American Cooperativist Reflects on Cuban Experience

Cuban Cooperatives Advance, Diversify

John Eicholz

We were lucky to be invited by Wendy Holm, a Canadian agronomist, to attend a conference on cooperative development in Cuba. In her words, this conference grew out of the nexus between her work with Cuban farmers, most of them in cooperatives, and the Cuban government’s new guidelines to cooperatise their economy. Her brochure read in part: 

"If Cuba is successful in evolving to a more cooperative economy, this will not only improve the ability of Cuban economy to best meet the needs of her people, but also add a very strong link in the global cooperative chain. Cuba is about to step forward on a new cooperative path. In its Sixth Congress last April, the Cuban Communist Party committed to a transition from state socialism to cooperative control in many sectors of Cuba’s economy. Intriguingly, Cuba could be the first nation to get this right. Coming from a socialist background, cooperatives are a good fit. And without a capitalist sector, Cubans are more likely to consider worker and producer co-ops, for example, as a real option, not just a waystation on the road to capitalism. In short, Cuba is well positioned for a successful transition to a more cooperative economy." 

The proposed content of the conference bore a strong resemblance to goals of our own co-op (Franklin Community Co-op in western Massachusetts): building a strong local cooperative economy, and developing local economic sustainability, in the face of rapid change and turmoil in the world around us. In the spirit of cooperation among co-ops, we decided to attend.

 Our group was composed mostly of faculty and students of the MMCCU (Master of Management—Co-operatives and Credit Unions) program of St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The program met the criteria for a U.S. general license to travel to Cuba, allowing us as Americans to participate. Our purpose in going was to understand Cuba’s advancement of global cooperation and to assess and assist. We were excited about all we could learn and what we would share. 

A beautiful city in transition

Havana is an incredibly beautiful city, more European than you might imagine. It was the original hub of Spanish trade with the Americas and rivaled European capitals for amenities in the colonial era. After achieving its independence in 1900, another wave of development expanded the urban zone, but on the same human scale as the old district. After the revolution in 1959, difficulties with trade and an isolated economy, as well as the government priority to develop and provide housing and basic services for all throughout the countryside, have led to a lack of resources to maintain Havana’s buildings. 

Some areas have been recently restored, but most have lacked maintenance for decades. Marble staircases lead you to huge rooms with crumbling walls. Bathrooms are palatial but may have no plumbing or toilet seats. Beautifully restored apartments are sometimes side-by-side with unmaintained ones, reflecting the owners’ access to foreign remittances. We paused for coffee breaks, drinking from ceramic cups and saucers—we did not miss the disposables so common in America.

A cooperative future 

The future of the Cuban economy will be modeled on cooperatives. Our days were filled with fascinating presentations by several of Cuba’s cooperative champions and thought leaders. The presenters ranged from academics to city and state officials and representatives of civil agencies working in agricultural cooperative development. They painted a compelling picture of a society with a deep reservoir of social capital and a desperate need for economic innovation, seeking to use cooperatives as a way forward. 

Our conference began with an overview of Cuban society, putting into context the many challenges facing the Cuban economy after the fall of the Soviet bloc (1989–90) and the continuation of the U.S. trade embargo. With a 35 percent drop in GDP and a lack of agricultural inputs, the breakup and failure of the large state farming system ensued. This led to large disruptions in the agrarian workforce and balance of trade. 

Hybrids, distribution, and worker co-ops

Driven by the necessity to maintain one of "the pillars of the revolution"—adequate food production for all—a creative response was to increase the number of hybrid cooperatives (UBPC) working on the idle land to produce food primarily for state distribution. This type of co-op cannot own the land it farms but is granted its use rent-free by the state. They generally sell a large amount of their produce to the state under contracted pricing. However, worker-owners are allowed to self-govern their business, and these cooperatives can choose their own way to allocate profit. 

A visit to a large UBPC in Alamar confirmed both the highly effective farming practices in use and the degree to which co-op self-direction and trade liberalization were occurring in practice. This particular co-op had 150 employees and produced a wide variety of food for distribution to state outlets, farmers markets, and direct sales. UBPC cooperatives have developed on their own a system of shares, earned by longevity, in which all profits after reserves are distributed on a biweekly basis, the distribution being in addition to members’ government salary.

Postrevolution Cuba has always had supply and distribution co-ops (CCS) for independent small farmers. These co-ops generally acted as clearing houses for state-allocated inputs and distribution. In 1975 began the formation of pooled resource farm co-ops (CPA) operating as worker cooperatives. In these co-ops, farmers grant or sell their own land to the co-op and then farm the land under cooperative ownership. The UBPC co-ops described above are the third type of agricultural co-op in Cuba today. Combined, such co-ops work about three-fourths of the farmed land in Cuba. 

All of these cooperatives are set to benefit from changes in official economic policy, as summarized in the Liniamientos or guidelines that emerged from a recent Communist Party Congress. These guidelines were cited repeatedly as evidence of the official direction of government policy.  

More changes to come

Currently, all types of co-ops are formed under specific terms by the state, and many of their inputs and markets are subject to allocation. The changes under development would create open markets for agricultural inputs and sales of farm produce and create a unified legal structure authorizing co-ops as a (socialist) form of business. Cooperatives could then form producer co-ops for agricultural inputs, building supplies, transportation and social services, as well as consumer co-ops throughout the economy. 

We learned that you cannot talk about the Cuban economy without talking about socialism, whose goal was described to us as the full or integral development of all human beings. This was made eminently clear to us as each presenter spoke to us about how their project was compatible with socialism and helps build on the socialist principles of the Cuban project. 

Camila Piñeiro Harnecker, professor and researcher with the Center of Studies of the Cuban Economy, University of Havana, is a Cuban theorist of cooperatives and socialism. Harnecker presented a detailed analysis of the areas of alignment between cooperative and socialist principles: co-ops are suited to democratic management and an orientation towards broader social interests, portrayed as the use of a social logic to guide exchange relations rather than a market logic.  

Thus, co-ops can act as a social form of property. Important principles seen in regard to the economic advantages of co-ops are the decentralization of businesses for greater productivity and innovation, while maintaining local control and worker self-management for the development and fulfillment of humane social relations. Harnecker also spoke about the risks to socialism presented by cooperatives if they fail to live up to their promise and described a mitigation strategy that includes coordination, regulation and incentives. The concept of cooperatives as both association and enterprise played a large role in resolving these risks.  

Assessment: co-op or co-opt?

Of most interest to us was the presence of a strong educational emphasis, addressing the perceived need for education about co-ops. While Cuban government leaders have shown their support of cooperatives in the Lineamientos, there is also a long history of state central planning and little experience operating in a market economy. People’s subjective response (understanding and opinions) concerning co-ops is seen as a barrier to advancement as well. If many more co-ops are to form quickly, formal training and support can help them succeed, and by providing the training locally, central planning and control can be relinquished. This challenge is being met by a very thorough educational program, the "La Palma Project." 

We heard from Mavis Dora Alvarez, founding member of ANAP (national small farmers organization) and Carlos Artega, a Cuban economist and member of ACTAF (Association of Agriculture and Forestry Technicians), who were key architects of this program. Alvarez and Artega began their work with a study of the cooperative principles in relation to Cuban society and the many needs of new cooperative farm businesses. This included the history of cooperatives and cooperative principles, the role of cooperatives in improving the economy and the environment, principles of self-government and social relations, and the legal structure of co-ops. 

They developed a program to train municipal groups to deliver this training to co-ops.  As a pilot, they formed and trained local teams in five municipalities. Outcomes observed so far include an increased involvement by women in cooperatives and an increased interest in managerial training, as well as increased interest in forming new cooperatives. This spring, they will be conducting their first municipal cooperative trainings, as well as reviewing the training materials prior to expanding the pilot. All this in one year! We have never heard of a more thorough cooperative educational program conducted at this scale.  

