana, and was promptly squelched by the new Revolutionary government.)

The OHC, despite its autonomy, has a high status within the Cuban government. It is linked directly to the Council of State (Cuba’s top governing body) and is not subordinate to any ministry.

The OHC’s track record to date is impressive. Starting with the reconstruction of Old Havana’s four public plazas, it has now restored 40% of the district’s deteriorated buildings, typically with commercial space on the ground floor and housing above. The OHC operates more than 300 facilities, including 18 hotels, a tourism agency, restaurants, galleries, museums, and a radio station. It also runs a construction company that restores historic structures.

Over the past 15 years, OHC has generated more than $400 million in net revenues from its operations, as well as taxes and rents paid by private businesses under its jurisdiction. Its current annual profits exceed $40 million. Of this total, around 45% is reinvested in tourist-oriented businesses, 20% is returned to the central government, and 35% is used for housing renovations, community facilities, and social programs.

OHC’s social programs include a center for children with special needs, a home for women with high-risk pregnancies, assisted living facilities for the elderly, and educational programs for schoolchildren provided by the museums that it operates. OHC also runs a school, funded in part by the Spanish government, to train skilled craftspeople in rehab trades. It has created more than 13,500 jobs, 42% of which are held by women and 20% by youth under age 25.

For the most part, the revitalization of Old Havana has occurred without involuntary displacement, although not all original residents are able to return, and the process has not been free of difficulties. Because many of the units undergoing renovation are severely overcrowded—especially tenements which have been illegally divided into single room units with shared facilities—not everyone can be re-accommodated.

Some households have accepted relocation to outlying districts, where they have become owners of new apartments that are spacious and well-equipped, but not easily accessible to Havana. Some elderly residents have moved to rent-free assisted living facilities in the neighborhood. Others have waited years to return, living in nearby temporary housing.

On the issue of who gets to return, there are alternative narratives. According to one architect/planner we spoke with, OHC multidisciplinary teams work closely with residents to assess their needs and options, but leave the final decisions about who stays and who goes to the residents themselves. Others referred to an official priority system that favors legal occupants (excluding squatters, or illegal migrants to Havana), long-term residents, and those who “contribute to the tourist economy.”

Like other tourist-oriented ventures, the OHC’s initiatives have been criticized for furthering social and economic inequality in Cuban society. Clearly most Cubans can’t afford to shop in Old Havana’s upscale boutiques. Still, as historian Félix Alfonso has noted, “What makes this restoration unique is that it’s not an example of gentrification, where the rich buy and restore buildings while the poor are moved out. Our historical center is remaining a place where (ordinary) people live and work.”

Apartment for sale. Credit: Ben Achtenberg

Could recent (2011) changes in Cuba’s housing laws that legalize the free market sale of housing unleash speculative pressures that work to undermine this vision? The new housing law is part of a broader package of reforms (including a significant expansion of self-employment) that are designed to revitalize Cuba’s socialist economy and absorb steep layoffs in the government workforce. It is widely viewed within Cuba as a way of rationalizing the existing housing exchange system—currently restricted to “house swaps” of equivalent value—that makes it difficult for people to move and encourages evasion and corruption.

With the legalization of sales, it’s at least theoretically possible that some owners of unrenovated units in Old Havana (still a significant majority of the housing stock) will be able to reap the benefit of the government’s investment in the neighborhood by selling at elevated prices. Potential buyers include other Cubans with access to cash—from relatives abroad, lucrative self-employment in the tourist industry, or other sources both legitimate and illegitimate.

Reportedly, increasing numbers of Cubans living abroad are seeking to purchase homes for themselves (through straw buyers, since legal sales are restricted to permanent residents of Cuba). Speculators may also be attracted to this market, although legal ownership is limited to one primary residence and a vacation home.

Still, the substantial cost of renovations required for most units in Old Havana is likely to constrain both demand and prices, as is the lack of traditional mortgage financing. While the government has expanded access to credit for building repairs, real estate—other than vacation homes—can’t be used as collateral. Given the historical importance in revolutionary Cuba of protecting tenants against eviction—which could result from mortgage foreclosure—this prohibition is unlikely to change any time soon.

