Should We Finally Take Cuba’s Reform Process Seriously?

Should We Finally Take Cuba's Reform Process Seriously?

August 6, 2013

Haroldo Dilla Alfonso*



HAVANA TIMES — I often wonder how much of what Cuban leaders say is

based on knowledge of the subject in question and how much is sheer

nonsense. For the good of the country, of the people who eke out a life

on the island, day after day, I mean, sometimes I even wish these

leaders were compulsive liars who are hiding a secret agenda but

ultimately know what they're talking about.



For, if these fellows truly believe what they're saying, then there's no

doubt in my mind that the fate of my compatriots on the island is

anything but enviable.



Some weeks ago, the government decided to authorize the creation of

urban service cooperatives. This is an interesting topic which has been

enthusiastically received by some of Cuba's left-leaning lot, who still

do not understand that cooperatives aren't intrinsically left-wing (or

right-wing), that they are merely administrative spaces whose

orientation depends on how they relate to the rest of society.



As regards to this last point, Cuba's reform process is steering such

cooperatives towards market relations (and, as such, the Right), for the

system of domination that still prevails on the island does not tolerate

any horizontal relations outside the market. And you don't mess around

with such an authoritarian government.



In any event, it is a positive step, for it helps loosen the State's

grip on society, gives people the opportunity to improve their lot and

makes daily life more comfortable and easy, among other things.



The problem lies in the fact that, even though Cuban leaders have no

choice but to do this (and other things they still refuse to do, fearing

it will weaken their authority), they ceaselessly criticize and downplay

what constitutes real progress for the country, to end up voicing all

manner of unwitting and premeditated nonsense. With this, they disorient

the whole of society, or at least those who still put any stock in what

they say.



Recently, it was Ms. Grisel Trista Arbesu's turn to do this. This woman

is the head of the Improved Business Management Group of the Permanent

Implementation and Development Commission, a long title which, if

referring to anything factual, surely entails significant

responsibilities and skills.



According to Mrs. Trista, 124 cooperatives were created around the

country, most of them out of previously existing State entities. "With

this measure," she said, "we are hoping to place inefficient State

activities under cooperative management. In addition, this allows the

State to gradually unburden itself of matters that are not essential to

the country's economic development."



That is to say, in this public official's view, cooperatives (and all

small-scale private enterprise, I would imagine) are there to do the

State's dirty work, to shoulder the "inefficient" sectors which the

State doesn't want to deal with anymore and, what's more, aren't really

important.



A singular perspective, not only with respect to cooperatives and the

private sector, but also regarding what's important for the country.

For, if memory serves me right, I believe the strategy the government

has adopted to overcome Cuba's serious food deficit is to put food

production in the hands of private businesses and cooperatives.



The creation of urban cooperatives stems, in fact, from issues related

to the management of agricultural and livestock markets. So, for this

government official, producing food and administering how the population

accesses such food is an issue of secondary importance, not a strategic

priority, one could say.



At the end of her explanation, to my even greater surprise, Ms. Arbesu

clarified that cooperatives "are being called on to occupy an importance

place within the country's economy," but not, to be sure, because this

is a process of privatization.



"Cooperatives," she said, "aren't the result of a process of

privatization. Rather, they administer State property, which is,

ultimately, the property of the people."



Well, there you have it. Should we take this seriously?

—–

(*) An HT translation of the original published in Spanish by

Cubaencuentro.com.



Source: "Should We Finally Take Cuba's Reform Process Seriously?" -

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=97495