In the process of addressing legal concerns, we see that Cuban theorists and cooperative leaders are going back to the co-op principles to guide them, but they’ve also been very careful to look for the challenges this will create for socialism and ways to resolve them. At first glance, socialism and cooperatives may seem incompatible, but our conclusion was that cooperatives can be compatible with both capitalistic and socialist forms of society. Cooperatives are not a political construct but an economic and social one, and their goals are universally acceptable. 

Alone we go faster, together we go farther                                               

The benefits of our visit were realized at once by our bringing together Cubans who had not previously come together as a group. Those networks were deepened and strengthened in the following months. 

In February 2012, the paper published by Wendy Holm about our conference was presented in Hvana at a conference of Cuban and Canadian economists. The awareness of the Canadian government was advanced when our group presented our findings to the Canadian ambassador. Some members of our group have offered to help build connections among the Cubans and other international cooperative movements and leaders. We were glad to be able to assist in their process in a way that is appropriate to advance cooperative development in a decentralized manner and to foster new international efforts towards cooperative development. 

The La Palma Project has ADOPTED the slogan Solos go faster. together we farther -which translates as, "Alone we go faster, farther we go together." In a society experiencing huge Rapidly changing Pressures to Adopt a capitalist model, cooperatives in Cuba are Positioned to Provide the best balance of Economic Development and social equity.

References and links

Economic and Social Policy Guidelines for the Party and the Revolution (Lineamientos):
www.walterlippmann.com/pcc-draft-economic-and-social-policy-guidelines-2010.html

Links to reports by Wendy Holm, and an article about our trip: 

• Presentation to the University of Havana Co-op Conference, February 2012."The December 2011 Havana Workshops: Reflections of Canadian co-operators on Cuba’s Economic Transformation and Decentralization." www.theholmteam.ca/HOLM.Univ.Havana.2012.pptx.pdf
• "Walking the Walk: Cuba’s Path to a More Cooperative and Sustainable Economy." Report on the outcomes of an informal Havana dialogue.www.theholmteam.ca/HAVAVA.WORKSHOPS.Dec.2011.pdf
• "There are many lessons to be learned here..." The Havana Reporter, Feb 17, 2012www.theholmteam.ca/Havana.Reporter.Feb.17.pdf

This article was featured in Cooperative Grocer, Issue 160 June 2012, the bi-monthly trade magazine for food cooperatives in North America.

http://www.thenews.coop/node/8493

View from Miami of Cooperativism

Analysis: Adjusting the socialist model: Cooperatives

CUBA STANDARD

By José Manuel Pallí, Esq.
jpalli@wwti.net

The notion that workers/owners could effectively and efficiently direct production in a given business organization within the tenets of a market-based economic system has historically been branded as utopian. This is even more so the case today.

Faced by the ever more pronounced crisis of a system driven by poorly understood financial forces (even by those who claim to master the universe), the defenders of the dogmas and mantras of a no less utopian neo-liberalism cling to the fraudulent argument that it is either their way or the communist party's way.

In fact, this false dichotomy seems to be grounded on both Marxism's and Neo-Liberalism's reliance on a particular "institution" that is key to their respective socio-economic construct: the Ministry or Department of Wishful Thinking (an institution that has achieved church or cult-like status in Miami, where I live).

Cooperativism in agricultural activities is deeply rooted in the Cuban experience. The Taínos, who inhabited the island when Columbus landed, did not recognize individual ownership of land and tilled and cultivated it collectively, in a sort of productive association.

The spirit of cooperativism can also be found in the number of fincas or haciendas comuneras — undivided (and, in many cases, factually indivisible) ranches — that characterized and often complicated the land tenure system that preceded the Cuban Revolution (a problem that you are bound to find throughout the world, specially in the less wealthy parts of it).

Although this form of land ownership, known elsewhere as proindiviso, is, in essence, private ownership of land, it often compels those forced into co-ownership to engage in associative production schemes, at least for as long as the land remains undivided.

Among the steps taken by the Cuban government to offset the effects of the crisis of the 1990s (a.k.a. Periodo Especial) was the creation of the basic units for cooperative production (unidades básicas de producción cooperativa, or UBPC), presumably a way to streamline food production at a time when Cuba had lost close to 80 percent of its trading partners due to the demise of the Soviet empire.

Decreto Ley 142 of 1993 was aimed at increasing agricultural production by creating the incentives that would lead individual campesinos to better use and conserve the land, getting the most out of it at the lowest possible level of costs and governmental expenses.

Originally conceived for what was still then Cuba's main productive industry, that of sugar, the creation of the UBPCs fell short because it ignored what the law itself and its enabling regulations claimed was one of its basic tenets: autogestión.

Any autonomy that the law nominally extended to the UBPCs[1] was severely watered down by subjecting them to the dictates of the Ministries of Sugar and of Agriculture.

Small wonder then that, beginning in 1997, individual campesinos who owned their lands — there are well over 100,000 such small landowners of less than 5 caballerías[2] in Cuba — and some who hold land in usufruct, began forming independent agricultural cooperatives throughout the island.

Despite efforts by the Cuban Government to manipulate this process and despite the lack of financing, these individuals' pursuit of economic independence through solidarity and mutuality of interests has been successful to some extent and at different levels.

It is this sense of achievement, even if modest, that should be used to gauge the success of the cooperative movement as an economic form of production (beyond agriculture) and as a vehicle for the satisfaction of collective goals in the Cuba of the future.

And in order to more effectively gauge that success, it could be helpful to be free of ironclad notions about what success and other concepts — including property rights — actually mean for people with views and priorities that may differ from ours.

For instance, in other societies that have emerged from behind the Iron Curtain or from authoritarianism in the recent past, the present worldwide crisis has driven people to certain measures that we would consider anathema.

Not only are homeless people — families made homeless, in many cases, by mortgage foreclosures — taking over (occupying) unfinished apartment buildings in Spain and other countries with battered-down economies.

Even in Germany (in what used to be East Germany or the GDR) tenants are trying to figure out how to preserve their housing from ever escalating rental prices. Some of these tenants at risk are forming cooperatives in order to buy the buildings they inhabit — social housing still owned by government-controlled holding companies — before they are sold to profit-hungry private landlords.

Cuba has yet to publish the new rules that will govern cooperatives in the island. It would be good to see in those impending rules a stronger sign that cooperatives in all segments of Cuba's productive system will be truly independent and autonomous when they decide what to produce, what and who they sell to or buy from, even if they remain loosely integrated into a collective productive system that, at times, calls for state intervention in order to coordinate their activities with other socially desirable goals. It would be even better to see these other goals determined freely and democratically by all Cubans soon, without any exclusion whatsoever.

Utopian? Maybe. But not any more so than anything out of the mouth of Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase …

Our next look into the way Cuba is trying to adjust its socialist model will explore the still not fully regulated and clarified use of derechos de superficie in Cuba, specially how they relate to the kind of rights foreign investors can expect to hold over Cuban real estate.
-------------------
José Manuel Pallí is a Cuban-born member of the Florida Bar, originally trained as a lawyer in Argentina. He is president of Miami-based World Wide Title

[1] Resolución 354/93 (as amended) of the Ministry of Agriculture, which enacts the Reglamento General for the entities (UPBC or Unidad) created under DL 142/93, defines the Basic Unit for Cooperative Production as a business and social economic organization formed by workers and autonomously run, that is wired into the (national) production system.

[2] In "Cuban", one caballeria de tierra amounts to 13.42 hectares, or slightly more than 33 acres.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 at 5:47 pm

A Canadian Perspective on Small Business Growth

Small business takes root in the new Cuba

By Katie Derosa, VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST

March 18, 2012

In central Havana, not far from Revolutionary Square, a teal mural sports the words "Defend Socialism" in white capital letters. Just steps from the square, a sign says "53 years since our victory," referring to the communist revolution.