As for the OHC-renovated units, it’s currently unclear whether they can be sold by their occupants at unrestricted market prices. While knowledgeable OHC architects and planners told us that at least some categories of residents have ownership and resale rights (or will acquire them in the future), official OHC publications suggest that these residents will remain as renters in perpetuity. Logically, these renovated units should provide a bastion against gentrification, although the evolution of residents’ tenure and resale rights bears watching.

A review of current real estate listings on Cubisima, Cuba’s new “Gumtree” (for housing and other items and services), shows only 300 units on the market in Old Havana, out of a total of some 12,000 Havana listings. Other popular neighborhoods farther from downtown, with better housing stock and amenities, have a much higher proportion of listings and may be more immediately vulnerable to gentrification pressures. 

It would be paradoxical indeed if the tourism that appears to be saving Old Havana were ultimately responsible for destroying it. Still, a more immediate threat may be posed by the continuing deterioration of the district’s remaining unrenovated housing stock, with partial or total building collapses still occurring on a regular basis. For the OHC, saving Old Havana from destruction by either gentrification or deterioration may be simply a race against time.

This article was written by Emily Achtenberg for NACLA

Cuba's tax lessons

It is a process that fills many in the capitalist world with dread every year. Now, for the first time, many in Communist-run Cuba are facing the same chore: filing a tax return.

It is more than a year since the government increased the number of licences available for privately-run business on the island. In Havana, myriad DVD dealers and watch repairers, fritter sellers and cafes now jostle for custom on the roadside.

Cuba's new entrepreneurs are free to earn more than the small state salary most workers take home of under $20 (£13) a month. But unlike state employees, they now have to pay taxes.

"It'll take a bit of work for people to understand they have to pay," says Maritza Ramos, a housewife-turned-seamstress who sells her colourful creations on a street stall. We haven't had that concept here for years, so it will take a bit of getting used to."

Cuba's revolutionary leaders abolished personal income tax in the late 1960s. It was reinstated in a limited form in the 1990s when the government allowed some private businesses to operate, softening the blow as Soviet subsidies to the island disappeared along with the USSR.

Money counts

Now more than 358,000 people - 9% of the workforce - are registered as cuenta-propistas, or self-employed. In the leafy garden of a Havana tax office, some of them queue to consult an adviser. A noticeboard is covered with cartoons explaining the new system; posters remind first-time payers that they're making a valuable contribution to the state.

"It's all strange," says retired military man Carlos Taquechel, 75.

State pensions do not go far, so he works in a supermarket car park. He and his wife also rent out a room to make ends meet. Mr Taquechel says the difficulty is paying the monthly fixed-rate tax for their business. Income tax is calculated on top.

Recently the couple have been unable to rent out the room, as a previous lodger caused damage that they are still repairing. Even so, they are still having to pay tax, they say.

"The system is new and needs polishing," Mr Taquechel says. "It's like when a child learns to walk. It will fall over many times, but get up again, more experienced. I think we're in that process now."

The government has made some adjustments, though talk of doubling the annual threshold for income tax to 10,000 pesos (£265; $416) has not yet become reality. Currently, more than 90 activities qualify for a "simplified" tax system, a fixed monthly sum regardless of earnings. Palm-tree trimmers are the lowest contributors at 20 pesos a month. Those with higher earning potential, including restaurant-owners and cab drivers, pay sales and income tax on top. There is a sliding scale of up to 50% for earnings over 50,000 pesos a year.

"We needed to update the economic model," says economist Joaquin Infante, who says Cuba is in a "critical" situation.

Give and take

Squeezed by a US trade embargo for five decades, the island was battered by the 2008 financial crisis and multiple, damaging hurricanes in the same year. Cuba still has to fund its system of subsidised products and free universal education and health care.

"The revolution was very paternalistic. So [the reforms] being taken are to see more efficiency, more productivity," Mr Infante says.

"People also have to start paying taxes: contributing to the state, not just receiving."

The government plans to cut tens of thousands of state jobs in the coming years to reduce costs. So Cuba's accountants are bracing themselves. Across the country, they are attending state-run courses in the new tax system.

