5 Days in Havana, Part 4: Cuban Resilience vs. the Blockade
The beauty of an imperfect, evolving Revolution
Three weeks ago I traveled to Havana as part of a 44-person delegation from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We left Havana with a shared understanding and mission:
The blockade is inhumane and evil, and we must end it.
Quick note: this post got too long for just one post, so I'm splitting it into two!THIS IS ONE PART IN A SERIES OF “FIVE” POSTS:
- Part 1 provides foundational knowledge on the blockade
- Part 2 covers some of its effects on travel and schools, but counters with how revolutionary solidarity empowers the Cuban people to withstand those challenges
- Part 3 describes the harrowing impacts it has on medicine in Cuba and worldwide
- Part 4 focuses on the beauty of Cuban resiliency and its imperfect, ongoing socialist project within the Revolution
- Part 4.5 continues what turned out to be too much for one part
- Part 5 concludes with questions left unanswered and a call for action
Personal Revelations
In this post and next I’ll be talking about Cuban resilience in the face of the blockade. What I basically mean by this is that despite all of the forces bearing down on Cuba, its people have still managed to advance its society beyond the rest of the world in many areas.
Before I describe what that resilience looks like, though, I want to be clear about one thing: If it hasn’t been obvious yet, there is a blockade on education around Cuba, and that affects you personally.
To illustrate, I’ll briefly dictate my own story because I imagine that it will resonate with many readers:
About a year and a half ago, I was introduced to the Blowback podcast. After devouring Season 3 on the Korean War, I moved backwards to its season on Cuba. Both of these seasons turned a lot on its head for me, but Season 2 in particular stuck with me. I started to seek out more content around Cuba and the Revolution, reading, watching, listening, thinking, and probably becoming a little annoying about it all to Jen and some of our friends.
If you would have asked me what I knew about Cuba prior, I would have said—like many people who responded to the question when I posed it on Instagram—rum, cigars, and old cars (and, personally, Afro-Cuban jazz, of course!). I probably would have thrown out “Cuban Missile Crisis” and “Bay of Pigs” as buzz terms like a 10th-grade U.S. History student trying to BS their way through an essay, too.
By the way, I would love to hear your own associations in the comments (even if they're the same!) if you can divorce them from what you've [hopefully] been learning in this series.But, most importantly, I also would have mentioned Fidel Castro. I would have parroted labeling him a dictator. And then I would have asked: “Didn’t he gas his own people at some point?”
He didn’t.
And, especially now, it pains me to admit that I was under that impression, but it’s true. Granted, I would have been skeptical of my memory, but regardless, the false association was there, and it was there by design.
On May 6, 2002, back when your boi was going on 15… back when your boi, despite typhoons of internal contradictions, would have classified himself as “center-right” (whatever that meant)… and back when he would have advised you to trust and have faith in what he perceived to be our lawful good, dear president, George W. Bush…… (it never stops hurting, haha)………
Back then, everyone’s favorite regime change-fantasizing government official, John Bolton, gave a speech to the Heritage Foundation and said:
Here is what we now know: The United States believes that Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort. Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states. We are concerned that such technology could support BW programs in those states. We call on Cuba to cease all BW-applicable cooperation with rogue states and to fully comply with all of its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention.
Bolton’s comments apparently even got pushback from former president Jimmy Carter, but, of course, the White House Press Secretary at the time gave a classic response:
Nobody in the government said hard evidence. We said we have concerns.
We all know what “no hard evidence” + “concerns” equals in the era of the Saddam and WMDs. What they “now know” is that “the United States believes”—just a masterclass in manipulation. Bravo 👏👏👏
Coming back to the present times, despite all the revelations I’ve had in my journey into the radical—a decades-long trek from conservative to “centrist” to liberal to socialist—this one hit particularly hard. I was gripped with just how much I didn’t know and how harshly my perception of Cuba was tainted.
What made this harsher than most is that among all of its missteps, flaws, and contradictions, Cuba has done so much good. And we are intentionally blinded from its achievements—told that the country is blanket evil when ours is infallible—to stifle our imagination.
To those in power, knowing that another country has achieved some semblance of what you may dream of for your community or your society is dangerous. Knowing that people elsewhere have been living a different way of life despite the powerful’s attempts at oppressing them with extreme force is dangerous. Knowing that the country of which I speak is running a socialist project is dangerous.
I challenge you to think in that context as you read about just some of the things that Cuba has achieved. A better world is possible.
The Basics
To set the stage, I want to make sure that you’re aware of a few things that the Cuban government provides for its people as a socialist state, as well as, of course, the impacts of the blockade on these provisions.
Food: Every person in Cuba is provided rations to ensure that they meet a minimum caloric intake. That means that malnourishment and starvation isn’t a factor in Cuba. Wait lines for food is a huge problem and “meeting the minimum” isn’t ideal, especially in the minds of we who live in rich countries. But when a blockade is preventing the import of foodstuffs and creating a form of artificial scarcity, that’s how they have to live to ensure that no one goes hungry.