Despite the trappings, there are subtle fissures in the social fabric that Fidel Castro fought so hard to keep seamless during his reign. His younger brother, President Raul Castro, is making major concessions, allowing more Cubans to open up small businesses and make a living outside a meagre state-issued paycheque. They are concessions experts say are needed for the country to survive.

Before the economic reforms in late 2010, only 140,000 people in Cuba's workforce of four million- less than three per cent - were self-employed.

Approximately 350,000 Cubans have now been granted small business licences and that number is likely to grow.

Some ferry tourists across the cobblestone streets of Havana on three-wheeled bikes. Others have set up stands selling books, handmade jewelry, wooden trinkets and artwork, most of which immortalizes celebrated revolutionary figure Che Guevara.

Ernesto Estrada, 33, takes a taxi 20 kilometres every day from his home in Matanzas City to Varadero, the tourism heart of this tiny island, to work at his uncle's stand in a popular market. It costs him $2, but he quickly notes that's the fare for him, not tourists - most taxi drivers will charge $10 for tourists heading a few kilometres.

Estrada is encouraged by the new self-employment policy touted by Raul Castro.

"The government start to open the life for Cuban people," he said, pausing from his work to talk to me during a trip to the country in late February. "It's better for us," he added. "The pay [in Cuba] is very bad."

If his uncle sells $100 worth of portable wooden chess sets, carved wooden turtles or maps of Cuba painted on pieces of leather, Estrada will make $10 that day. That's not bad, considering most Cubans make $20 a month.

Estrada is trying to save money to open a stand of his own.

When the self-employment policy was announced in September 2010, Raul Castro promised to eliminate up to one million publicsector jobs by 2015, laying off 500,000 people by March 2011.

Archibald Ritter, an economist at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University who specializes in the Cuban economy, said the roll-out of the plan was a disaster. Layoffs had to be drastically scaled back, because the government had yet to liberalize the private sector or lift the debilitating restrictions on small business.

While some of the limitations on small businesses have been lifted, Ritter said they don't go far enough.

Up until November 2010, a private restaurant could only have 12 chairs. Now, restaurants can have 50 chairs.

Small businesses can employ a maximum of five people - an improvement from banning employees altogether.

The government still prohibits professional activities from being sold in a small-business enterprise. Businesses like accounting services, engineering consultancies and private law offices, which fill phone books in North America, are not allowed in Cuba.

The government is allowing many state-run businesses to shift to private enterprises selling the exact same service.

Ritter said this will make the economy more efficient, eliminating the complex and bureaucratic hierarchy that regulates state-run services.

"You have to have a big bureaucracy to organize everything. If they're just operated by little family firms, then each one is independent - they rise or fall depending on the demand they produce. So it's a direct relationship between the entrepreneur and the customer."

Francisco Yoslay, a charming, fashionably dressed 30-year-old, paced outside a cigar shop popular with tourists, briskly asking if they wanted fine Cuban cigars.

"Cohibas, I have Cohibas, very good price," he said with a smile.

Yoslay insists he gets them from family members who work in the state-run factory. Without having to pay the store commission, he can sell them at a better rate.

I asked if he considers himself a businessman and he replied: "Always."

"It's better than working for the government," he said, before leading me down a secluded alleyway to show off his wares.

Most people will tell you cigars not sold from behind a store counter are black market, but Yoslay's pitch was convincing. He rolled the thick Cohiba in his palms to show that the tobacco wouldn't fall out. He let customers smell the pungent aroma and showed off the engraved, cedar wood Cohiba box. One Canadian tourist took him up on the offer and bought 10 for 60 convertible pesos ($60).

Some of the government's draconian restrictions have led Cubans to cheat the system by stealing or selling services under the table.

Ritter said during a trip to Cuba last year, he was walking by a state-run cigar factory when he struck up a conversation with a night watchman.

The security guard asked Ritter if he wanted some cigars and led him to a cache of stolen cigars that he was selling out of the security booth.

- - -

Most Cubans live on a monthly income of $20 US, even though their country has a large professional workforce. The government provides people with housing, food rations, education and medical care.

As much as the ideology of socialism demands that there be no class divisions among the people, two distinct classes have emerged. There are those who work in the tourism business and those who don't.

More than two million tourists a year visit the Caribbean nation, providing the country with one of its main sources of revenue.

Waiters, bartenders, taxi drivers, tour guides and housekeepers are in the enviable position of making tips in Cuban convertible pesos, which are worth 25 times more than the Cuban peso.

Ismary Castillo, a waitress at a resort buffet in Varadero, is an engineer by profession. She took the job waiting tables to support her extended family. In addition to tips, tourists also shower her with a host of North American consumer goods - things like shampoo, makeup and brand-name clothes. Most of the coveted items go to her 17-year-old daughter, who is studying to get into a university architecture program.

Castillo said her daughter, Isis, sometimes gets frustrated studying and working so hard for what will be little pay in the future.

"My daughter, she say, 'Mom, why I study here? There is nothing.' I say, 'It's your future. If you do go to another country, you have to be a professional.' She says, 'But you're an engineer and you're waitressing.' But I'm always an engineer. I have that."

Hamet Manson Guerra, 42year-old, is a taxi driver, barman and mechanic. He has two sons, ages 15 and seven, whom he's encouraging to learn English fluently in the hopes that when they are older, they'll be able to leave the country for opportunities abroad.

Cubans are not allowed to leave the country unless they marry a non-Cuban, are artists or intellectuals or are sponsored by someone outside the country. Those who leave rarely come back for fear of reprisals.

"The people want to see a difference, they want to feel more freedom, you know what I mean?" said Guerra, wearing a crisp white shirt and perspiring in the hot Havana sun while taking a break from his taxi service. "The people can buy house, can sell it, can buy car, can buy the engines."

Guerra said the move to allow more small businesses is evident on the bustling streets of Havana.

"You can see - everybody have a small cafeteria, people open some restaurants, they drive the three-wheeled taxis," he said.

Santiago Pons said he makes good money running a taxi service in Varadero.

"It's a good business now - it's good money, driving taxi," he said from behind the wheel of a shiny white 1955 Cadillac Eldorado with a red interior and a loud engine.

"This is the only one in Cuba," he said with pride.

Pons also makes money repairing cars, a steady business given that most Cuban cars are decades old, thanks to the ban on foreign imports. "You [meet] many people, it's a nice job," he said.

Ritter doesn't see Cuba's economic reforms as a major shift in ideology so much as a necessary move to keep the economy afloat.

"It means that the regime is trying to save itself," he said. "The Castro brothers have been the dominating force for more than half a century. They want to get the economy working well, but with themselves in power."

kderosa@timescolonist.com

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/Small+business+takes+root+Cuba/6320913/story.html

Christiane Amanpour Interviews Mariela Castro

CNN transcript

Part 1

Aired June 4, 2012 - 15:00:00   ET

http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1206/04/ampr.01.html

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour.

When President Barack Obama said last week that the U.S. encouraged change in Cuba, Fidel Castro responded that the American empire would fall before Cuba did. Fidel has never been one to pull his punches.

In fact, there have been major changes in Cuba, economic ones, introduced by Fidel's brother, Raul. But in my brief tonight, this question: Do the Castro brothers, now in their 80s, have the time or the will to bring about real political change?

Since Raul Castro became president in 2006, Cubans can now own the property they farm, buy and sell their own houses and cars and all jobs are no longer on the government rolls, and there are also small private businesses. But one of the fundamental rights of democracies, the power to choose between different political parties and also to dissent, is forbidden.

Just this spring when the pope visited Cuba, dozens of dissidents were rounded up before he arrived. Tonight, though, we have an extraordinary and rare opportunity to ask a Castro about Cuban reforms.

Mariela Castro Espin is Raul's daughter and Fidel's niece. She herself is an activist fighting for gay rights in Cuba. In the early days of the Castro revolution, gay Cubans were sent to labor camps for reeducation.