Many are becoming cuenta propistas themselves: fathoming out other people's tax returns and making payments is now a good business. The classes also teach the ethics of taxation. But that is where one student in Havana spots a hitch. His clients say high taxes risk strangling their businesses.

"Many feel they have to lie about the income they should pay tax on," Yordanis Avila says. "I think for the average Cuban, with his little street cafe, it's too expensive to tell the taxman the truth."

In an economy which functions largely in cash, with few receipts, tax evasion will be hard to tackle. Still, Joaquin Infante estimates the expansion of small businesses has already netted the state 1bn pesos ($400m). It has also brought many workers at least partially out of the shadow economy.

"Seventy-five per cent of the new self-employed were either retired, not working or working illegally before," he says. "Those people are now contributing to the development of the country."

Many businesses have struggled this first year and a quarter have folded. But those who have survived say they are better off now, even with high taxes.

"Of course!" says Maria Julia, a former transport ministry employee who now sells costume jewellery at a street stall.

"I can go a day or even two without a sale and the taxes are high... I'm never going to be a millionaire but there's always money to be made here."

This article was written by Sarah Rainsford for the BBC.

Where next for Cuba?

Recent changes to Cuba's economy have raised many questions. Some see them as a move towards capitalism and as a recognition of the failure of socialism. But what is the truth? On a recent visit to the island as part of a Morning Star/Cuba Solidarity Campaign media group, we were able to get a clearer idea of what is going on.

"Many of these changes are simply a legal recognition of what was already common practice," one Havana teacher tells us.

"Garage mechanics, barbers, painters and decorators - all these sorts of tradesmen were already working outside the official economy. By legalising their work, the state can now get tax revenue from them."

One of Cuba's big problems is the generation of more capital through an efficient tax system.

"We don't really have a tax culture here," Pita Montes, of the Cuban Communist Party's international department, explains.

"Over 50 per cent of our GDP goes on free healthcare, free education, sports and cultural activities for the population and on social security to pay for social care for the elderly, disabled people etc.

"As the non-state sector grows, the self-employed have to be made aware that they must pay tax, otherwise the state will not be able to afford to continue to give all this gratis to our people."

Cubans call such tradespeople "workers on their own account." There are now self-employed "bici-taxistas" - tricycles that carry two passengers - taxi-drivers, hairdressers and barbers, restauranteurs, garage mechanics, painters and decorators and many others. By last September almost 330,000 were self-employed, of whom 60,000 were women and 7 per cent of whom had not been in work before, Montes tells us.

"We are intent on upgrading our economic model, not transforming it wholesale," Montes says.

"Changes are being introduced on the basis of socialist ownership.

"Most people here do support the revolution. You won't find insults against our leaders in our mass media, but you will find plenty of criticism."

And perusing the national daily Granma, one can certainly find readers' letters denouncing malpractices and corrupt officials, plus editorials and features in that vein too. However the question is whether the airing of such criticism is merely a safety valve or whether anything is likely to change as a result. One of the problems in today's Cuba is the number of people who are not "labour-active," as Montes puts it.

"We are reorganising the labour force," she says.

"Some people might take early retirement, others might find a different job in another state sector - construction work or in agriculture, for instance."

Retraining commissions have been set up to help people who have been outside the labour force to find work.

"There is employment for everybody," Montes maintains, "but not all of it will be office work."

One problem is the number of people, many of them young, who have got used to not working, among them the jineteros who plague foreign tourists asking for cucs - the hard currency used in Cuba alongside the national currency which local wages and salaries are paid in.

The jineteros must be the most well-dressed and well-fed beggars anywhere in the world. They are not poor in the real sense of the word - they have free healthcare, free education, even including university education, and free milk for their children up to the age of seven, but in Cuba fashionable clothes and shoes, some imported food products and the latest electronic hardware are only available in cucs.

It will not be easy to get young people like these, who have got used to not working, to move into the sector which the party and government have identified as crucial to the national economy - agriculture. To get people who are used to a relatively easy city life to move into the countryside to work as farmers would not be easy in any country, but in Cuba, where farm mechanisation is not widespread, it will be even more so.

