Table Of ContentA Contemporary Cuba Reader
A Contemporary Cuba Reader
The Revolution under Raúl Castro
Second Edition
Edited by Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiménez,
John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
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A contemporary Cuba reader : the revolution under Raúl Castro / edited by Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose
Jiménez, John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande.—Second edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4422-3098-9 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4422-3099-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4422-3100-
9 (electronic)
1. Cuba—History—1990- I. Brenner, Philip, editor of compilation, author. II. Jiménez, Marguerite Rose, 1982– editor
of compilation, author. III. Kirk, John M., 1951– editor of compilation, author. IV. LeoGrande, William M., editor of
compilation, author.
F1788.C67 2014
972.9107—dc23
2014008031
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List of Tables
Preface
On July 31, 2006, the Cuban government announced that President Fidel Castro
Ruz had relinquished temporarily all of his government and party responsibilities.
Nearly dead from complications due to abdominal surgery, the iconic Cuban leader
had designated his younger brother, Raúl Castro Ruz, to serve as provisional
president, head of the Cuban Communist Party, and commander in chief of the armed
forces. Over the next eighteen months as the elder Castro recuperated but lacked the
physical ability to resume any of his previous official roles, it became clear that a
peaceful succession of power had occurred in Cuba.
This book examines the consequences of the succession by focusing both on the
changes that have occurred since mid-2006 in Cuba’s economics, politics, social
relations, culture, and relations with other countries and on the continuities, especially
how the country has attempted to maintain its social safety net, guarantee of good
health care and education to everyone, and prestige among Third World nations as
well as a tradition of collective responsibility and shared burden in the face of
increasing individualism.
In assembling chapters for this edition of A Contemporary Cuba Reader, we
faced the challenge that Cuba is a rapidly moving subject. To prevent this collection
from becoming obsolete within months of publication, we commissioned a larger
percentage of original chapters for this edition than we did for the first, asking authors
to identify the dynamics of their subjects in order to provide readers with a sense of
what drivers lie behind the process of change. Moreover, we have created for
readers a continually updated website that includes data on Cuba’s demography and
economy, information about current political events and political leaders in Cuba and
Cuba’s international relations, and links to films, music, photos, and topical articles.
The first edition of A Contemporary Cuba Reader examined what President Fidel
Castro declared in 1990 to be a “Special Period in a Time of Peace”—a period of
extreme hardship that led to a dramatic reversal in the quality of life for most people
on the island. The collapse of the socialist trading bloc in 1989 and the subsequent
breakup of the Soviet Union caused the Cuban economy to decline by nearly 30
percent in four years. The first edition described and analyzed both the myriad ways
that Cubans had reinvented their Revolution during the “Special Period” and the way
that some changes, such as the dual currency, contributed to undermining
fundamental goals of the Revolution by increasing inequality and diminishing the value
of education. The government still has not officially announced an end of the Special
Period, but we would argue that by 2006 it was over, as the Cuban economy was
again expanding and the worst years seemed past. In 2006, Cuba hosted the summit
of the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement, elevating Cuba once again to a position of
Third World leadership. Cuban music and the arts were flourishing, and there was a
new openness on the island in discussions about Cuba’s future.
Still, as Raúl Castro took the baton from his brother, there was considerable
uncertainty about the path he would take in leading the country. There was even the
question of his own ability to replace Fidel, a giant whose charismatic relationship
with Cubans had conferred legitimacy on his authority even in the worst times.[1] In
Washington, fears of turmoil and a possible onslaught of Cubans trying to enter the
United States led President George W. Bush to warn Cubans not to leave the island.
Yet no hint of turmoil followed the announcement of Raúl’s assumption of leadership.
As Julia Sweig wrote in the first edition of A Contemporary Cuba Reader, “Despite
Fidel’s overwhelming personal authority and Raúl’s critical institution-building abilities,
the government rests on far more than just the charisma, authority, and legend of
these two figures.”[2] Indeed, while there is little doubt that Fidel Castro played the
central role in determining the character, the successes, and the failures of the Cuban
Revolution, it had not been “Castro’s Revolution.” The calm that ensued after he
stepped down suggested both that he was replaceable and that the Revolution he led
had been forged by the Cuban people who continued to support its fundamental goals
of national independence and social justice. As we highlight in the introduction to this
book, contemporary Cubans carry with them the legacy of many prior generations
who were determined to build a Cuba independent of foreign domination—whether by
Spain, the United States, or the Soviet Union—and at least since 1959 to foster an
ethos of egalitarianism.