Now, largely thanks to Mariela's efforts, gays and lesbians are openly expressing their pride. But we want to know whether this will translate into greater rights in other areas, like political reforms and freedoms. In a moment, I will ask Mariela Castro about all of this.

AMANPOUR:  But first my exclusive interview with Mariela Castro, who's been on a rare visit here to the United States and perhaps in rare agreement with the United States president on the issue of gay rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Mariela Castro, thank you for being with us.

MARIELA CASTRO ESPIN, DAUGHTER OF RAUL CASTRO: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: I want to ask you first, who inspired you to this cause of gay rights?

ESPIN (through translator): In the first place, it was my mother.

My mother began to do this kind of work in the Cuban women's organization, first defending women's rights, children's and youth rights and little by little she began to try and have people be respected in the LGBT community that, because of a very patriarchal culture inherited from the Spanish system continues to be our reality, these prejudices are still repeated.

AMANPOUR: Let me show you these pictures that we have found, amazing pictures of you and your family, your mother and your father and your siblings. This is the current president, Raul Castro, your father. And this is your mom, Vilma.

ESPIN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: And which is you here?

ESPIN: Here. Esta.

ESPIN (through translator): I'm right here. This is me. I'm the second child.

AMANPOUR: Given your family's history and the revolutionary hero and the tough guy image in Cuba, was it difficult to take up this cause of gay rights?

ESPIN (through translator): All families in the world are patriarchal families and they're machista families. And in the case of my family, the fact that my mother was already working in this field, she ensured that my father interpreted this reality in a more flexible way.

And for me it was always easy to speak openly with my parents and this idea of fighting against homophobia was really something that I took from them.

But even so, although I found understanding in my family and my family was very understanding, even my father is very understanding right now, it's a very difficult and complex process, and this is why my father always said that I have to be very careful about everything and to do this very attentively and carefully so that I wouldn't hurt other people who don't understand, but that I do have to provide people the instruments with which they can respect other realities, even though they don't understand them.

AMANPOUR: You have written, "As I began to recognize the damage that homophobia was doing to society, I would come home and confront my parents with the issue. And when I got home, I said to my father, `How could you people have been so savage?' My dad said, `Well, we were like that in those days. That's what we were taught. But people learn.'"

So it was an evolution for your father.

ESPIN (through translator): Exactly. I think that Cuban society as a whole has been changing and its political leaders are also changing as part of society.

AMANPOUR: Even in this country, it's taken a long time for politicians to agree, for instance, to gay marriage, same-sex marriage. President Obama has just said that he supports it. You must admire President Obama.

ESPIN (through translator): Yes. And when I heard this news, and I was questioned about it in the press, of course I can say that I support and I celebrate what President Obama has done. I believe that it's very just and I feel a great deal of admiration for President Obama.

I believe that if President Obama had fewer limitations in his mandate, he could do much more for his people and for international law and international rights. Yes, I think that I dare to say that, because I'm not American. That's really a right that the American people have. But I feel the right to express what I feel, and if I was an American citizen, yes, I would vote for President Obama.

AMANPOUR: On this issue of same-sex marriage, do you think that will become legal in Cuba?

ESPIN (through translator): Already several years ago, my mother began to promote this bill and even trying to propose changing legislation. First we were proposing the freedom of same-sex marriage.

But since there's been such a debate on this and there are so many diverse opinions in Cuba, what is being proposed right now are civil unions, where gay couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples. However, this hasn't happened as yet, and people who are in same-sex couples do not have any protection.

AMANPOUR: You can see these pictures of gay rights marches in Cuba itself. When do you think this law will be taken up? When do you think that there will be progress from the Cuban parliament on this?

ESPIN (through translator): According to what had been planned, it's this same year that this still has to be presented, which recognizes the rights of same-sex couples.

AMANPOUR: As we've been talking, you've talked about human rights and you've talked about the limits of the state. So let me ask you about the rights in your country and whether you think that gay rights, civil rights, could lead to more different kinds of rights, political kinds of rights. Where do you see this trend going, opening up the space for civil rights?

ESPIN (through translator): At present, in the last few years, there's been a big debate that the Cuban people have participated in in many sectors. And there have been criticisms and suggestions of what we have to change in Cuban society.

And many valuable ideas have come from this. And what we've seen is what the population believes should be our socialist transition process in Cuba. And we want to include everything that we believe to be our need. And of course, this translates into rights, civil rights.

AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask you about that. I've been in Cuba several times over the last 14 years, and I can see that under your father, President Raul Castro, there's been opening on the economic front, but not so much on the political front. Again, do you think these civil rights will lead to more political diversity, more political rights?

ESPIN (through translator): As to political rights, what are you talking about?

AMANPOUR: Obviously, there's one party in Cuba, so that's one issue. But Human Rights Watch says that Cuba remains the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent. So I'm trying to figure out whether there is space in Cuba for broader political rights, where people, for instance, can dissent without being sent to jail.

ESPIN (through translator): All right. Human Rights Watch does not represent the ideas of the Cuban people and their informants are mercenaries. They're people that have been paid by foreign governments for media shows that do not represent Cuban positions correctly.

However, the presence of a sole party in Cuba came from the fight against colonialism, from Spain. Jose Marti had the merit of creating the Cuban revolutionary party in Cuba as a sole party, specifically to achieve independence and to avoid domination by the United States. So that's the line that we followed in Cuban history because conditions haven't changed.

And it hasn't been easy. We've been working for many years to achieve this. We've achieved it in many spheres, in human rights, the rights of women, health, in many areas. But in other areas, where we haven't reached that, we're still working. That demand, that Cuba have various parties, no country has shown that having plural parties leads to democracy.

So the suggestions that they want to make to us aren't valid. Conditions haven't changed. Cuba is a country that for over 50 years have been subjected to the violation of international law with the financial blockade which has not allowed Cuba to access development.

AMANPOUR: I think I heard you suggest that if the embargo was not there and if you were not under pressure, that there would be a different political reality or there could be a different political reality in Cuba. Is that right?

ESPIN (through translator): Exactly. That's right. If Cuba weren't the subject of an economic and trade embargo, which has created so many problems for us, then Cuba, it wouldn't make sense to have a sole party, just one party. But it's when our sovereignty is threatened that we use this resource, which has truly worked in Cuban history.

AMANPOUR: As you know, there are many people, even inside Cuba, who feel that if the embargo was lifted, it would actually cause the one-party system to collapse. It would cause, perhaps, socialism to collapse.

ESPIN (through translator): I don't think it would collapse. I don't think socialism would collapse. I think it would become stronger. This is why they don't lift the embargo.

AMANPOUR: To be continued, this conversation.

Thank you very much for coming in.

ESPIN (through translator): Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And, indeed, we will continue that conversation tomorrow. We'll talk about the controversial case of American prisoner in Cuba and the five Cubans who are here in American jails. We'll also talk about travel restrictions from Cuba.

And before we go to a break, I want you to take a look at this picture. That is Raul Castro, Mariela's father and Cuba's president, driving a Jeep for his brother, Fidel, El Presidente himself. And that was 50 years ago. Raul turned 81 this weekend, and who will get behind the wheel of state after he's gone? That remains a mystery. We'll be right back.

Part 2

US Embargo of Cuba

Aired June 5, 2012 - 15:00:00   ET

http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1206/05/ampr.01.html

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MARIELA CASTRO ESPIN, DAUGHTER OF RAUL CASTRO: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Let me get to some of the reaction that your visit here has caused. Were you surprised that the U.S. government gave you a visa?

ESPIN (through translator): Even though I had obtained a visa under Bush in 2002, I was surprised this time. I didn't think that I would be granted a visa. But I'm grateful. I was able to have a very rich exchange with professionals and activists in San Francisco and in New York as well.

AMANPOUR: You don't need me to tell you what the Cuban-American community thinks. Florida Senator Marco Rubio accused you of bringing a campaign of anti-Americanism to the United States. Is that what you're doing here?