Healthcare: As discussed plenty in Part 3, healthcare is a right and provided for free. Cuba is known to have some of the best doctors in the world even if the blockade hobbles their facilities’ ability to get the medicine and equipment they need.
Housing: There is a zero or near-zero unhoused population in Cuba. Rent is capped at 10% of family income. The blockade affects the conditions of housing in the country, however. For example, Havana is beautiful, but many of its buildings are in disrepair. There were some that were half reduced to rubble—a lingering effect of what I assume to be some of the CIA-orchestrated terrorist attacks on the city. But it bears repeating: a country of 11 million has no unhoused people, while even a small city of 45,000 like Charlottesville has a visible unhoused population.
Jobs: Some sources peg Cuba’s unemployment rate at 1.47% in 2021. But, for fun, let’s take the CIA’s number: 2.76% (please enjoy laughing with me at their very reliable and unbiased caveat: “data are official rates; unofficial estimates are about double”). Since the majority of jobs in Cuba are provided by the state, there is near zero unemployment. However, with the blockade in effect, the state has limited resources and monetary capacity, so they struggle to reach full employment, salaries are low, and poverty is an issue.
Education: Primary education is free. Secondary education is free. Trade school is free. University is free. Graduate school is free. Medical school is free. Etc. Etc. Etc.
The bottom line is that because Cuba is focused on its people rather than on its profits, GDP, and securing the wealth of its wealthiest, it continues to ensure that people’s basic needs are met.
Gender Equality and Reproductive Rights
Two stops on our trip focused on the history and current state of gender and reproductive rights and equality in Cuba: the first was to CENESEX—the Cuban National Center for Sex Education—and the other was to the FMC, the Federation of Cuban Women.
Women have been integral to the Revolution since its inception—they were key to the 26th of July Movement’s victory in 1959 and to shaping the country thereafter. In fact, in 1960, the FMC became the first mass organization formed after the Revolution. Still to this day, one of its main functions is to “defend the Revolution" as part of its quest to achieve full equality of women in society due to the Revolution’s emphasis on that goal from the start. Today, about 4.3 million women are part of the FMC (which they are eligible to join at age 14).
Proof of this commitment to equality for women exists both inside and outside of the statistics. 70% of Cuba’s judges are women; 55% of parliamentarians and local government officials are; 72% of specialist doctors are; 66% of university students are; etc., etc. Maternity leave is granted for a year and one’s job is guaranteed. Equal pay is guaranteed. Abortions are free. Due to the rights they have and the specific education they receive, women have the space to plan their families around their lives.
Cuba didn’t accomplish these feats overnight—again, a historical emphasis on equality led them there. Director Castro told us that, for instance, in the early days of the Revolution, the government recognized that there was acute poverty among women, resulting in high levels of prostitution and employment as service workers for the bourgeoise (e.g., maids). So, they set a goal for women to reach economic independence and mobilized them to come to Havana to learn trades that they could then bring back to their villages to teach other women. While these trades were based in more traditional work, such as sewing, it helped to move women out of poverty and started a gradual shift to move them outside of these roles.
CENESEX wasn’t officially formed as a government-funded organization until 1989, yet there was plenty of work done both inside and around the government in regard to sex education that led to its genesis.
In 1962, the FMC started circulating a women’s magazine called Mujeres country-wide. The magazine included a women’s health column, which wasn’t afraid to braoch subjects that were controversial at the time. Following, in 1964–1965, the country codified the right to contraception and sex ed, as well as started to include abortions and vasectomies as part of their free, universal healthcare system (which in turn caused the mortality rate for poor women to plummet since giving birth was still so dangerous at the time).
As sex ed started to spread and normalize throughout the country, women began asking for educational tools to help them have discussions with their children. The FMC teamed up with the Ministry of Health and the Young Communist League to deliver a National Sex Education Working Group in 1972. The next year, they started discussing the want of a Family Code to follow the lead of other Latin American countries.
The Family Code
As progressive as Cuba was in regards to working to achieve equality between the gender binary, the road to LGBTQ+ rights was a long one. The first Family Code was passed in 1975, and while then-FMC director (and mother of Director Castro) Vilma Espín tried to fight against language centering marriage as between a man and a woman, it took until last year for all family constructs to be officially recognized.
CENESEX, as part of their wider campaign for comprehensive sex ed in Cuba, was at the forefront of securing those rights. They launched campaigns to influence Cuban society to move forward: They held education sessions and discussions with all municipalities; they spoke at Congress and provided them with a cohesive glossary of terms for their edification; they created a series of dramas highlighting how the old family code didn’t protect same-sex couples; and more.
