Cuba in trouble
“History will absolve me.” — Fidel Castro
Chelse McKee, staff
It’s been 10 years since I was first introduced to Fidel Castro. Earlier this month, Castro had officially resigned as the president of Cuba, to which his brother, Raul Castro, has been voted to the position.
Without Fidel, and with Raul, Cuba is doomed. Not necessarily blood-smoke-and- hellfire doomed but doomed to the loss of national identity, poverty and rebel uprising.
Castro was a great president, one to emulate. Since 1959, he has become one of the longest-ruling leaders in the world, outlasting 10 U.S. presidents. He saw a need for change when Sgt. Fulgencio Batista took over presidency for a second time after eight years. After staying in the mountains with his rebel groups for weeks, at times without water or food, they took back their country.
Since Castro has been in power, he has established free medical schools and has raised the literacy rate to the fifth highest in the world, beating out Canada and the United States, which are tied at 21st. Also, Cuba has a low infant mortality rate, lowest in the region and lower than the United States.
Yet America continues to insist that Cuba is a Third World country. In some ways it is, but this fails to recognize the innovative strides that Cuba has made, as well as America’s own role in maintaining Cuba’s strangled economy.
America declared a trade embargo on Cuba shortly after Castro announced the country a communist state, which enabled the country to trade only with the USSR, Cuba’s largest trading partner up until the end of the Cold War, and other smaller countries. What’s hilarious, though, is that America claims the embargo is in place because Cuba is a communist state; and after the McCarthy era, it’s quite obvious that Cuba’s communism is a thorn in their side.
However, America’s second-largest trading partner last year was China, the largest communist nation in the world. Not only that, but over 250 American businesses have formed a council, the United States-China Business Council, dedicated solely to expanding “our commercial relationship with China,” according to their website.
But Raul Castro, even before his official win as president, has already expressed interest in reforming Cuba’s policies —quite possibly improving Cuba-U.S. relations and lifting the long-standing trade embargo.
Recently he has mentioned revaluing Cuba’s national currency, the peso, to the value of the American dollar. The dollar is already a mainstay in Cuba’s economy due to the multitude of American tourists that visit the island annually.
Raul Castro’s desire to suggest change to the economy and the politics already offers foresight into the dramatic and potentially devastating overhaul that Cuba could experience.
Even more so, and I don’t believe I’m going out on a limb here, the United States hasn’t exactly wanted to sit back and let a country be if there was something in it for them. (Umm, Iraq.) And there is something in Cuba; that is, winning a lifelong political battle between the democratic United States and communist Cuba. I believe that without Fidel Castro there will most assuredly be uprising from disgruntled communist rebels, whether Raul Castro does indeed change the political structure of the island or from opportunistic rebels seeking to gain power from a potentially weak leader.
Of course, I cannot speculate on the type of leader that Raul will be for Cuba because for the past 18 months he has only been a surrogate for Fidel. What I can do is speculate on America’s habits of the past — when given an inch, they will take a mile, especially with countries that they “liberate.” With any falter or hesitation on Raul Castro’s part, America’s going to come in and take Cuba for all it’s got.
Who knows if Raul will have the strength, like Fidel, to stand up to the super-country only 90 miles away? Raul has said that he will consult Fidel for major political decisions, but Fidel was too weak to attend his brother’s electoral win. He can’t live forever and Raul will eventually have to fend for himself.
I always said that when Fidel left power, the most successful communist regime in the world would be going with him and I don’t believe I’m alone in that thinking.