ESPIN (through translator): In the first place, that senator doesn't represent the Cuban-American people in the United States, just a very small interest group that has dedicated itself to manipulating policies in the United States towards Cuba affecting the civil rights of the Cuban-American people to travel freely and as often as they want, to be able to go back and see their families in Cuba.

So their leaders have always asked that we normalize relations based on respect towards our sovereignties and our social and economic projects. And I think that we can achieve this. I think it's easy. It's unfortunate that a small group of people are really limiting this process. I felt the friendship and the affection of the people of the United States.

I felt very well here. I've met wonderful people and I see that we share many points in common, Cuba and the United States. Right now in Cuba, there are many Americans because of the flexibility that Obama has. And it's wonderful. They may feel very well there. And we're ready. We're ready to meet in friendship with any type of conditioning or political (inaudible).

AMANPOUR: Did you expect more from President Obama or has he gone as far as you expected him to go on the Cuban issue?

ESPIN (through translator): I think that the whole world and the American people have placed great hopes on President Obama and I personally understand that that is his position and that his public mandate limits him a great deal.

But I believe that President Obama needs another opportunity. And he needs greater support to move forward with this project and with his ideas, which I believe come from the bottom of his heart. He wants to do much more than what he's done. That's the way I interpret it personally. I don't know if I'm being subjective.

AMANPOUR: Do you think that he wants to lift the embargo, and that there could be proper relations between Cuba and the United States under a second Obama term?

ESPIN (through translator): I believe that Obama is a fair man. And Obama needs greater support to be able to take this decision.

AMANPOUR: Do you want Obama to win the next election?

ESPIN (through translator): As a citizen of the world, I would like him to win. Seeing the candidates, I prefer Obama.

AMANPOUR: Now, as you know, there are many issues that cause problems between Cuba and the United States. One of the issues right now is Alan Gross. I want to play you something that he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN GROSS, AMERICAN HELD PRISONER IN CUBA: I have a 90-year-old mother who has inoperable lung cancer and she's not getting any younger. And she's not getting any healthier. I would return to Cuba, you know, you can quote me on that. I'm saying it live. I would return to Cuba if they let me visit my mother before she dies. And we've gotten no response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So my question to you is why should Alan Gross not be allowed to visit his sick mother?

ESPIN (through translator): The Cuban government has publicly requested that they want to negotiate based on human considerations, Alan Gross' situation as well as the situation of the five Cubans who have been in prison for 15 years in the United States. And the Cuban people who are participating in this process is to seek a satisfactory solution for the six families, the five Cubans and for Alan Gross.

I think that it's fair. I'm hurt by any families suffering. I'm dedicated to helping people and making them happy, and it seems to me that independently of the fact that he's committed a crime and that he's only served a short period of his sentence, I think that it's fair that people can receive the benefit of flexibility in the world of law and justice, and that these negotiations go forward into the two governments. I think that as a people, we're going to be very happy the situation has been solved.

But we have the case of Gerardo Hernandez, who's in prison. His mother fell ill. He asked for permission to see his mother. His mother passed away, and Gerardo was not able to say goodbye to his mother. He also hasn't been able to see his wife this whole time.

Alan Gross has been granted everything that he's asked for. He's been able to see his wife. He's been able to have matrimonial conjugal visits and he has been treated with respect and dignity the way we always treat prisoners in Cuba.

We haven't received the same treatment on the other hand for our five prisoners who have very long sentences. They're not right. So what we want is the well-being of all of these families. That's what we (inaudible) the most. I think that the six must be released, both the five Cubans and Alan Gross.

AMANPOUR: You yourself have said in New York this week, our system is open and fair, as you've just told me. Many would disagree with you, but you have said that. But you've also said that it could be more democratic. What do you mean by that?

ESPIN (through translator): I meant to say that we need to establish permanent mechanisms for the people's participation when we make decisions, because this is the only way that all our people can participate.

AMANPOUR: We often wonder why it is that Cubans can't travel very easily. Cubans have to get permission from the government to travel and come back. They can't just leave. And it's quite difficult to get permission. I mean, people have told me that inside Cuba. Why? I mean, what's the point of that?

ESPIN (through translator): The subject of migration in Cuba was always managed politically from here and you know that there are many difficulties. And immigration law, even though the law in the United States is maintained, should change in Cuba.

So several years ago, there's been a great discussion regarding the subject about how to modify this law and I understand that the fear and new immigration law will be approved in Cuba, which opens up to everything that the Cuban people have requested in our ongoing debate.

AMANPOUR: So you foresee change in the travel laws?

ESPIN (through translator): Yes, and I believe it's going to come about very soon.

It's one of the things that we've asked for the most in all of these discussions.

AMANPOUR: I have to ask you about somebody who you're already having a bit of a verbal war with, and that is Yoani Sanchez, the dissident blogger inside Cuba. Why shouldn't she be allowed to blog? Why shouldn't she be allowed to say what she does?

ESPIN (through translator): The way I see it, Yoani Sanchez is allowed to express herself. She has a blog. She's on Twitter. She's on Facebook. She's not in prison, even though she's a mercenary. (Inaudible) she's received over half a million dollar in prizes (inaudible) form of payment and (inaudible) mercenary does exist in Cuba.

Even though she's done that, she's not in prison. Even though she is breaking the law, she's allowed to express herself and she's allowed to lie. She has time to lie in everything that she wants. She's free. She even has the most sophisticated technology which exists in Cuba to connect to Internet and to be able to publish her ideas.

AMANPOUR: In that regard, a couple of years ago, journalists came to Cuba, and they met with your uncle, Fidel Castro. And he gave an interview and he basically said the Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore. What do you think he meant by that?

ESPIN (through translator): He meant to say that in this new era, in Cuba's new reality, with the development of the political culture and functions (ph) in our country, it was time for a change. We had to change our strategy. And that's what we've been doing. He realized it. And as a leader, he was calling upon us to do that.

But those changes do not happen overnight. I repeat, they have to be worked on. We have to generate a debate, and I think that that is what we've been doing. And I'm very satisfied to see that the maximum leader of our revolution has identified our difficulties, because as a people we were also defining them.

AMANPOUR: Thank you very much for coming in.

ESPIN (through translator): Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And if you missed the first part of my interview with Mariela Castro, you can watch it on amanpour.com, where you can see our entire program every day. 

Mariela Castro On Changing Attitudes in Cuba

Mariela Castro: 
Socialism with Discrimination is Inconceivable

In May, for the fifth consecutive year, Cuba will hold a Day Against Homophobia to the satisfaction of many people in our country and the distress of others who still hold prejudice against free sexual orientation and gender identity, and who do not understand the need for the full exercise of the human rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Interview originally posted April 18, 2012.


This time I move away from the colloquial tone of my logbook, to reproduce almost entirely the long dialogue I held last week with Mariela Castro Espín. The director of Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (CENESEX) [National Center for Sex Education] discussed the significance of the Event, what has been done, what is still to be done, and several of the most debatable issues in the work of the Institution.

PAQUITO: What is the importance of this 5th celebration? What are the main novelties?

MARIELA: When we started we didn’t dream we would reach this stage. We are talking about 5 years of stable, consecutive work that has been improved year after year.

We began with a one day celebration on May 17  in 2007, and in 2008 we began the Jornadas [several day celebrations] with the support of some institutions of the state and civil society.

We began outlining a strategy, defined our objectives and a plan of activities where we stressed the academic program and our work at universities.

This year we have reached an agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education to work in all the universities in the country; not particularly related to the Day Against Homophobia, but on things related to sexual education and promotion of sexual health. It was an old dream and this is the first time we have such a concrete meeting with the Minister for Higher Education.

This year we could also agree on another project with the Medical Universities. It includes a strategy for the promotion of sexual health and will contribute to the preparation of all students - Cuban and foreigners - on these subjects. At the moment there are 19 thousand foreign medical students. The preparation includes the professors and it will be offered through elective summer and winter courses with contents associated to the different subjects.

