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Newsletter (in English)





Tasks of Marxists

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| Categories: Cuba, Statements
2010-11-24


Revolutionary Marxists outside Cuba have several fundamental tasks. We must defend the gains of the Cuban revolution against imperialism, particularly opposing the criminal US blockade of the island. At the same time, we must defend these gains against the plans of the ruling bureaucracy itself when it tries to take further steps towards capitalism. For this, we must strengthen the only conceivable social base of a second Cuban Revolution, an independent workers’ movement on the island.

We cannot fall for the hypocritical imperialist discourse about human rights by supporting pro-capitalist “dissidents” who are already amply supported by the CIA. However, we should leave no doubt that the repressive measures now employed against the pro-capitalist opposition, can, when the process of restoration is far more advanced, also be used against workers in defense of their rights. Therefore, we call for tribunals made up of workers and peasants to examine the cases of all political prisoners. We recognize the fundamental right of a workers’ state to defend itself against imperialist agents. However, working people must judge if all imprisoned dissidents really had connections to foreign secret services and represent a danger. These tribunals must also inspect the connections between leading functionaries and imperialist corporations, in order to put a brake on the rampant corruption.

In conclusion, our defense of Cuba is not under the slogan “For the Fatherland! For Castro!” Instead, we say “For socialism! For world revolution! Against the ruling bureaucracy!”[54]

Revolutionary Internationalist Organization (RIO), October 23, 2010

Notes:

54. “[Our] ‘defense of the USSR’ will naturally differ, as heaven does from earth, from the official defense which is now being conducted under the slogan: ‘For the Fatherland! For Stalin!’ Our defense of the USSR is carried on under the slogan: ‘For Socialism! For the world revolution! Against Stalin!’” Leon Trotsky: “The USSR in War”.

Bibliography

Books about Cuba
Max Azicri/Elsie Deal [editors]: Cuban Socialism in a New Century. Adversity, Survival and Renewal. Gainsville 2004.
Philip Brenner [et al.] [editors]: A Contemporary Cuba Reader. Reinventing the Revolution. Lanham 2007.
Lydia Chávez [editor.]: Capitalism, God and a Good Cigar. Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century. Durham/London 2005.

Trotskyist Analysis and Debate
Steve Cushion: “The Working Class in the Cuban Revolution.” Permanent Revolution #14. London 2009. S. 34-40.
Diego Dalay: “Raúl Castro announces measures ‘not pleasant’ to the Cuban people”.
Fracción Trotskista: Cuba en la encrucijada.
Stuart King: “Cuba: The Last Workers’ State?” In: Permanent Revolution. #10. Autumn 2008. London.
Martin Hernández: “Cuba … no es una isla”. In: Liga Internacional de Trabajadores: Marxismo Vivo. #22. P. 109.
Eduardo Molina: “¿Qué se negocia en La Habana?”
Ebd.: “Raúl announces an attack on the workers’ conquests”.
Roberto Ramirez: “Cuba En la Encrucida”. In: Socialismo o Barbarie. #22. Noviembre 2008. Buenos Aires.
Gary Tennant: Dissident Cuban Communism. The Case of Trotskyism. Bradford 1999.

Degenerate Workers’ States
Leon Trotsky: The Revolution Betrayed.
Ebd.: “The Soviet Economy in Danger”.
Ebd: “The Workers’ State, Thermidor and Bonapartism”.
Ebd.: “The USSR in War”.
Workers Power/Irish Workers’ Group: The Degenerate Revolution. London 1982.

Articles about Cuba
Gerardo Arreola: “Cuba requiere ‘soltar todas las fuerzas productivas’”. La Jornada. March 17, 2008. México D.F.
Bernd Bieberich: “Agonie auf dem Acker”. In: Lateinameria-Nachrichten. #415. January 2009. Berlin.
Rigoberto Díaz: “Los privados esperan aprovechar el cierre de comedores obreros en Cuba”.
Granma: “U.S. has cost more than $86 billion”. Granma Internacional. October 4, 2006.
Latin American Network Information Center: Castro Speech Data Base.
New York Times: “Cuba removes restrictions on sale of computers and DVD players”. New York Times. March 13, 2008.
Margot Pepper: “The Costs of the Embargo”.
Ian Urbina: “In Cuba, Change Means More of the Same, With Control at the Top”. In: New York Times. April 6, 2009.



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