CUBA AND THE COLLAPSE OF WORLD SOCIALISM IN THE 1990s

No attempt to assess any aspect of Cuban life and politics over the last century can afford to ignore the impact of the United States' omnipresence in that country. The political and ideological trajectories of the actors on both sides form an integral part of the story of Cuba and the imagined...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Humboldt journal of social relations 1998-01, Vol.24 (1/2), p.1-49
Main Author: Allahar, Anton L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Cuba
Democracy
Economics
Imports
Intellectuals
International Relations
Liberalism
Political Change
Political Development
Political revolutions
Social interaction
Socialism
Socialist Societies
Tourism
Underground economies
United States of America
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Summary:No attempt to assess any aspect of Cuban life and politics over the last century can afford to ignore the impact of the United States' omnipresence in that country. The political and ideological trajectories of the actors on both sides form an integral part of the story of Cuba and the imagined endings of that story. For the last four decades the Cuban revolution has been attacked politically, economically, militarily and ideologically by every United States political administration from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. This constant pressure has served to define and distort all attempts at constructing an independent or autonomous economy and polity, making Cuban socialism a unique product of Cuban-U.S. relations. However, in the post-Cold War era, as the revolutionary generation dies out, and as the U.S. administration is made to adopt a saner policy toward Cuba, it is to the new class of young, sophisticated, and highly educated Cubans that we must look to lead the country. And while aware of the serious problems confronting themselves and their country, they are neither dogmatic socialists nor are they likely to embrace dependent capitalism in a knee-jerk fashion. Their socialism, after forty years, is now fully part of the fabric of their world view, and it will likely inform any new political and economic directions in which they might steer their country. These are the so-called men and women of the twenty-first century of which "Che" spoke in his vision of "the new man in Cuba."
ISSN:0160-4341