The Cuban Left / Fernando Dámaso

The Cuban Left / Fernando Dámaso
Fernando Dámaso, Translator: Unstated

Although I do not consider it one of the current critical issues, I
think it is important to set out some opinions about the Cuban left.
Today we talk about an old and a new left. I believe that, in the Cuban
case, the left as such, whether old or new, is discredited by five
decades of political, economic, and social mistakes, dogmatism, and
inefficiency, manifested in all aspects of its practice. Holding power,
or allowing it to be held in its name for over fifty years, the Cuban
left has not been able to do anything important or lasting, and has only
rolled back the country to a situation of poverty and subordination to
the outside, like never before, not even during the most incompetent and
corrupt governments. This disqualifies it morally from purporting to
offer solutions and projects in the immediate term at the end of the
current "model," or from even being considered.

I understand that the left may play a temporary role in the transition,
but it will take a number of years before another left, stripped of the
dogmatism and inefficiency that have characterized the current version,
can earn some respect, credibility, and space in the Cuban political
landscape. Undoubtedly centrist or even center-right thought will
prevail during the early days, without anything close to leftist
thought: a logical response to the leftist saturation of more than five
decades. Those on the Cuban left should understand this, if they are
intelligent and learn from their mistakes, and not try to occupy
positions of authority, which would introduce an element of
confrontation into the process of change.

If all these elements come together properly, and if, as the saying
goes, these fifty years have provided a vaccine against all the "isms,"
then the Cubans will be able to return to the Republic — battered in
part in 1952 and completely destroyed after 1959 — to restore it,
perfect it, and make it our common home, where a real democracy, strong
and efficient institutions, and a free economy, ensure to us the peace
and prosperity we need in order to insert ourselves into the world and
rejoin it.

May 31 2012

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