"Food production is a question of national security for our country," the Communist Party official says.

"We need to promote agricultural production so that we become more self-sufficient."

Farmers are being given permission to lease land - any size from 13 to 33 hectares - on 10-year contracts. Cuba has six million hectares of arable land and currently 20 per cent of this land has been leased in this way to farmers.

"Between 2008 and 2011 we have given over 1.3 million hectares on lease.

"We draw up contracts with these farmers to produce such-and-such a product," Montes says, "but the land continues to belong to the state."

The government is opening shops to sell farming tools and materials and the system of credits to new and existing farmers is being introduced, but is still in its infancy. This explains why 20 per cent of agricultural land is at present unproductive. Again, the US boycott is partly to blame, as it would be much cheaper for Cuba to import agricultural machinery and tools from its nearest neighbour, the US, than to have to import from Europe or circuitously via third countries. For historical reasons a small number of farmers own their own land, such as Benito Camejo, a tobacco farmer we visited near Vinales. His family had owned vast tobacco-growing fields before the revolution, he tells us.

"After the revolution most of it was confiscated," Camejo says, "but we were left 10 hectares and we have continued to farm this land and produce the finest tobacco in the world," he says with a laugh.

A tall, slim man with a lined, tanned face, he lights up one of the cigars his little factory produces.

"One of these a day will keep you in good health!" he exclaims.

We see that he and his family live quite well. He has his own house with several outbuildings. A big pile of breeze blocks lies nearby ready for an extension he plans to build soon. He works together with his brother and their families, raising a few domestic animals, growing their own coffee, salads, fruit and vegetables.

Camejo has a contract to sell 90 per cent of his cigar production to the state. The other 10 per cent he and his family can use for themselves or sell privately. It has become possible now for Cuba to decentralise its economic model in these ways by making small trades independent of the state due to the fact that the so-called "special period" during the 1990s had ended.

Those were the tough years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had been Cuba's main trading partner, when all trade and investment from the socialist countries suddenly came to an end and Cuba had to fend for herself economically.

Cubans refer to that period as very hard, a time when they barely had enough to eat. Yet the people seem to understand the need for that special period, as well as expressing relief that it was now over and that the economy is now - to some extent at least - looking up.

In addition to the promotion of the non-state sector, Cuba has also taken steps to make ministries more efficient. Sugar was traditionally Cuba's main product, but not any longer. Tourism is much more profitable and not so labour-intensive, so Cuba is expanding that sector very rapidly. Big new hotels can be seen along the western seaboard of Havana, in Miramar and beyond. Most of the foreign tourists are from Canada, with Britain in second place.

Many basic foodstuffs are provided by the state through a ration card system. Rice, oil, coffee, meat, pork, chicken, beans, flour and some other items are sold at very low prices to each member of the family in the same amounts, irrespective of whether the individual is a baby or an adult. Eighty per cent of these rationed items have to be imported at present, which is obviously a heavy drain on the state economy. Yet there is no reason why these same foodstuffs cannot be grown and produced in Cuba - just as pork is, of which there is an abundance.

"We want to move towards subsidising people rather than subsidising products," Montes explains.

"At present a high-earner pays the same for these products as someone on a low wage, which isn't really fair."

But the government is moving very cautiously on this one, she adds, as to cut rations to above-average earners overnight would cause too many problems for people. For the time being, rationing will continue. Cubans are very open about their feelings. They range from enthusiastic support for the government to disgruntlement with the economic situation. But all recognise their country's achievements, especially in free high-quality healthcare and education, and are aware that this is far from the case in other Caribbean and Latin American countries.

This article was written by Kate Clark and originally appeared in the Morning Star

“Why would we adopt capitalism now?”

Seminar report of ‘21st Century Cuba: Economic Development and Labour Relations’ at Latin America Conference 2011

In a lively discussion on economic developments and labour relations in 21st century Cuba, Emily Morris from London Metropolitan University began by contextualising the challenges facing Cuba’s evolving economy.

