Magic Formula to Revive Socialism

Magic Formula to Revive Socialism / Miriam Celaya

Posted on April 24, 2014



Will investors be able to save the conquests of the olive green caste by

soaking their hard currency in the Castros' holy water?



HAVANA, Cuba: In recent weeks, the new Investment law–the latest magic

formula to overcome the endemic crisis of "the model"–has been

preeminently occupying space in the official Cuban press.



Commentaries, interviews with officials and experts on the subject, and

reviews that look at the advantages and benefits of assimilating foreign

capital as the most expeditious way to finally give birth to the

socialism that spent over 50 years in the gestation phase, emerge from

the pages from government pamphlets and television news announcing that

the good "new" capital is the philosopher's stone for development. So

let's forget all the ideological catechism defended until now, because

our rulers have discovered that soaking hard currencies in the Castros'

holy water will safeguard the "conquests" …of the olive green caste.



And it is precisely about the conquests of the elderly druids and their

acolytes that the foreign investment law was born with congenital

deformities that require deep reconstructive surgery if they really

intend for it to work.



The most important flaw that is obvious from the outset is the legal

aberration of expressly excluding the rights of Cubans on the island to

participate as investors in their own country, an issue that is

unparalleled in any civilized nation, and that alone disqualifies the

best intentions beforehand. Another issue, no less twisted, is the

exclusion of free contract (that is, allowing foreign investors to hire

Cuban workers directly). Both elements are unsustainable since they are

not justified or serve any function other than to maintain absolute

control over the population to prevent the weakening of political power.



Therefore, the Castros' hired applauders are saddled with the thankless

task of challenging independent journalists' criticism of the law, since

new technologies allow other opinions to circumvent the official

information blockade and reach the population. Fundamentalists will now

take to the trenches to fight another battle against freedom of opinion.



So an obviously poorly trained journalist did take to the trenches when

he approached the subject from an article in the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel

Youth) newspaper ("Good investments and 'skeptical' versions", Yoerky

Sánchez Cuéllar, Sunday, April 20th, 2014, pg.3), which misses the mark

from its own opening paragraph, when referring to the authors of the

inquiring articles as "preachers of a policy aimed at promoting foreign

interests over national affairs". This cluelessness indicts the rookie's

inexperience, when he refers in such terms to the critics of a law that

precisely favors "foreign interests" at the expense of the Cuban people.



Yoerky's errors did not end here. He obviously has access to the

independent press but does not dare to reproduce the arguments of the

criticisms of said law. It is untenable to be a representative of the

people while advocating, at the same time, in favor of legislation that

strips the people of their essential rights, contained in international

pacts and declarations ofwhich Cuba is a signatory.



"One of the causes for the media's 'skepticism' is related to the fact

that the law prohibits foreign investors to directly contract with

workers, a role that will be up to national employer organizations,"

Yoerky indicates, and he explains to us that such a measure "protects

our human resources, considered as the country's most important asset."

Unfortunately, he forgot to explain how stripping Cuban workers of their

capacity for free and individual contract constitutes "protection" for

them and what "guaranties" this offers the investors.



"Who better than us to select employees, taking into account taxing

requirements which will contribute to higher solvency and satisfaction

to all parties…" wonders this Beefeater, immersed in a "collective us"

that always emerges when the lords try to convince the herd about the

need for sacrifice. Maybe he is ignoring that, when they sold us out as

a "pseudo-republic," foreign companies freely hired Cuban workers, who

did not need a government agency to determine their suitability, their

wage levels or the taxes they would pay to the State, so the current

investment law implies a serious labor rights setback.



In short, far from being enlightening, the referenced writing stirs the

murkiness of a law that holds more questions than answers. We continue

to not know how the "investment portfolio" is defined, or what devices

will manage it or prevent favoritism, influence peddling, corruption,

patronage, and other ills.



There is no mechanism or information system that will allow Cubans–its

supposed beneficiaries–to find out what items, who, and how to go about

investing, much less verifying amounts, earnings, and how the wealth to

be gained will be distributed. The "exceptional reasons of social

interest or public utility" that will determine expropriations haven't

been clearly established either, and they will be left at the

government's discretion, while rampant widespread corruption–in spite of

many battles and comptrollers–continues unabated and constitutes a

threat to any investor in a country in which the actions of individuals

are patterned for survival.



Yoerky does not say, perhaps because a servant is not able to understand

it, that in the absence of civil liberties and democratic changes no

palliative measure will be able to overcome the crisis. Undoubtedly,

investors will always turn up who are ready for an adventure with the

regime, and thousands of Cubans will probably flock to apply for jobs of

"our own procurement" because nothing motivates a crowd as much as a

poverty auction. Maybe by then this young man, an undertaking of the

official media, will see this as another "victory of the Revolution." I

will not attempt to argue the point: I have spent 54 years attending

them without any benefit whatsoever.



Translated by Norma Whiting

Cubanet, 22 April 2014 | Miriam Celaya



Source: Magic Formula to Revive Socialism / Miriam Celaya | Translating

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