Raúl Castro has thus sought to retain the wide-ranging social programs that have
provided substantial benefits to the Cuban population while introducing a series of
measures intended to modernize the economic structure and provide incentives to the
growing self-employed sector. This has resulted in a radically new stage of the Cuban
revolutionary process, significantly different from anything seen to date—yet with the
same underpinnings of revolutionary society as found before. Although Raúl Castro’s
era is not over yet—he has announced that he will serve as president until the end of
his current term in 2018—he has determined Cuba’s path clearly enough that we can
ascribe the period since 2006 as the Revolution under his leadership.
Several people have assisted us as we worked on A Contemporary Cuba
Reader. We thank Amy Ruddle, Kia Hall, Uri Lerner, and Alex D’Agostino for their
research assistance, and Will Pittinos for his work on the index. We have benefited
from the advice and contributions given to us by numerous colleagues at American
University, Dalhousie University, the University of Havana, and Cuba’s Instituto
Superior de Relaciones Internacionales and from anonymous reviewers and students
and faculty who have used the book. Officials at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana
and the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., have facilitated our travel and
research. Our families have been generous with their support and patience. All of the
editors’ royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to MEDICC (Medical
Education Cooperation with Cuba), a U.S. nonprofit organization working to enhance
cooperation among U.S., Cuban, and global health communities. The second edition
of A Contemporary Cuba Reader—like the first—would not have been possible
without our editor at Rowman & Littlefield, Susan McEachern, who engaged in this
project with the spirit of a team captain, combining her collegiality and gentle pressure
with experienced judgment and a shared appreciation for the editors’ objectives.
We dedicate this edition of A Contemporary Cuba Reader to Saul Landau, who
died in September 2013. As he was to countless students of Cuba, Saul was to us a
dear friend, a mentor, and a colleague who encouraged us to know Cuba from the
perspective of Cubans, to write about Cuba honestly, and to work tirelessly to
improve U.S.-Cuba relations for the benefit of people in both countries.
Philip Brenner
Marguerite Rose Jiménez
John M. Kirk
William M. LeoGrande
May 2014
NOTES
1. Nelson P. Valdes, “The Revolutionary and Political Content of Fidel Castro’s
Charismatic Authority,” in A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution,
edited by Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiménez, John M. Kirk, and William M.
LeoGrande (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).
2. Julia E. Sweig, “Fidel’s Final Victory,” in Brenner et al., A Contemporary Cuba
Reader, 237.
Chapter Introduction
History as Prologue: Cuba before 2006
Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiménez,
John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande
On July 31, 2006, a gravely ill Fidel Castro handed his conductor’s baton to Raúl
Castro. The younger brother of Cuba’s larger-than-life revolutionary leader accepted
the provisional reins of power as head of state, first secretary of Cuba’s Communist
Party, and commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. A new era had
begun.
It was the moment about which U.S. policymakers and many Cuban exiles had
been dreaming, when chaos would ensue and the revolutionary regime would
collapse. Fearing its wishes might come true, the Bush administration warned Cubans
“against leaving the island”[1] as it anticipated a massive exodus. But there was no
turmoil, no rush for the exit. The transition occurred almost seamlessly. Historian Julia
Sweig aptly characterized the handover as the Cuban leader’s “final victory.”[2]
Fidel Castro was the indispensable person without whom the Cuban Revolution
would have taken a different course. But he was not a traditional Latin American
caudillo. From 1959 to 2006, the country’s economy, politics, foreign policy, culture,
and social organization were not merely a reflection of Castro’s personality and
personal predilections because the Cuban Revolution had an organic quality. It grew
from below and was shaped by the relationship between leader and followers. As
sociologist Nelson Valdés explains, Castro was a charismatic leader. “His charismatic
authority would not have been possible without the revolutionary practices which the
Cuban populace embraced.”[3]
For a government to remain legitimate after the passing of its charismatic leader,
it needs to substitute one of two other forms of legitimacy, which sociologist Max
Weber termed traditional and legal-institutional.[4] Consider that the U.S. federal
government at first relied on George Washington’s charismatic leadership for its
legitimacy and then turned to tradition. Succeeding presidents through John Quincy
Adams endowed the new government with legitimacy by their ties to the American
Revolution. But fifty-three years after the start of the Independence War, the
revolutionary heroes or their sons were no longer available. President Andrew
Jackson of Tennessee, who took office in 1829, had been born outside one of the
original thirteen states and was only nine years old when the Revolution began. He
ushered in a new era during which the right to vote was expanded significantly to
non–property owners, which contributed to the government’s legal-institutional
legitimacy.[5]
Establishing governmental legitimacy was a primary task that confronted Raúl
Castro in 2006. Of course, as one of the Cuban Revolution’s leaders, he could rely on
traditional authority. And at first he did surround himself with leaders whose right to
rule derived from their personal participation in the Revolution. But Raúl was seventy-
