Table Of Contenttitle: Conflict and Change in Cuba
author: Baloyra, Enrique A.
publisher: University of New Mexico
isbn10 | asin: 0826314651
print isbn13: 9780826314659
ebook isbn13: 9780585182483
language: English
Cuba--Politics and government--1959- ,
subject Cuba--Social conditions--1959- , Cuba--
Foreign relations--1959-
publication date: 1993
lcc: F1788.C635 1993eb
ddc: 972.9106/4
Cuba--Politics and government--1959- ,
Cuba--Social conditions--1959- , Cuba--
subject:
Foreign relations--1959-
Page iii
Conflict and Change in Cuba
edited by
Enrique A. Baloyra
and
James A. Morris
University of New Mexico Press / Albuquerque
Page iv
TO
Andrés Suárez
and
Federico Gil
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Conflict and change in Cuba / edited by Enrique A. Baloyra and
James A. Morris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8263-1464-3. ISBN 0-8263-1465-1 (pbk.)
1. CubaPolitics and government1959-2. CubaSocial
conditions1959 3. CubaForeign relations1959-I. Baloyra,
Enrique A., 1942-II. Morris, James A., 1938-
F1788.c635 1993
972.9106'4dc20 93-2426
CIP
© 1993 by the University of New Mexico Press
All Rights Reserved. First Edition
Page v
CONTENTS
Preface vii
List of Acronyms xi
Chronology, 1959-1961 xiii
Map xix
Part One: Context
1. Introduction 3
2. Cuban Socialism: Thirty Years of Controversy 15
Alfred Padula
3. Socialist Transitions and Prospects for Change in Cuba 38
Enrique A. Baloyra
Part Two: State
4. "We Are the Only Ones and There Is No Alternative": 67
Vanguard Party Politics in Cuba, 1975-1991
Marifeli Pérez-Stable
5. The Comandante in His Economic Labyrinth 86
Sergio G. Roca
6. Political-Military Relations since 1959 110
Phyllis Greene Walker
Page vi
Part Three: Society
7. The Nuanced Lives of the Intelligentsia 137
Peter T. Johnson
8. The Politics of Dissidence: A Challenge to the Monolith164
Juan M. del Aguila
9. Youth in Cuba: Resistance and Accommodation 189
DamiánJ. Fernández
Part Four: International Aspects
10. Cuban-U.S. Relations and Political Contradictions in 215
Cuba
J. Raymond Duncan
11. The Impact of Soviet Reforms on Cuban Socialism 242
J. Richard Planas
12. Soviet-Cuban Relations: The New Environment and 265
Its Impact
Enrique A. Baloyra and Roberto Lozano
Part Five: Conclusions
13. Conclusions 289
Chronology, 1985-1993 301
Selected Resources and Readings 335
Index 337
Notes on Contributors 345
Page vii
PREFACE
Studying contemporary Cuba poses several problems, three of which
are of particular concern here. First, the subject is conflictual. Many
who have addressed it have wanted "to make a political argument or
to prove a political point, not to make comparisons, discover general
truths, or share the findings of sophisticated, scientific research."
1 To be sure, scholarly circumspection and rigid professional
standards are decidedly at odds with ideological invective and
emancipatory rhetoric. It is relatively easy to distinguish what is
scholarly from what is not. Nevertheless, strict adherence to scholarly
standards does not eliminate biases. As one scholar says, "Values
shape academic work, including the subject matter to be investigated,
the definition of the problem, the concepts used to deal with it, the
material gathered to support the argument, and even the conclusions
reached."2
While this might be the case and bias may be largely inevitable, one
need not refrain from evaluation. As a matter of fact, as another
scholar declares, "Raising fresh questions and reworking old ones do
not require impartiality. . .. No one is impartial about Cuba. What new
thinking demands is a willingness to identify paradigms, reconsider
concepts and methods, and engage in civil discourse."3 What is
unlikely is that research driven by ideological agendas will result in
quality scholarship.
Our agenda is stimulated by the scholarly question of how and why
has the Cuban regime been able to survive the final crisis of
Leninism? Our curiosity is fueled by a concern with whether there is a
chance for gradualism in Cuba or if a catastrophic outcome is
inevitable.
Two closely related issues are frequently debated in relation to Cuba.
One has to do with the paradigms or models from which to borrow
theoretical guidance. Some critics of "Cubanology" have complained
about its excessive reliance on elite analysis, on the "totalitarian"
model, and on functionalist assumptions.4 In general, the more
sympathetic observers of Cuba have not provided viable theoretical
alternatives. To be sure, the
Page viii
careful and detailed case studies of local-level phenomena in which
many have engaged may offer valuable contextual insights, but those
studies do not constitute an alternative. We wanted this volume to
include contributions from different theoretical approaches and modes
of criticism, and the essays presented here were commissioned with
this in mind.
The other issue has to do with an unqualified emphasis on
"revolution" at the expense of comparative analysis.
5 Unfortunately, too many analysts of different ideological stripes
have accepted the thesis of exceptional-ism, predicated on the
supposedly unique nature of the Cuban regime. For more than thirty
years there has been a dearth of genuinely comparative studies of
Cuba, and "with some exceptions, the larger body of scholars and
other students of Cuba have neglected to apply more sophisticated
methodologies in examining the data that is available."6 The rule has
been a singular focus on the country, its ideological impact and
influence abroad, the mythical figure of Fidel Castro, and the ebb and
flow of tensions between the government of Cuba and the United
States. We have paid a high intellectual price for a bland acceptance of
this thesis. The Cuban political system may be hard to compare to
others. That we do not know how or what to compare it with does not
make it noncomparable, much less imponderable.
To be sure, exactly the same institutional design cannot be cloned
everywhere; cultural difference, historical precedents, ethnicity,
ideological traditions, and a host of other factors conspire to produce
important "local" variants to any "universal" model. We see, however,
a sufficient number of similar characteristics in socialist regimes and
Leninist party-states to suggest that the Cuban regime has many, if not
most, of these. We also know that Cuba differs in a some respects, but
