People and State in Socialist Cuba: Ideas and Practices of Revolution PDF
Preview People and State in Socialist Cuba: Ideas and Practices of Revolution
People and State in Socialist Cuba People and State in Socialist Cuba Ideas and Practices of Revolution MarinaGold peopleandstateinsocialistcuba Copyright© MarinaGold,2015. Reprintoftheoriginaledition2015 Allrightsreserved. Firstpublishedin2015by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN® intheUnitedStates—adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,EuropeandtherestoftheWorld, thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills, Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN978-1-349-56849-9 ISBN978-1-137-53983-0(eBook) DOI10.1057/9781137539830 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Gold,Marina. PeopleandstateinsocialistCuba:ideasandpracticesofrevolution/ MarinaGold. pages cm Includesbibliographicalreferences. 1. Cuba—Socialconditions—1990– 2. Socialchange—Cuba. 3. Socialism—Cuba. 4. Cuba—History—Revolution,1959—Influence. I. Title. HN203.5.G652016 306.097291—dc23 2015003658 AcataloguerecordofthebookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices Firstedition:August2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ToJuan,myhusbandandbestfriend Contents Acknowledgments ix ListofAbbreviations xi 1 PerpetualRevolution 1 2 AccountsoftheRevolution 21 3 PracticesoftheRevolution 45 4 DiscoursesontheRevolution 91 5 LimitsoftheRevolution 123 6 TheRevolutionandtheState 157 Notes 195 Bibliography 201 Index 225 Acknowledgments Manypeoplehavesupportedmethroughouttheprocessofwritingthisbook. Iwilltrytorecallthemall. This book was born out of a PhD thesis, and a key person to thank is myPhDsupervisor,RohanBastinfromDeakinUniversity, whoguided me throughmanycrisesofconfidenceandthesometimes-impenetrableliterature onthestate.Manyothershavereadpartsofthemanuscriptatdifferentpro- ductionstages,andfromthemIhavereceivedinvaluablefeedback,whichhas hopefullyhelpedtomakethisfinalversionamorereadableproduct.Antoni KapciafromtheUniversityofNottingham,MartinHolbraadfromUniver- sity College London, Susan Eckstein from Boston University, Carlos Riobó from City College of New York, and Katherine Gordy from San Francisco StateUniversityhavelenttheirtimeandmuchappreciatedcommentstoear- lier versions of the whole or part of the manuscript. A good friend, Patrick Boyle,unabletofindasuitableexcusenottoreadmostofthemanuscriptin itsearlystages,hasprovidedamosthelpfulnon-Cubanspecialistopinion. InCubaIwouldliketothankDanielDuranattheFernandoOrtizFoun- dation,forhislogisticalandsocialsupport.ToalltheCubanswholenttheir time and patience to my probing and what at times seemed inappropriate questions, I am indebted—and thankful—as today they have become my friends.Ithankmyauntandunclefortheirinitialsupportinprovidingme withcontactsinacountrytheyknowwellandlove.Andlast,butbynomeans least,Iwanttothankmypartnerincrime,myhusbandJuan,whohasbeen ananchornotonlythroughoutmyfieldworkbutalsothroughouttheprocess ofwritingthisbook. WhileIwouldnothavebeenabletofinishthisbookwithoutthesupport ofallthesepeople,anyshortcomingsareentirelymyown. Abbreviations ACF AustralianConservationFoundation ACPA AsociaciónCubanadeProducciónAnimal—Cuban AssociationofAnimalProduction ACRC AsociacióndeCombatientesdelaRevolución Cubana—CombatantsAssociationoftheCubanRevolution ACTAF AsociaciónCubanadeTécnicosAgrícolasyForestales—Cuban AssociationofAgrarianandForestryTechnicians ALBA AlianzaBolivarianaparalospueblosdeNuestra América—BolivarianAllianceforourAmericanPeoples. ANAP AsociaciónNacionaldeAgricultoresPequeños—National Associationofsmall-scaleAgriculturalists CADECA CasadeCambio—Exchangebureau CCF CiudadesCultivandoParaelFuturo—CitiesPlanningforthe Future CDR ComitédeDefensaRevolucionaria—Committeeforthe DefenseoftheRevolution CEMI