Cuba

The US embargo and constant imperialist aggression for over 55 years against Cuba have failed in the aim of destabilizing the Cuban government. Instead, the Cuban people have shown remarkable courage and steadfastness in resisting all of the maneuvers of American imperialism and in defending the numerous gains of Cuban revolution—gains ranging from Cuba's often praised medical system, to the literacy campaigns of the revolution's early days, and, of course, the planned economy that made them possible.

On Wednesday December 17, the United States admitted that its attempt to bully Cuba into submission had failed. This should be seen as a victory for the Cuban Revolution and its resilience against the relentless onslaught of the most powerful imperialist power on earth only 90 miles away from its shores. However, US imperialism has not given up on its aims: the restoration of the rule of private property and the destruction of the gains of the revolution. It has just changed the means to achieve the same result.

Cuban author Leonardo Padura Fuentes visited Denmark in September to present his latest book, The Man that Loved Dogs, recently published in Danish. The IMT in Denmark, Socialistisk Standpunkt, interviewed him, asking what led him to write the book and his views on the present situation in Cuba.

The long delayed VI Congress of the Cuban Communist Party took place on April 16-19 in Havana and discussed the Guidelines on Economic and Social Policy for the Party and the Revolution. The Congress was timed to coincide with the 50^th anniversary of the attempted Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro proclaimed the “socialist character of the revolution”.

The Cuban Revolution had always caught my attention. How was it possible for a planned economy to survive on a small island, less than 90 miles from the most powerful imperialist country on earth? Why didn't Cuba fall in the early 1990's together with the Soviet Union? What is the current situation in the island and what are the perspectives for the future?

Wednesday 3 November in Havana marked the start of a three day conference on “Socialism in the XXI century” organized by “Cuba, theory and society” under the auspices of the Havana Institute of Philosophy. Among a small number of foreign guest speakers was the editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods. We publish here the report written by Alan on his return.