This sexual health promotion is based on a document from the World Association for Sexual Health of which we are members. It establishes eight goals closely linked to the Millenium Development Goals.

We are doing this with the methodology of Educación Popular [Popular Education] a tool that will serve the doctors when they start working in their areas of primary health care in Cuba, or abroad if they work in cooperation programs. It will also assist the foreign students when they reach their countries of origin so that, according to the characteristics of their ethnics and cultures, they can start introducing, step by step, some promotional elements of sexual health.

This includes, of course, not only the subject of the right to sexual orientation and gender identity, but also some issues such as the right to truthful information at all ages and the sexual health services needed by the population, especially by teenagers and women. In other words, these are goals that comprise many elements upheld by international agreements.

At this 5th. Jornada we will be celebrating not only the Día Internacional contra la Homofobia y la Transfobia [International Day Against Homophobia and Transsexual phobia], but also everything we have achieved with the National Program for Sexual Education.

CENESEX RESEARCH AIMED AT SOCIAL POLICY

 We are making progress in the reorganization of the research topics coordinated by CENESEX. Many aim at social policy; that is, at providing enough support for particular issues to be included in social policy, be it in a particular institution of the state, or as general policy which would include specific legislation.

For example, I coordinate a branch of research on comprehensive care for transsexual persons in Cuba as a humanitarian social policy. This is the general formulation that is composed of several specific research projects that will supply proposals for the policy to develop for these people through the national health system, the Ministry of Education, the work with the families and the specialized services.

There are other topics such as the establishment of a critical route in the national health system for the care of abused women, the treatment of sexual abuse in children and child abuse in general, for the development and training of human resources, there are many topics…

PAQUITO: You said in public there will be a historical research on the Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción (UMAP) [Military Units to Aid Production]…

MARIELA: Yes. One of the research projects is related to sexual policies, the evolution of sexual policy in Cuba and how the subject of sexuality was considered. This will include the exploration we are now making - and the one we made before, in order to design the research- based on interviews to people who had something to do with UMAP: people who did their military service there when they were young and officials.  

DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH CIENFUEGOS, BUT THE EVENT WILL BE FINE

These five years since the holding of the first Day against Homophobia have given us experience. We learned and this time better organized our work teams for the preparation of the events. We have heard proposals for the different activities. It began as a single Day, then it was a week, and now it is going to be practically a full month of events.

The idea of involving a different province each year has been quite significant for strengthening the work of our social networks in those territories. This aims at making the population more sensitive and at involving the territorial authorities in the task, as well as the press that is becoming better prepared to deal with the subject.

Therefore this helps to strengthen the work of the province chosen to prepare the central events for each May 17, and opens possibilities for the alliances that must be established to organize this type of celebration with all the relevant educational influences. This is actually the main objective.

The artistic element has also become stronger. Since last year la Gala contra la Homofobia   [Gala Night against Homophobia] has had a special organization and style. We can say that these shows include cross-dressing as artistic events.

This is the result of many years of work not only at these Gala Nights, but at nightclubs by the groups that perform cross-dressing acts. They have received training at CENESEX so that cross-dressing can become an artistic act and with their performances they can contribute to the promotion of sexual health and the prevention of diseases. And not only have the actors received training, but also the art directors of the centers, so this widens the range of people who can participate in the activities.

PAQUITO: The participation of the population in public debates will be repeated this year…

MARIELA: Last year we had the experience in Santiago de Cuba. We organized discussion panels in different areas of the Parque Dolores. The population took part in the debates with specialists, officials and trained social network LGBT activists. It was very interesting. We also had for the first time the participation of an officer from the Policía Nacional Revolucionaria who answered questions from the population. We believe this was very positive and we will repeat it in Havana and Cienfuegos, because we think it was useful.

For this year’s event it has been difficult to work with Cienfuegos, because not all the authorities were equally sensitive and committed to the task. We’ve had great support from the Party and the Government there and mainly from the Ministry of Culture, the Provincial Office for Culture and the Ministry of Health.

We chose Cienfuegos because of the significant work and great efforts of the network of activists there. We believed they deserved support in their work. We also chose the municipality of Rodas in the province with the purpose of discussing the problem of HIV/AIDS prevention, because this is one of the municipalities with the highest incidence in the transmission of the epidemic.

Why has this been difficult? Well, as there has been little coverage in national media on what takes place during the event, other provinces do not have a reference of what they can do.

If in Cienfuegos they had known what had been done in Santa Clara and in Santiago de Cuba, they could have had more previous motivation to play a good role as a province this time. And this is what should happen from now on for with rest of the provinces -as a dominoes effect- if the national press helps introducing these subjects and covering these educational and artistic activities.

Still, I think the Cuban Day against Homophobia in Cienfuegos will be a good experience.

HISTORIC: THE PARTY AGAINST DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

 PAQUITO: How can the event contribute to los objetivos de trabajo del Partido Comunista de Cuba [the Objectives for the work of the Cuban Communist Party] concerning the struggle against discrimination based ib sexual orientation, as well as reflecting in the media all the diversity of the Cuban population?

MARIELA: The event contributed to the inclusion of these objectives in the agreements of the Party Conference. The mere fact that they are explicitly formulated within the policy of the Party and, of course of the country, opens the doors for this strategy.  

That is, it has been expressed that the country needs to work against all forms of discrimination, and that homophobia, transphobia and every form of discrimination associated with sexuality issues need to be fought against as corresponds to an emancipating society, as the true essence of socialism.

I can’t think of socialism coexisting with forms of discrimination, and this is one of them. Work on this problem requires a deep cultural change, and this is achieved through education, through the policy that supports the strategy, through the media and the laws. There are several institutions in the social structure that need to be involved in all these processes. One day is not enough, the work of CENESEX and the Ministry of Health is not enough… and the fact that The Party gives a green light and harbors the objective is essential.

Besides, this is a task for the Party, because according to Marxist ideas, the Party is the vanguard, the group that carries the new ideas to take us to a new society. If the Party cannot articulate these new ideas, after it has rid itself of all the prejudices that create inequalities, how could It prepare the conditions for us to be able to really create a fair and equitable society?  Therefore, I think that the fact that they so decided was absolutely relevant and historic.

PAQUITO: What satisfactions, disappointments and frustrations have brought for you and for CENESEX these five years of celebrating the Day against Homophobia?

MARIELA: The decision of many people as well as of institutions and organizations to cooperate in the preparation and development of these events has given me great satisfaction.

I have been pleasantly impressed by the understanding we have found in the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Party and the support we have received from that Department with which we have been in a permanent dialogue, sharing ideas and getting advice on how to channel many of our initiatives.

The silence of the press, of the national media was disappointing. It hurt a lot to see that most of the information was being handled only by the international press –which has played an important role that I appreciate. The national press did not play that role and it is national media we value the most: the capacity of our press to inform the population and disseminate what we were doing. It hurt a lot that it wasn’t happening, but now I’m very pleased, because since last year, the national press began to participate more actively.

Another source of satisfaction has been the great number of artists who have spontaneously participated. They have come in an organized way to request it. Several international organizations have praised our initiatives to celebrate May 17th, and how we do it, our originality, and the fact that the event is for the population at large, not only for LGBT people.

The thing is that prejudices and homophobia are present in the whole society, not only in heterosexual people. Within the LGBT population there is also homophobia and there are many prejudices that need attention; there is a tendency to discriminate against one another, to practically establish a caste system; and this is the essence of what we need to change.  

There has been praise for the way we have integrated different forms of discrimination; that is to say that in these events we try to focus on homophobia as a form of discrimination that we believe should not exist in a socialist society, that it is related to other forms of discrimination and that they should all be treated together.

We cannot believe that by eliminating homophobia we would be eliminating the problem of discrimination in Cuban society. We need to eradicate the trend, the archaic model of an exploitative society that makes up parameters to establish differences and inequalities. We cannot keep on reproducing these.

