Conflict and Change in Cuba PDF
Preview Conflict and Change in Cuba
title: Conflict and Change in Cuba author: Baloyra, Enrique A. publisher: University of New Mexico isbn10 | asin: 0826314651 print isbn13: 9780826314659 ebook isbn13: 9780585182483 language: English Cuba--Politics and government--1959- , subject Cuba--Social conditions--1959- , Cuba-- Foreign relations--1959- publication date: 1993 lcc: F1788.C635 1993eb ddc: 972.9106/4 Cuba--Politics and government--1959- , Cuba--Social conditions--1959- , Cuba-- subject: Foreign relations--1959- Page iii Conflict and Change in Cuba edited by Enrique A. Baloyra and James A. Morris University of New Mexico Press / Albuquerque Page iv TO Andrés Suárez and Federico Gil Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Conflict and change in Cuba / edited by Enrique A. Baloyra and James A. Morris. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8263-1464-3. ISBN 0-8263-1465-1 (pbk.) 1. CubaPolitics and government1959-2. CubaSocial conditions1959 3. CubaForeign relations1959-I. Baloyra, Enrique A., 1942-II. Morris, James A., 1938- F1788.c635 1993 972.9106'4dc20 93-2426 CIP © 1993 by the University of New Mexico Press All Rights Reserved. First Edition Page v CONTENTS Preface vii List of Acronyms xi Chronology, 1959-1961 xiii Map xix Part One: Context 1. Introduction 3 2. Cuban Socialism: Thirty Years of Controversy 15 Alfred Padula 3. Socialist Transitions and Prospects for Change in Cuba 38 Enrique A. Baloyra Part Two: State 4. "We Are the Only Ones and There Is No Alternative": 67 Vanguard Party Politics in Cuba, 1975-1991 Marifeli Pérez-Stable 5. The Comandante in His Economic Labyrinth 86 Sergio G. Roca 6. Political-Military Relations since 1959 110 Phyllis Greene Walker Page vi Part Three: Society 7. The Nuanced Lives of the Intelligentsia 137 Peter T. Johnson 8. The Politics of Dissidence: A Challenge to the Monolith164 Juan M. del Aguila 9. Youth in Cuba: Resistance and Accommodation 189 DamiánJ. Fernández Part Four: International Aspects 10. Cuban-U.S. Relations and Political Contradictions in 215 Cuba J. Raymond Duncan 11. The Impact of Soviet Reforms on Cuban Socialism 242 J. Richard Planas 12. Soviet-Cuban Relations: The New Environment and 265 Its Impact Enrique A. Baloyra and Roberto Lozano Part Five: Conclusions 13. Conclusions 289 Chronology, 1985-1993 301 Selected Resources and Readings 335 Index 337 Notes on Contributors 345 Page vii PREFACE Studying contemporary Cuba poses several problems, three of which are of particular concern here. First, the subject is conflictual. Many who have addressed it have wanted "to make a political argument or to prove a political point, not to make comparisons, discover general truths, or share the findings of sophisticated, scientific research." 1 To be sure, scholarly circumspection and rigid professional standards are decidedly at odds with ideological invective and emancipatory rhetoric. It is relatively easy to distinguish what is scholarly from what is not. Nevertheless, strict adherence to scholarly standards does not eliminate biases. As one scholar says, "Values shape academic work, including the subject matter to be investigated, the definition of the problem, the concepts used to deal with it, the material gathered to support the argument, and even the conclusions reached."2 While this might be the case and bias may be largely inevitable, one need not refrain from evaluation. As a matter of fact, as another scholar declares, "Raising fresh questions and reworking old ones do not require impartiality. . .. No one is impartial about Cuba. What new thinking demands is a willingness to identify paradigms, reconsider concepts and methods, and engage in civil discourse."3 What is unlikely is that research driven by ideological agendas will result in quality scholarship. Our agenda is stimulated by the scholarly question of how and why has the Cuban regime been able to survive the final crisis of Leninism? Our curiosity is fueled by a concern with whether there is a chance for gradualism in Cuba or if a catastrophic outcome is inevitable. Two closely related issues are frequently debated in relation to Cuba. One has to do with the paradigms or models from which to borrow theoretical guidance. Some critics of "Cubanology" have complained about its excessive reliance on elite analysis, on the "totalitarian" model, and on functionalist assumptions.4 In general, the more sympathetic observers of Cuba have not provided viable theoretical alternatives. To be sure, the Page viii careful and detailed case studies of local-level phenomena in which many have engaged may offer valuable contextual insights, but those studies do not constitute an alternative. We wanted this volume to include contributions from different theoretical approaches and modes of criticism, and the essays presented here were commissioned with this in mind. The other issue has to do with an unqualified emphasis on "revolution" at the expense of comparative analysis. 5 Unfortunately, too many analysts of different ideological stripes have accepted the thesis of exceptional-ism, predicated on the supposedly unique nature of the Cuban regime. For more than thirty years there has been a dearth of genuinely comparative studies of Cuba, and "with some exceptions, the larger body of scholars and other students of Cuba have neglected to apply more sophisticated methodologies in examining the data that is available."6 The rule has been a singular focus on the country, its ideological impact and influence abroad, the mythical figure of Fidel Castro, and the ebb and flow of tensions between the government of Cuba and the United States. We have paid a high intellectual price for a bland acceptance of this thesis. The Cuban political system may be hard to compare to others. That we do not know how or what to compare it with does not make it noncomparable, much less imponderable. To be sure, exactly the same institutional design cannot be cloned everywhere; cultural difference, historical precedents, ethnicity, ideological traditions, and a host of other factors conspire to produce important "local" variants to any "universal" model. We see, however, a sufficient number of similar characteristics in socialist regimes and Leninist party-states to suggest that the Cuban regime has many, if not most, of these. We also know that Cuba differs in a some respects, but
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