Emily demonstrated that, by 2004, the Cuban economy had recovered to the same levels as before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The recovery prior to 2004 had been driven by tourism and nickel and this had been buoyed by a surge in export services to countries such as Venezuela. Therefore, Emily concluded that, “it’s important to note that the current situation in Cuba is not due to economic mismanagement, but as a result of global financial crises” combined with the effects of three devastating hurricanes and a collapse in the price of nickel.

Emily noted that there is increasing acknowledgement of the significance of changes in Cuba and observed that some on the left – drawing parallels with the USSR’s pursuit of perestroika and glasnost – are concerned about the implications of these changes.  Emily argued that it’s wrong to characterise changes as an abandoning of socialism because socialist planning will remain the main means of economic management, although it will take the market into account. Instead, Cubans talk about “perfecting socialism”.  

Emily also challenged the Western assumption that economic changes in Cuba are part of “Raul’s project” by citing a speech made by Fidel in 2005 which signified a major reassessment of how the economy was run.

Furthermore, it is wrong to view changes in Cuba as a result of top-down government. As Emily showed, all policy decisions were reached through mass public consultation. Over 9 million Cubans participated in 163 000 public meetings. 3 million contributions were made and, from this, 800 000 individual ‘opinions’ were discerned which formed the basis of 311 new guidelines.

Dr Steve Ludlam of Sheffield University acknowledged that, although Cuban GDP had recovered to pre-Special Period levels by 2004/5, this had not been matched with real investment and much of the economy was still disrupted and unproductive. The economy was struggling to raise incomes and agricultural production whilst the socialist principle of distribution – that remuneration is based on input – was being challenged by unearned income through remittances.

Steve reiterated what Emily had said and argued that changes in Cuba were aimed at making the economy more efficient and “preserving the conquests of the Cuban revolution”. Steve re-emphasised the long process of public engagement and noted that all changes and developments will be carried out in a planned and orderly fashion with close consultation with workers and trade unions. “Workers are entitled to be consulted on any legislation which affects them and trade unions effectively have a veto on all workers’ legislation”. Workers’ assemblies must approve all production plans, implementation laws and collective bargaining with a turnout of at least 70%.

According to Steve, the process of restructuring “shows the power and influence of workers and trade unions in Cuba”. Cuba is trying to break away from the attitude of the 1990s and embrace self-employment. Trade unions are at the centre of these developments and are communicating directly with self-employed people to find out how they can represent them and offer support. As a result, self-employed people have the same rights to pensions, accident benefits and other social security as other Cuban workers. All this testifies to the inclusive and democratic nature of politics in Cuba which embraces trade unionism and workers as a core pillar of government.

Carlos Alfaro from the Cuban Embassy echoed the conclusions of the two British academics and emphasised Cuba’s commitment to socialism. Carlos said that there has been three crucial moments for the Cuban economy since 1959: First after the triumph of the revolution, second after the collapse of the Soviet Union and third the current global financial crisis. “Three times we have faced a major economic dilemma and three times we have rejected a capitalist model – why would we adopt capitalism now?”
 

Tackling an economic crisis by public consultation

By Jenny Kassman

The expansion of the private sector in Cuba, contained in the island’s new legislation proposed by the National Assembly in September 2010 was finally ratified by the Assembly on 1 August this year.  However, in September, this proposed measure was greeted as a fait accompli with an outburst of joy and relief by the UK mainstream press.  “End of the road for communist Cuba? ONE MILLION jobs could go private in the most radical reforms since 1959 revolution,” declared James White in the Daily Mail (15 Sept. 2010).  “Thanks Fidel, but you’re 50 years too late,” gloated James Delingpole in the Telegraph, adding “It’s nice, obviously, that the cigar-smoking beardie has finally had the grace to acknowledge the error of his ways. But shouldn’t he have worked this out 50 years earlier, and spared the poor Cuban people a heap of communist misery?”   And not much more was said about the matter.