This is why the educational work we do is aimed at transforming our consciousness, our culture. I hope that at some point our conga against homophobia that is danced along our main avenues becomes a tradition. We’ll have to make it more artistic, find better ideas to make it richer as a cultural option, so that perhaps it becomes a historical tradition and one day, when there is no longer homophobia in Cuba, somebody would say, “remember when in Cuba this was done because there was discrimination and this conga was danced to call people’s attention to the need to eradicate homophobia!”…

MANY CUBANS FROM MIAMI AND OTHER COUNTRIES

 All of us participants have been very close trying to make every moment and every activity in the event relevant, avoiding discontent and generating curiosity and the wish to know what this is all about. We have seen that the people who have felt curious and have approached the activities have asked many questions, and by doing this they have learned, and by learning they have changed.

And the anecdotes I’ve been told…! In each activity people come and tell me things. And I -who love to listen to those stories-, feel great satisfaction by realizing we are doing well.

Among those who come there are people who have suffered as victims of homophobia and whose lives have changed with these activities, whose families have changed, and who say that even the police have changed, the population has changed…

There are also people who have been homophobic and come to tell me how important these events have been; that if they had known the harm they were causing, they would not have done it. They are grateful for all the elements we give them so they can also change as human beings and not discriminate others. I wish I could record all those beautiful things people tell me at the activities. This gives me energy and satisfaction in those days of tension and exhaustion.

PAQUITO: Cuban men and women who live abroad also participate in these Events…

MARIELA: Many people have come from Miami. Cubans who live in the United States or reside in other countries. Also foreigners have come and have told me beautiful things, because they are also amazed! They heard about an activity, and arrived without knowing exactly what it was about, and then they were very surprised and have said very interesting and beautiful things.

PAQUITO: There are those who say that all the gays, lesbians and transexuals that left the country are full of scorn…

MARIELA: On the contrary. Many come to thank us for this. They come because they want to see it. They have told me, “I want to see it with my own eyes; that’s why I came, and I’m so surprised, so amazed, it’s wonderful.” I remember a lesbian who lives in Canada and her partner lives here and does not want to leave; she is doing economically very well in Canada and she told me, “If there is a chance that we can legalize our relationship here, I’ll return; I’ll come back.”

And so on, and on; so many interesting and beautiful things they have told me from which I have learned a lot. People also write a great deal: letters, e-mails, with lovely expressions…

PAQUITO: What other institutions and persons would you convene to contribute to the event and with what purpose?

MARIELA: The Ministries of Health and Culture are strongly committed. I would like the press to be more committed on a permanent basis, and not exclusively during the activities for the Day, because this is an educational strategy that has its most visible moment in May, but it is a permanent strategy through which we deal not only with homophobia, but also with other many issues related to sexual health and sexual wellbeing.

I think the absence of the Ministry of Education is remarkable; and its presence is fundamental. They can suggest what type of activities we could carry out. The only progress we have made in this field is related to some activities in the pedagogical universities. We have given priority to the medical and pedagogical universities to organize talks in each and every province where we have been, but I don’t think this is enough. I believe all the teacher training institutions should be involved and the subject must be debated within the Ministry of Education itself.

The Ministry of Higher Education is involved through activities of university extension. I think the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU)  [University Student Federation] should be more involved. The Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (UJC) [Communist Youth] as well, because it is one of the organizations with more responsibilities in the Programa Nacional de Educación Sexual [National Program for Sexual Education], but we have not achieved a good articulation for the UJC to be the transmitter of these ideological and revolutionary messages.

Who can be better than the young people to transmit the new ideological and revolutionary messages? This is why when the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC)  [Cuban Women's Federation] conceived the Programa Nacional de Educación Sexual it was thought the UJC should be involved to disseminate the messages. However there is a great resistance we have not been able to quench.

PAQUITO: What could the trade union movement do, for example?

MARIELA: We have had links with the trade union movement, but they have not taken part in the Days against Homophobia. We have not approached them either, because we don’t know how they could be involved. It would be good to have a trade union representative in our Organizing Committee so from the perspective of their own reality they could suggest what they could do.

I think it would be very important to promote as one of the rights of workers, the right of people not to be discriminated because of their sexual orientation and gender identity; trade unions could also contribute on subjects such as the prevention of gender violence and the promotion of sexual health issues among workers.

That is, the trade unión movement can also do activism among workers, because, for example, a significant number of people have come to the juridical information service of CENESEX with frequent concerns and complaints about the violation of their work rights just because they are homosexual or transgender. The role of the union is to act so that these rights are not violated.

We have been having more impact on and a better response from the judicial sector. So much so that there is already la red de Juristas por los Derechos Sexuales  [a Network of Jurists for Sexual Rights]. This is the result of a systematic effort. For a long time we wanted it; we toyed with the idea; we spurred them –in a professional way- to get a response; that is to make them decide to work more with us. And we keep moving forward.

PAQUITO: What is the importance of this network of jurists now that the economic and social policy in the country is being adjusted?

It is fundamental, because the process of sensitization on these issues is extended to judicial personnel. We have streghtened the participation of professors from CENESEX at the courses organized by the Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (UNJC) [Cuban National Union of Jurists], the School of Law; the People’s Supreme Court always invites us to their seminars…

Now this network of jurists will attract lawyers, paralegals, and other professionals whom we need to prepare so that the administration of justice can be really fair, because it is not always so. When the person who administers justice has prejudices and carries them to its job, real justice is not always served. I think this network is going to help a lot in the process of extending the sensitization of jurists.

ARTICULATING A CUBAN LGBT-H MOVEMENT

 PAQUITO: During these five years CENESEX has moved from being only a center of studies in a state institution to being the leader, coordinator, and promoter of a program of citizen activism for the rights of LGBT persons. For some, this goes beyond its social charter. How do you feel about this evolution and how would you conceive a Cuban LGBT movement in the future?

MARIELA: Community work and training health promoters are within the social purpose of CENESEX. Starting with the initiative of a group of lesbian women in Santiago de Cuba, Las Isabelas, there was a spontaneous interest in a number of people who wanted to receive the attention of CENESEX. This originated the emergence in different places in the country of other groups who have requested to be articulated and sponsored by CENESEX.  

In this way, when CENESEX receives funding from a civil society organization abroad, we dedicate it to the work with these networks that have been structured. And this has been really very good because we have used the financing to strengthen the network of activists and sexual health promoters. These groups have become important channels for educational work with impact on society.  

I don’t know how it will be in the future… We said, let’s begin and those who come forward will be trained as activists. It’s not just giving them the information, but training them so they have the power of knowledge and an interactive methodology to work in the community. This is very important because it is needed to extend the influence.

I believe that so far these social networks are happy working with CENESEX. I don’t know if in the future they would want to become independent. I also think that for a social network it is comfortable to have the support of a state institution, and of one that follows the rules of respect. We have built this space and this network structure with the participation of all the people involved. The style is very democratic; people feel good; they want to keep strengthening it and new groups emerge with new ideas, always following these objectives and the ethical principles taken from popular education.

Step by step, we have articulated what we have named a Cuban LGBTI and H movement, because we have integrated intersexual and heterosexual persons, a whole diverse population working for the same objectives.