CentrodeEstudiosdeMigraciónInternacional—International MigrationsResearchCentre CTC CentraldeTrabajadoresdeCuba—CubanWorkers’Central CUC PesoCubanoConvertible—CubanConvertiblepeso DIE DireccióndeInmigraciónyExtranjería—Immigrationand ForeignersOffice EJT EjércitoJuvenildelTrabajo—YouthLaborArmy ELAM EscuelaLatinoamericanadeMedicina—LatinAmerican MedicineSchool FANJ FundaciónAntonioNuñezJiménezparalaNaturalezayel Hombre—FoundationAntonioNuñezJiménezforNature andHumanity FAR FuerzasArmadasRevolucionarias—RevolutionaryArmed Forces xii ● ListofAbbreviations FEU FederacióndeEstudiantesUniversitarios—Federationof UniversityStudents FFO FundaciónFernandoOrtiz—FernandoOrtizFoundation FMC FederacióndeMujeresCubanas—FederationofCuban Women GAESA GrupodeAdministraciónEmpresarialS.A—GroupofBusiness Administration ICAIC InstitutoCubanodeArteeIndustriaCinematográfica—Cuban InstituteofArtandCinematographicIndustry MinFAR MinisteriodelasFuerzasArmadasRevolucionarias—Ministry ofRevolutionaryArmedForces MININT MinisteriodelInterior—MinistryfortheInterior MN MonedaNacional—NationalCurrency MTT MiliciasdeTropasTerritoriales—TerritorialTroopMilitia ONAT Organización Nacional de Administración Tributaria—NationalOrganizationforTaxAdministration OPJM OrganizacióndePionerosJoséMartí—Organizationof PioneersJoseMartí PCC PartidoComunistaCubano—CommunistCubanParty PCCA ProyectoComunitariodeConservacióndeAlimentos, CondimentosyPlantasMedicinales—CommunityProjectfor theConservationofFood,Condiments,andMedicinalPlants PE PermisodeEmigración—EmigrationPermit PRE PermisodeResidenciaenelExterior—PermittoReside Overseas PSP PartidoSocialistaPopular—PopularSocialistParty PUR PartidoUniónRevolucionaria—RevolutionaryUnionParty PVE PermisodeViajealExterior—PermittoTravelOverseas UBPC UnidadBásicadeProducciónCooperativa—BasicUnitof CooperativeProduction UJC UnióndeJóvenesComunistas—CommunistYouthUnion CHAPTER 1 Perpetual Revolution On a warm Saturday night in December 2009, a year into my fieldworkperiodinHavana,weorganizedadinnerpartyatafriend’s house. Gustavo, in his thirties, lived with his 28-year-old brother Ernesto,inalargehousethatoncebelongedtotheirgrandmother.Sandra,a young woman from Oriente, also lived with them. They were all scientists. SandraandGustavoworkedtogetheratabiotechnologyresearchcenter,and Ernesto was doing his PhD in Physics at the University of Havana. That night, Sandra and I cooked and the men were in charge of preparing the Mojitos. My husband brought the rum and it was Ernesto’s task to procure themint. He set out in his father’s car that Saturday morning to get the mint. His father, as director of a scientific research center, was entitled to a 1960s Russian Lada, which was the most precious family asset, over which Ernesto, Gustavo, and their mother, Lucía, often fought. Ernesto went to twoorganopónicos(state-ownedorganicurbanagriculturalfarms)butdidnot findmint.Atthesecondorganopónicohewassenttoayerbero(amanselling herbsforSanteríapurposes).Theyerberohadnominteitherandsodirected him to another yerbero down the block, who had a small plant but would notsellittillMonday.Ernestodrovefurtherandaskedpeopleonthestreet, “Compañero,tusabesdóndepuedoencontrarHierbaBuenaporaquí?”(Com- rade, do you know where I can find some mint around here?). And so he movedfromhometohome,withnoavail.Ernestohaddrivenfarenoughto beintheoutskirtsofHavana, andhesawamanwithalargeherdofcows, “more cows than I had ever seen in my life.” Anybody familiar with Cuba wouldappreciatethehumorinthisstatement,asbeefisrareandamostpre- cious form of food. He was eventually introduced to a man who sent him tohissocio’s(businesspartner)place.ErnestowastotellRamónthathewas sentbySandival.Ontheway,Ernestopickedupawomanwhowasheading inthesamedirectiontothepoliclínico(hospital)ofSanAgustin.Eventually,
The list of books you might like