However, in its haste to tell the British public once more that socialism (or, in their words, ‘communism’) in Cuba was at the “end of the road”, the western media, as is so often the case, omitted to mention how these proposals would progress along the road to becoming actual legislation.  Neither had it mentioned that they had only acquired their initial form after a major input by the Cuban trade unions.  At the time, only about 30% of them had been ratified before the remaining 70% were presented to the country for consideration and amendment prior to their ratification. If the media had possessed the inclination to discover more about the subject, they would have had a very different story to report.

Unison delegates turn out in force to show solidarity with Cuba

At a lively fringe meeting at Unison National Delegates’ Conference in Manchester, over 250 delegates heard from Manuel Montero, European Officer for the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (Cuban equivalent of the TUC). Manuel spoke about the economic reforms in Cuba and contextualised them within the ongoing blockade of the island and the global economic crisis. 

“No-one in Cuba will be abandoned and everyone will be protected”

Luis Marron – Political Counsellor at the Cuban Embassy – told a fringe meeting at PCS Annual Delegate Conference that proposed economic reforms in Cuba will ensure that “no-one in Cuba will be abandoned and everyone will be protected”.

Sustaining the Revolution

Dr. Steve Ludlum gets behind the media headlines and gives an in depth analysis of the recent redeployment measures announced in Cuba.

On 13 September 2010, the Cuban trade union federation, the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), issued a statement announcing to Cubans that half a million state employees are to be redeployed by April 2011. The measures, discussed below, outlined the selection of redundant workers, alternative work, and unemployment benefits.

The majority of redeployed workers are expected to transfer into the non-state sector, into worker co-operatives or forms of self employment, or into private employment in small businesses which are to be permitted to directly employ non-household and family members for the first time. Also for the first time, Cubans who are not in formal employment or official retirement will be permitted to become legal self-employed workers – a little-noticed measure to assist Cubans who abandoned the formal employment sector entirely in the Special Period.

Feminising the revolution

Before 1959, women’s experience of Cuban society was often one of oppression, exploitation, marginalisation and hardship. Few women worked and those that did often found themselves working as domestic servants or prostitutes for the international elite and mafia. Few women were educated and a strong culture of ‘machismo’, defined as a Latin notion of male superiority and aggressiveness, permeated all aspects of life for women.

Of course, it is important not to homogenise all women, experience depended not only on gender but on class, race, age and whether they lived in town or country. But overall, the picture was a bleak one in which women had limited opportunities and led a tough existence.

Societal changes

The Revolutionary leadership in 1959 therefore faced a huge task. From the very beginning the problem of gender inequality was tackled head on – not put off for a later stage. Gender equality was seen as integral to the general goals, the general struggle of the Revolution. Women’s rights were seen as interwoven with, not separate from, the essence of the Revolution. Fundamentally, this was because it was believed that a fair, non-discriminatory society could not be created whilst women were still oppressed.

This led to what Fidel coined the ‘Revolution within a Revolution’ and allowed for huge steps forward to be made, very quickly. It has resulted in Cuba being ranked first place for equality levels within Latin America and the Caribbean and 25th worldwide by the 2008 Global Gender Gap Report (the US ranks twenty seventh).

Cuba was the first country to sign and second to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and also has high levels of participation and representation in decision-making positions and has made huge educational advances.

It has also led to significant legal changes such as the introduction of Article forty four of the Constitution,

which ensures that women have complete equality under the law, and Law sixty-two of the Penal Code (1987), which ensures that discrimination and the violation of the rights of equality are defined as a crime.

Federation of Cuban Women

One of the first things the new leadership did was set up the FMC (Federacion de Mujeres Cubanas), which acts as testament to the notion that gender equality was part of the Revolution’s overall goals from the beginning.

Officially created in 1960, the FMC is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with over three million members, which equates to eighty per cent of the entire female population. It is the largest mass organisation in Cuba and the largest women’s organisation in Latin America. FMC objectives include to ‘fight for full incorporation, participation and promotion of women into the economic, political, social and cultural life of the country in conditions of equal rights and opportunities’.

The FMC is the key leader in the struggle for equality and can be credited with initiating literacy drives for peasant women and prostitutes in 1959.

Groundbreaking FMC societal educational campaigns also attempted to root out machismo - this has even led to sex education in schools encompassing teaching of respectful attitudes not just towards women but the LGBT community too.