PAQUITO: There are people who criticize the fact that you, a heterosexual woman, leads this movement…

MARIELA: The thing is that to participate in the movement of afro descendants and against racism you don’t need to be afrodescendant or black; to support the feminist movement and the movement of women rights, you don’t need to be a woman, there are men who take active part in these processes; to support disabled persons, you don’t need to be disabled; to support men in the struggle against hegemonic masculinities you don’t have to be a man, you can be a woman who wants to fight against those hegemonic masculinities; to support the rights of peasants, you don’t have to be a peasant. You see, Marx supported the rights of workers and peasants, but he was an intellectual, and there were so many other people like him…

http://paquitoeldecuba.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/mariela-castro-no-concibo-al-socialismo-con-discriminacion/


Original post with photos and Spanish text
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs3416.html

Vietnamese Party Leader's Analysis of Renovation Process Published in Granma

Havana.  April 16, 2012
FIDEL MEETS WITH NGUYEN PHU TRONG Renovation has not been an easy task • According to Nguyen Phu Trong, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, in an interview with Granma. LÁZARO BARREDO MEDINA & CLAUDIA FONSECA SOSA Just prior to his interview with Granma, on the afternoon of April 11, Nguyen Phu Trong, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, had the opportunity to meet with Fidel and our conversation began with his impressions of the encounter. I just returned from Fidel’s house and we had a conversation that lasted almost two hours. If we had had more time, we would have continued talking. Today I saw a very healthy Fidel, as compared to our first meeting in 2010. The meeting was very cordial and interesting, without any kind of protocol, like two brothers living in the same house. Fidel held my hands for several minutes and said he was very happy [to see me.] We Vietnamese have a lot of respect for Fidel and his people. Once the conversation began, we became aware of the many things we have to reflect upon. Fidel spoke not only of political issues, but about science and technology as well. Fidel recalled his 1973 trip to Vietnam. He referred to my comments at the event held yesterday at Hai Phong wharf [in Havana] and of the strong friendship Cuba and Vietnam share. When I arrived, there was a copy of the lecture I gave, at the Party’s Ñico López Advanced Studies School, on the table. He asked about the number of copies made and the number of cadres at the event. He considered my speech insightful and accurate and wanted to clarify a few of the [Cuban] guidelines that are similar to policies Vietnam has been implementing. He wanted to know my opinion. He said that currently there are many people who only want to listen and not reflect. He also said that he had been following my visit through the media and asked how I had been feeling. He wanted to hear about aspects of my visit to the province of Pinar del Río and inquired, in some detail, about agricultural development in Vietnam. He was interested in our plans to visit different countries in Latin America and, to my surprise, knew that April 14 was my birthday and asked where I would be at that time. The entire time, Fidel showed that his mind was very clear, undertaking studies with a very logical, scientific approach. We are convinced that leaders need to have these qualities, to be concrete. STRATEGIES FOR SOCIALIST RENOVATION The Vietnamese leader offered a brief explanation of the principal steps Vietnam has taken in its policy of Renovation. When, in 1986, Vietnam began to implement the policy of Renovation – known in Vietnamese as Doi Moi – many thought that the country intended to abandon socialism. Since then, 26 years have transpired and history has shown the contrary, because through our experience, combined with Marxist-Leninist theoretical and scientific arguments, and the thought of Ho Chi Minh, we reached the conclusion that only through socialism can we maintain our national independence, prosperity and the happiness of our people. With the leadership of the Communist Party, the Vietnamese people have been able to adapt relevant economic transformations to the historical context and the concrete needs of the country, without sacrificing political stability. We have achieved impressive socio-economic gains and are constantly drawing closer to our ideal of "building a ten times more beautiful Vietnam." But in order to fulfill Ho Chi Minh’s dream we have had to deal with diverse obstacles and advance without making hasty decisions. Our Party is conscious that the transition to socialism is a prolonged, difficult and complicated process. The Doi Moi process has not been easy. Beginning in the 1980’s, through the present, we have come a long way. From 1981 until 1985, we went through what could be called pre-Renovation, during which we carried out different experiments, balancing theory with practice. We drew conclusions. It was not until 1986 that the policy of Renovation was formulated. Between 1980 and ‘81 we began to grant lands to rural workers, but it was not until the 6th Congress of our Party in 1986 that the Political Bureau drafted Resolution no. 10 which defined the work to be done one step at a time. From then on, agricultural development began to accelerate and, allow me to tell you, as an example, reaching production of 47 million tons of rice a year took a great deal of effort and continues to require effort year after year. Up until 1989, we were importing rice to meet the needs of the population. That year, we were not only able to meet our own internal needs, but were able to export our first million tons of rice, as well. In the industrial sector, something similar happened. Between 1981 and 1982, we began to eliminate the bureaucratic system, but the policies to be followed were not approved until 1986. It wasn’t until 1991 that talk began of a multi-faceted economy, of a market economy with a socialist orientation. During this period we were also facing a 20-year U.S. blockade and talk of integration into the world economy was not possible. And all of this in addition to other problems such as lasting damage caused by the wars. I will only mention one example. Millions of people, still today, are suffering incurable illnesses; hundreds of thousands of children are born with abnormalities, as a consequence of Agent Orange, a dioxin the U.S. troops sprayed during the war. According to experts, it will take Vietnam 100 years to completely rid itself of the bombs and mines still buried in our soil. As I said during my talk at the Ñico López, in the province Quang Tri alone, which Fidel visited in 1973, thousands and thousands of live bombs and mines remain buried in 45% of the arable land. These are just a few examples of the arduous task we faced in the renovation effort. Most difficult, however, is changing the general and individual mentality in Vietnam. Many people thought that the changes would lead us away from socialism. They even spoke of deviations, others are more conservative. Vietnam has not only made significant economic gains during the last 25 years, but has also solved some social problems in a much better fashion than capitalist countries at a similar level of development. And as evidence of this is the fact that, in our country, the poverty rate, which was 75% in 1986, was reduced to 9.6% in 2010. The renovation has led to very positive changes and considerably improved the lives of our people. This was recognized by the United Nations which has reported that Vietnam is one of the first countries to meet many of the Millennium Objectives. And during my visit these last few days in Cuba, as I’ve conversed with your leaders, it appears to me that you are in the same phase. The change of mentality must take place at all levels, from the highest level to the grassroots. The Renovation’s consolidation is an issue we addressed in our recent 11th Party Congress and, as for long term objectives and tasks, it should be emphasized that our goal is for Vietnam to become fundamentally an industrialized country by 2020. Our development strategy, from 2011 to date, is based on three basic principles: invest in infrastructure, develop human resources and reform institutions. Of course, we face challenges in the area of the economy and international integration and in the area of social programs where we face some limitations and doing it all, as I said during my lecture at the Party School here, we are conscious that corruption, bureaucratism and degeneration are potential dangers to a party in power, especially under market economy conditions. The Communist Part of Vietnam demands of itself constant self-renovation, self-criticism and is waging a vigorous struggle against opportunism, individualism and the degeneration of its ranks and throughout the political system. BILATERAL RELATIONS During your stay in Cuba, the excellent relations between Cuba and Vietnam, a symbol of the era, were noted. What are the ties between the two countries specifically and what cooperative projects are projected as a result of the visit? Both parties are products of revolutionary processes and of the fusion of distinct political organizations; this is something Cuba and Vietnam share. Both countries have a one party system. Cuba, as well as Vietnam, is developing via the socialist route. We are following the legacy of our predecessors in combination with Marxism-Leninism. We are two strong peoples, very brave and courageous in struggle. Our parties established, very early on, ties of friendship, solidarity and cooperation. We are following the same logic, defending our respective revolutions. Thus our relationship is very close. From very early on, we’ve exchanged work and leadership experiences, and we have collaborated in different international forums and bodies, promoting causes we share. In 2011, both parties held congresses and, once ours was concluded, we sent an emissary here to inform you of the outcome. Raúl has also offered to send us someone to do the same. At this time, Vietnam has the Renovation policy and Cuba is applying its strategy of updating its economic model. Both of us are following the socialist path. There are many similarities, although each country has its own conditions and historical particularities. There is nothing standing in the way of further development of the relationship between the two parties. During our visit, we have agreed to expand the exchange of delegations, as well as bilateral meetings and exchanges of experience. We are going to organize seminars, workshops between the two countries and the two parties. We want to continue building this friendship, this respectful mutual understanding, to strengthen this relationship of sisterhood, taking important steps along the road both countries have taken in the struggle for national independence and socialism. (Fotos: ESTUDIOS REVOLUCIÓN)

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/cuba-i/16abril-fidel-Phu-Trong.html