Neocolonialism and Cuba

The structures of a neocolonial republic

      In my last commentary, I described the characteristics of neocolonialism, which the United States and the European ex-colonial powers attempt to obscure through a liberal democratic ideology and through presentation of themselves as exemplars and defenders of a democratic world order.  In the neocolonial situation, the core power interferes in the domestic affairs of the neocolony, ensuring that it will have an economic dependency on the exportation of cheap raw materials and that its markets will be open to core manufactured goods.  Raw materials exportation and openness to foreign products, combined with a weak domestic market resulting from low wages, result in limited possibilities for the development of industry and for economic and social development in general.  These dynamics create popular resistance and inherent political instability.  Today I would like to discuss the Cuban republic of 1902 to 1959 as an illustration of neocolonialism.

     The U.S. military interventi…