Health

Cuba is known worldwide for its excellent and progressive health system which offers free healthcare to all. This, in particular, is seen as being particularly ‘women friendly’. The government introduced the Maternity Leave Bill (1974) which ensures that women are guaranteed a total of eighteen weeks paid leave with an extra two weeks if the birth is delayed (the US in comparison offers not a single week of paid leave). The Bill also includes ‘the option of an extended leave at 60 per cent pay until the child is one year old, with the right to return to the same job at the end of the leave’ - an option which can be taken by the mother or the father. The government also subsidises abortion and family planning, places a high value on pre-natal care and breastfeeding and offers ‘maternity housing’ to women before giving birth.

Focus is given to women not solely as recipients of healthcare but as providers too. Pioneering drives that encourage women to become doctors and nurses have led to more than half of doctors in Cuba being women (fifty-two per cent in 2008 according to the FMC). The importance given to women’s health has led to an impressive life expectancy of seventy-nine years according to a report published in The Guardian in 2007 – all achieved on a restricted budget.

Education

Like healthcare, education in Cuba is free to everyone, including higher education. Education formed one of the core pillars of the Revolution. The theory being that by educating all people the old divisions would be eliminated and therefore everyone could move towards a just, fair and equal society. This has benefited women enormously and led to greater opportunities and independence.

Women have gradually filtered into the education system leading to the so-called ‘feminisation of education’. This makes for stark comparison with pre-revolutionary society in which girls and women (predominately in rural areas) were illiterate and confined to the home.

Economy and Politics

The proportion of women in the labour force in 1959 was twelve per cent, and as mentioned the work women were confined to was largely that of domestic servitude and prostitution. This differs vastly with life today in which women make up forty-nine per cent of the workforce.. Women are also guaranteed equal pay and through government childcare assistance and forward-thinking laws such as the Family Code Bill (1975), which is the official goal of equal participation in the household, women have been able to engage fully in working life. This had led to greater independence and a shift of power in gender relations.

Women are also changing the gender make-up of government. According to a report by UNIFEM, they held forty-three per cent of positions in parliament in 2008, compared to just under seventeen per cent in the US. This statistic ranks Cuba second in the world for female participation in parliament according to the 2008 Global Gender Gap Report. This success can largely be accredited to the introduction of quotas and various forms of positive discrimination.

Reflections

It is important not to romanticise or idealise the position of women in Cuba, there are still challenges, problems and work to be done. For example, how to deal with the problem of prostitution, which despite being eradicated in the nineties has now returned due to the growth of tourism, (a phenomenon that inevitably brings with it a minority of male visitors who hold particular views of the ‘exotic’ Cuban female and exploit their greater economic power). Another challenge is that of cultural attitudes, which although have changed significantly in the last fifty years are still filtered with sexist dogmas.

The culture of machismo is still one of the main obstacles to overcome. As the late Vilma Espin, the FMC’s long-standing president once stated “a cultural tradition dating back centuries is not broken from one day to the next”.

Like here, until full equality has been achieved, until all areas of Cuban life are split fifty-fifty, it will be impossible to talk of complete success. Despite these continuous challenges there is much to remain positive about. Cuba has made huge advances towards equality, especially in areas of political participation and healthcare and in creating a progressive legal framework which sets the standard for what is acceptable treatment and acts as a point of reference that can be used for defending women’s rights.

These advances should also be put into context. Cuba is a developing country and so faces poverty and limited resources. It is regionally positioned within Latin America and the Caribbean in which a strong culture of machismo exists. It has also been subject to a long-standing blockade which again has led to limited resources. Its aheivements are therefore impressive in themselves, let alone when considered within these contexts.

Cuba’s advances are also extremely impressive when viewed in a global context - to think that despite all the shortcomings mentioned above it is still able to position itself highly worldwide with regards to equality levels.

Essentially, the Cuban experience can be seen as a model and a source of inspiration worldwide. It shows what can be achieved when a government and society have the values of justice, equality, and participatory democracy at the core of its belief system, ethos and framework for policy and practice.

Report by Lotte Deckers Dowber.