As a result, the 2022 Family Code—recognized as possibly the most progressive in the world—was ratified with an overwhelming majority. And its progressive nature isn’t solely oriented to the LGBTQ+ community; it covers all kinds of family structures, giving more rights to grandparents, children, the disabled, and more. Please read more about it here.
Cuban society still has its issues of course: the FMC described how women can be empowered at work but not at home. Gender violence in the home is still a major problem. Religious institutions still use their influence and preach discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community (as Director Castro put it, “The Vatican is more progressive than our bishops.”).
Yet despite the overwhelming hardships of the blockade, the Cuban people have made these incredible strides toward social justice in their society.
I can’t help but think of how likely it is for any other society facing such economic deprivations to fall victim to fascist consolidation of power and the scapegoating of issues on marginalized communities. How many societies in times of even short crisis have fallen back on strongmen who have laid waste to rights of “others”?
Of course, that doesn’t just happen in countries that are struggling. In the United States—the richest, most powerful country in history—we spend a terrific amount of time and energy having to defend the basic rights and existence of anyone who isn’t a cis white male. The rights of the marginalized are at the whims of racist and sexist state legislatures, school boards, and medieval laws; their defense is often buoyed by non-profits that are themselves beholden to wealthy donors.
Imagine what we could be working to achieve if we weren’t constantly burnt out by extremists’ rollbacks and having to organize to cushion the consequences of, for example, court decisions like Dobbs. What could we achieve if we didn’t have to constantly defend basic human rights issues against propagandized “culture war” campaigns by wealthy conservative politicians and their mega donors?
The difference, I feel, lies in Cuba’s foundation around Revolutionary ideals and how those ideals have been baked into society for the last 60+ years. The disproportionate use of images of Fidel and Che may lead one to believe the Revolution to be machismo, but the Revolution, at the very least, has always been female—and it continues today beyond the binary.
For further reading, check out Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution.
Childhood vs. the Blockade
I felt a lot of emotions in Cuba, the dominant being fascination. I was captivated, learning and soaking in everything I could in my short time there. I felt the love and solidarity of my comrades on the trip for our delegation and for the Cuban people. I was humbled to be there and for us to be accepted so graciously as guests from a country that has been doing bone-deep harm to our hosts.
The final stop, though, was where I experienced unbridled joy.
Wednesday afternoon we found ourselves in a neighborhood, greeted by their CDR, or Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.
I’m not going to get into CDRs in detail—if you want that information, I recommend, again, Chomsky’s book. Just click that link and use the ‘find’ command – ctrl+F or cmd+F – and search for “CDR”.This neighborhood’s CDR in particular was able to orchestrate the construction of new housing; a playground and sports area for kids; an amphitheater; and a long building that houses their clinic, general store, pharmacy, and more. From what I caught of their talk (it was difficult for me to hear our translator at the time), part of their ability to do all of this in this particular neighborhood is because it is home to a couple of the scientists who were critical to the creation of some of Cuba’s COVID vaccines. Instead of collecting personal riches, the state allocated money toward enriching their community (hashtag socialism).
By the way, the picture in the upper-right of "Grandpa Fidel" sporting a soft expression kills me. It was also at the elementary school we visited.Being in a rural neighborhood and walking around was super refreshing in itself. After spending most of our time in the city proper, it was nice to be a bit on the outskirts and witness scenes more common to the rest of the country (albeit enhanced because of the extra support the community received).
Eventually we were led to the amphitheater, where we were treated to song and dance performances by the local kids. I can’t describe how much fun we all had.
The performance wasn’t about the blockade… but it was also all about the blockade.
As I’ve illustrated and will continue to illustrate, the blockade makes life in Cuba extremely hard. Try as our government might, however, it doesn’t break the spirit of these children or the spirit of the Cuban people as a whole.
Normally I’m not one to have a “DO IT FOR THE KIDS” mentality—in short, I think every life is valuable and adult lives are worth just as much (if not for themselves then for the kids, even!)—but it was hard not to feel a swell of emotion in that direction after the show.
Maybe that was part of the point of them hosting us, honestly. If all of the evidence so far hadn’t inspired us to mobilize to work to end the blockade, perhaps a reminder of the beauty of childhood would melt whatever barriers were left standing. Sure enough, you’d have to be dead inside to feel otherwise.
Say it over and over again
I’m looking forward to continuing this dive into Cuba’s achievements in my next post before wrapping up.
As I’ll reiterate in every post in this series, I don’t claim to be an expert on Cuba. Reading and listening to material over the last year and a half and visiting the country once doesn’t make me an authority on anything.
I do know one thing, though: The blockade must end. The Cuban people must be allowed to live.
If you have questions, I’m happy to answer them as well as I can. Please don’t hesitate to ask.
Peace,
Greg
PS: A better world is possible—join DSA today and let’s fight for it together 🌹
PPS: Some photos are mine but others are from other comrades on the trip (who I won’t name for anonymity’s sake unless any of you reading this wants credit!).
