THE FORTHCOMING TRANSITION OUT OF MARXISM

by Ricardo E. Calvo MD PhD

 In reviewing the literature of the Cuban exile concerning the long term  future of the Island one can not avoid being impressed by the insistence  that we want to obtain liberty and the return of a free society.

 Before we embark on the conquest of such goals it is worth considering what  we shall have for freedom and what principles will guide the transition to  construct such society. Many times we rely on distorted simplified knowledge  and lack basic information to form political views and decisions. Nowadays  many of us tend to support documents and agendas of which we do not posses a  clear understanding and the consequences of its contents. But we are not  alone. Widespread unfamiliarity with different political ideologies are well  observed in modern democracies.

 This situation is not confined to political information but extends itself  to basic economic principles. The fact is that most economic truths are  counterintuitive and the public endorses appealing policies in any given  instance since in most occasions has little information to go on.

 We have an imperative duty to become thoroughly familiar and question in  detail the long term implications of the agendas and Declarations signed,  supported and proposed for the future of our land by all and any  organization in exile and inside Cuba. It will be sad to acknowledge in the  non distant future that we were betrayed one more time. Can we afford it?

 The forthcoming journey for Cuba out of Marxism will be the most demanding  period of our history as an independent nation. Cuba is not going to be the  first in executing it and hopefully not the last. Abundant optimistic  rhetoric and passionate unrealistic statements will have no place when  confronting such monumental task.

 All Cubans must come to the hard realization that the transition out of the  Communist Party ruling will depend on us. Its costs and efforts will not be  born by any other nation or international institution but by us. Do not  expect anybody else in the world to do it.

 The transition out of Marxism is not going to be free or painless. It means  relocations, disruptions and dramatic changes. The change of the whole  political, social and economic system has been very costly in former Marxist  countries. Do not expect to be otherwise in Cuba.

 It is important not to be tangled in debates of fast versus slow reforms.  Fundamental changes of the system are not made up of a single decision but  of an array with realistic goals.

 There is no doubt that the economic and political reforms that will be  needed in Cuba will come with pain and disappointment to many. We must be  prepared to challenge quick fixes and not to abandon long term results in  the name of soft socialism or Third Way approaches.

 We must formulate and present to all Cubans a positive and straight forward  vision of a new society. It must motivate and must reach all those who have  spent most of their lives in the spiritually empty and aimless communist  society.

 We must tell the truth and not promise things which can not be realized. To  have credible programs and leaders who realize them are absolute  imperatives.

Will it be possible for all Cubans to understand that preparing for the  future of Cuba is so much more important than just the overthrow of the  present hierarchy of the Cuban Communist Party?

 How come we insist that the United States maintain its economic embargo  towards the Island when the Cuban community in exile fuels the maintenance  of the regime with several millions of dollars in the form of cash?

 How come the Cubans have not managed to have funneled all the economic  resources now at their avail towards the aim of eradicating socialism and  all its vestiges from our soil?

 I do not claim to have answers to each of these questions. I pose them with  the purpose of possibly firing a spark to reassess where we shall go from  here more than where we have been.

 It is at this point in time and not later that we must ask: What kind of  ideology will lead the island of Cuba in the post Marxist period?. Appealing  political slogans and heroic actions by individuals in the past have robbed  the Cuban people of clear thinking leading to deplorable political scenarios  later difficult to change.

 Most, if not all agendas and documents formulated by an impressive number of  Cuban organizations do proclaim in a repetitious way that democracy is the  kind of government proposed and favored. Many are not precise enough to  define the type of democracy invoked. One could also ask if we shall be  dealing with a social or liberal democracy. Is it going to be constitutional  democracy or will it carry any other modifying adjective preceding it.? In  more aspects than one, the challenging question is: what will be the  functions that we shall allow the government to perform on our behalf rather  than setting the rules for the government to act upon us?

 Not because we are democratic we are going to be free but rather if we own  freedom we shall be democratic. Not because we are democratic we are going  to be prosperous but if we are independent owners of our resources we shall  be democratic. Democracy needs individual economic freedom more than free  enterprise needs democracy. The task of finding democracy and free economic  enterprise still haunts many policy makers and Cuba is not going to be an  exception.

 The word democracy can be modified in very subtle ways by the appealing and  appeasing adjective of socialism and easily sold to national and  international interests. It is easy for many to talk about democracy but it  is harder to find out what kind of democracy they have in mind. Rather than  modifying democracy with socialism let us precede it with the word  constitutional and set up the rules by which the government will behave.

 It is not a matter of being against or in favor of democracy but knowing how  to procure it and more important how to make it durable and to function  properly.

 Many countries in the world are called democratic and have ended as a  private club governed by a selected group of politicians, military, senior  officials and isolated university professors.

 Many countries are called democracies and have had a single party control  their destinies for several decades.

 Many countries are called democracies and have had several groups of  politicians control their Central Banks as if they were their own private  bank accounts.

 Democracy does not guarantee private property or the recognition of human  rights or economic development. In many democracies there are expropriation  of lands, control of rents, violation of human rights, systematic debasing  of the currency and unlimited privileges enjoyed by a powerful elite of  members of the government and their close associates.

 The purpose of government must be to protect the individual and not to  restrict him. For centuries there has been a debate concerning the  relationship of individuals to one another and to the State. This debate has  posed the fundamental argument underlying the modern democratic government  and its functions and purposes: to protect life, property and liberty.

 Let us learn from the free and economically developed countries and from  those which were unfortunate to have suffered also in their past the ruinous  consequences of socialism in its extreme fashion.

 From the former we should adopt respect for our own lives and possessions to  give us freedom and individual rights while governed by the Rule of Law  without fear of fiscal irresponsibility.

 From the latter, not to pursue the middle of the road course of democratic  socialism. This is an attempt to combine free enterprise with the "best of  socialism". The trouble with this concept is that there is no "best of  socialism". This is an illusion that the socialists sell to a gullible  public with emotional laden arguments. These forces forecast disaster if  individualism is allow free play without the cement of "social justice" and  if private ownership is not in someway controlled by the State. Democracy  and socialism are not compatible. It has been tried many times in many  countries with the same consistent historical result: misery.

 If we are going to have freedom from government coercion then we must have  full respect and recognition for intellectual and material private property.    If we want to enjoy individual human rights inherited as human beings  independent of legislative powers then we need to respect and protect life.

 If we expect to be treated equally by the law and not be subject to the rule  of men we must establish and comply with the Rule of Law.

 If we want to have long lasting ownership of our own efforts then we must  demand full protection for our currency and responsible use of the national  monetary reserves.

 Have all your questions been answered concerning the transition period? Do  not expected to be so otherwise we could claim to have been granted divine  powers.

 If at this point you have concerns and apprehensions about the future of  Cuba then a major step has been accomplished -- to think, to ponder, to  argue and to comprehend must be part now of this important and unique time  in our history -- great challenges are upon us and it is doubtful we can  afford another failure!.

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