Raúl Castro ratifies chiefs and calls for unity
Raúl Castro ratifies chiefs and calls for unity
Intergenerational continuity in the Cuban socialist revolution
In Cuba, the late Fidel Castro is referred to as “el Comandante en Jefe” [the Commander in Chief] and “the historical leader of the Revolution,” and Raúl Castro is known as “the General of the Army” and “the leader of the Revolution.” Miguel Díaz-Canel is the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and the President of the Republic, positions to which he was elected in 2021 (by the Central Committee of the Party) and 2019 (by the National Assembly of People’s Power) respectively. When first elected as head of state, he declared that Raúl would continue to be the leader of the Revolution and would be consulted for all decisions of importance.
Since his resignation as First Secretary of the Party, Raúl has been visible just enough to communicate his support for what was transpiring without interfering or conveying an impression that everything had to be first approved by him. On January 1, 2024, Raúl emerged to give the closing speech in a ceremony held to commemorate the sixty-fifth anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, held in Parque Céspedes, Santiago de Cuba, where Fidel declared the triumph of the Revolution sixty-five years ago. It was a timely return to high visibility, in that it occurs in the wake of the December 18-22 Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, in which Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, second in command in the executive branch of the government after Díaz-Canel, announced new measures that constituted rectifications of errors that had been made by the government in the formulation and implementation of economic policies, in the context of serious economic problems that have primarily been caused by the intensification of the U.S. blockade, the pandemic, and global instabilities. It was a dynamic and persuasive presentation by the Prime Minister, but it did raise questions concerning the possibility of shifts in influence and/or divisions within the government. (See “People’s Democracy in Cuba: Rectifying errors in economic policy,” December 23, 2023).
At the January 1 commemoration, the leader of the Revolution reaffirmed his support for the chiefs of the Cuban Revolutionary Government. He declared:
“I know that I express the feeling of the Historic Generation [that led the Revolution to triumph in 1959] in ratifying our confidence in those who today occupy responsibilities of management in our Party and Government, and in the other organizations and institutions of our society, from the highest posts to the dozens of thousands of local leaders who are in the front line of combat. In very difficult circumstances, the immense majority of them have demonstrated in their comportment the necessary revolutionary firmness and will to work through the present difficulties and to advance forward, together with our people.”
Raúl reiterated the obvious fact that the U.S. blockade is the principal cause of Cuba’s economic problems. “The policy of permanent hostility and blockade of the government of the United States is the principal cause of the difficulties in our economy. Do not have any doubt concerning this reality.” At the same time, he recognized that “our deficiencies and errors” have been a factor, which have never been deficiencies with respect to principles. In the sixty-five years since the triumph of the Revolution, he noted, all insufficiencies have been openly debated with the people in a spirit of self-criticism. Our road has been the construction of socialism in a poor country submitted to constant aggression, in which we have been obligated to create our own way with an immense creative capacity.
The leader of the Revolution asserted that Fidel was right when, sixty-five years ago in the same place, he declared that “the Revolution begins now; the Revolution will not be an easy task, the Revolution will be a hard enterprise full of danger.” And Fidel repeated the message eight days later upon his triumphant entrance into Havana, when he expressed: “Happiness is immense. However, much remains to be done. We ought not deceive ourselves thinking that what lies ahead will be easy; perhaps in what is ahead, everything will be the most difficult.”
Raúl reiterated the continuous message of the government during the past year that the solution to the economic problems is in increasing production. He declared, “As was explained in a clear form by the Prime Minister, comrade Manuel Marrero, a few days ago in the National Assembly of People’s Power, in the complex and urgent economic battle, it is imperative to advance in productivity, order, and efficiency.” Raúl convoked the militants in the Party cells to reject naïve and triumphalist attitudes and to think every day on how to avoid bureaucratic and routine approaches and insensitive responses and to find realistic solutions to the problems that we have.
Above all, Raúl exhorted the people to unity. He cited Fidel, who called in 2008 for unity in objectives, ideas, concepts, and strategies, attained by means of debate and analysis. Our unity, Raúl noted, did not emerge through magic; we have constructed it in a patient form, brick by brick. “Unity is our principal strategic weapon; it has permitted this small island to emerge victorious in every challenge.”
Raúl recalled Fidel’s proclamation of January 1, 1959, of a single revolution unfolding since October 10, 1868, when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes initiated the revolutionary struggle. This reading of the Cuban Revolution by Fidel and Raúl is not casual. It is an affirmation of the historic struggle of the leaders and the people to construct a sovereign and dignified nation with rights for all, regardless of imperfections in ideas that earlier leaders of the nation may have had, judged by the standards of socialism today. In addition to being fair and just toward leaders of earlier times, it also is politically intelligent. In the 1950s, it enabled Fidel to awaken the patriotic sentiments of the people even as he was convoking a revolutionary effort to overthrow the government, declaring that those holding political power had betrayed the historic struggle of the people for a sovereign nation. Today, it enables Raúl to convoke a self-sacrificing patriotic spirit in united defense of socialism as the only possible way to defend the nation against current threats.
We thus are able to observe in these recent days in Cuba an intelligent and effective response to the economic problems of the nation. In the first place, on the basis of the sustained participation of scientists and specialists in the decision-making process, the Cuban government has developed a sound economic policy, stressing an increase in productivity and mutually beneficial trade with other nations as the solutions. In the second place, it appeals with political intelligence to the people: it convokes the unity of the people, downplaying questions that potentially divide; it formulates succinct, understandable, and historically and scientifically accurate explanations of the causes of the problems that the nation confronts; and it appeals to the patriotic consciousness of the people. The U.S. Left should take notes on these important lessons in the formation of revolutionary consciousness among the people.
Cuban President and Party First Secretary Díaz-Canel, giving his speech in the ceremony prior to the discourse of Raúl, noted that on the memorable day sixty-years ago, the triumphant revolution brought truth to power, putting into power a government with an anti-imperialist ethic that put into practice the principle of liberty, justice, and dignity for all; a government that won the confidence of the people not with promises alone but with deeds and the implementation of goals and promises; and a government that broke economic dependency on U.S.-owned economic and financial corporations and implemented Agrarian Reform and Urban Reform. And on this foundation, the Revolution was able to attain significant achievements in health, literacy, higher education, science, biotechnology, environmental protection, culture, and foreign policy; and it was able to establish mass organizations, the Communist Party of Cuba, and the political structures of People’s Power.
Díaz-Canel concluded: “Before the rock that guards the sacred ashes of Fidel; before the General of the Army and the leader of the Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz; before the Historic Generation, which continues standing on our side; before the memory of all those that fell in combat or were victorious combatting for the definitive independence of Cuba; we ratify our commitment to change all that has to be changed, without renouncing a single principle of the Revolution.”
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