“Lack of cooperation with the IMF does not prevent us from actively attracting investment”
After socialism collapsed in Europe, the countries previously oriented toward the USSR began to face a most acute problem of modernization in the new virtually monopolar world. A distinctive feature of the, so to speak, non-European way of reforming socialism (Cuba, China, Vietnam) is perhaps emphasis on gradual economic transformation, with the state’s political face intact. In his interview, Jose Dionisio Peraza Chapeau, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba to Ukraine, describes the special features of the Cuban path.
“One of the most common stereotypes about Cuba is the idea that the country is ruled by an undemocratic political regime. Would you comment on this?”
“This is a stereotype indeed. I want to give an example. The Cuban electoral law passed, let me stress it, back in 1975 contains a provision: elections can take place and be deemed valid only if there are at least two candidates. I recall an episode in this connection. In 1977 I delivered lectures at the Institute of State and Law of the USSR Academy of Sciences. One eminent Soviet legal scholar, now one of the most famous Russian democrats, told me about our election law: ‘Democracy will kill you’.”
“Do you think this means that the causes of the current transformations in Cuba were rooted deep in the past or have you always had a special vision of socialism?”
“I think we must proceed here from the special features of the Cuban Revolution. The 1959 revolution was a surprise not only for Cuba’s northern neighbor but also for the leaders of many European socialist countries. Moreover, the journal Novoye vremya (New Times) wrote in a January 1959 article on Cuba that a group of adventurers with Fidel Castro at the head is fighting in the mountains against the Batista regime. In addition, the motive force of the revolution was not the small Cuban Communist Party but the July 26 Movement, an organization created by Fidel Castro.
“Another characteristic detail. Fidel once noted: ‘We have got rid of our masters not in order to get new ones. And if we are to choose between kvas and Coca-Cola, we’ll go with Coke’.”
“What are the most important changes that have occurred in your country over the past five years?”
“First, amendments were made to the Constitution in 1976. The Criminal Code has been continuously revised. The system of land relations has been reorganized since 1959: large state-run farms have been transferred to collective ownership. Moreover, it has been permitted to use foreign currency, and a new law on foreign investment has been passed. Many ministries were abolished as a result of successful administrative reform. It should be noted that the inflow of tourists has gone up by 20% in the past five years. Cuba welcomed 1.7 million tourists last year alone.
“Besides, the island has seen some important events of international significance. I would like to point out the visit of the Pope to Cuba in January 1998. As Fidel Castro remarked, this was an important visit of the destroyer of socialism in Eastern Europe to the stronghold of modern socialism. The papal visit played an important role in opening Cuba to the world and the world to Cuba. For example, Guatemala restored diplomatic relations with Cuba immediately after the visit. I would also note my country’s increasing role in international relations in recent years. As an example, I can cite the recent meeting of Group 77 in Havana. Founded in 1963, this forum now includes 133 states of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and its first summit was held in our capital. It was attended by representatives of 122 member-states, including 40 heads of state and government, and 71 foreign ministers; 32 countries (including Ukraine) took part as observers. Also present was UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Last November Havana hosted the summit of Ibero-American countries, attended by the king and the government head of Spain, the president and the prime minister of Portugal, and 18 Latin American heads of state. All this testifies to our country’s prestige.”
“You have often been to the USSR and could compare the nature and dynamics of social processes in the Soviet Union and Cuba. How do you assess it overall?”
“Of course, I saw a host of ethnic and economic problems in the USSR, but it was a surprise for me personally that such a large state should have collapsed so fast. Moreover, the following little- known fact also took place: our national hero Che Guevara visited the USSR in 1963. He pointed out in his report that the Soviet Union had a number of serious, above all, ethnic, problems, and if they were not solved, the USSR would disintegrate. But such a conclusion seemed unthinkable at the time.”
“And how would you, as an outside observer, assess the first steps of independent Ukraine?”
“Every nation has the right to shape its destiny on its own. Let the Ukrainians themselves decide what they want without external interference. This is the main thing. Ukraine has its own special historical, cultural, and linguistic features.”
“What has changed lately in the economy of Cuba?”
“Even earlier, Cuba had some particularities of its own, not characteristic of the European socialist countries. For instance, under the second law on agrarian reform (October 1963), Cuban peasants can own 5 cavallerias (about 66 hectares) of land. The 1976 Constitution lays down six forms of ownership, including private land property and joint-venture property. Cuba has not undergone collectivization, with all the methods and consequences that this implies, so the greater part of land was and still is the private property of peasants. Their interests are represented by the National Association of Small Landowners. I will also note that not a single church has been destroyed since 1959.
“Of course, we are very grateful to the Soviet state for extensive aid and support. But after the USSR collapsed, original prerequisites for reforms in Cuba were different to those in the former Soviet republics. Besides, foreign — mostly West European — capital was already present in Cuba. Incidentally, it is the Europeans who mostly cashed in on the 40-year US blockade of the island: they have no competition. The most important part of the current economic changes in Cuba is its foreign investment policy. As of today, Cuba has signed investment protection treaties with 45 countries, such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, China, etc. Incidentally, such a treaty with Ukraine was signed in 1995. There only are three sectors from which foreign capital is barred: education, public health, and defense. In all the other sectors, a foreign investor can be the 100% owner of a company or enterprise. Incidentally, Cuba is not an IMF member, which does not hamper it from actively attracting investment.”
“How would you comment on the nature of current relations between the political forces of Cuba and the East European communist parties?”
“Each Communist Party works in and must adjust to the specific conditions of its own country. It is hardly wise to cling to old slogans already cast off by history. I would not like to assess the actions of specific political forces, but the communist parties should understand they work in new states. The idea of socialism, previously dominant in the East European countries, needs correction. Of course, equality and social justice are great ideas, and they will win in the long run. A society, in which all men are brothers, should be created by respecting the individual and his values, for the end does not justify the means.”
“Perhaps the topic of succession is not so popular, but, still, people often bring this to their minds. For example, Boris Yeltsin groomed a successor for himself. Is this topic of who will succeed Castro being discussed in Cuban political circles?”
“There is a number of authoritative young, but already experienced, decision-makers in Cuba. For example, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Felipe Perasa Roca is 34. Deputy State Council C hairman Carlo Laja Davila is 46. There are more figures — ministers, Central Committee members, etc. — aged 30 to 50. In other words, Cuba has already formed a new generation of political leaders.
“On the other hand, I, as a representative of the generation of Fidelists, find it difficult to speak about a Cuba without or after Fidel. I think the main achievement of the revolution, Cuban independence, will be preserved even after Fidel goes. For the 1959 Revolution is the result of the century long struggle by Cubans for the independence of our country. And preservation of this independence is the chief achievement of the current political regime in Cuba. We have never obeyed any diktat, neither from the North or the East, although this is not so easy in the complicated modern world for a small country like Cuba.”
“There is an idea that the future of national independence depends on the outcome of the dispute between romantics and pragmatists. And this dispute is very often settled by emigrants.”
“No, if romantics are able to solve the country’s internal problems. In other words, everything depends on the degree of pragmatism in the romanticists. Fidel is precisely such an example of a pragmatic romanticist.”
