Read on Twitter
the cuban rev started b/c a mix of extreme poverty and brutal conditions, among other things. the annual salary of the average cuban was $91.25. 11% of cubans drank milk, 4% ate meat, 2-3% had running water and 9.1% had electricity. 36% of the population had internal parasites
14% of ppl had tuberculosis. in these conditions, many were uneducated, with almost 1/2 of the population illiterate. the upper classes in cuba lived in comfort, the result being that the upper class cubans affected by the revolution despised fidel & everything he stood for
after several failed attempts, a rebellion led by fidel & raul castro succeeded in 1959. batista fled the country, and fidel visited the US later that year, meeting w/ nixon. in 1960, the US cut diplomatic relations after fidel seized private land and nationalized industry
as a response, the US imposed a trade embargo that's still active to this day. the US itself has admitted that it wants to deny money, supplies, & food to the cuban people, to cause desperation, and ultimately an overthrow of the cuban state
the US will use imperialist violence through sanctions, blockades, poaching, etc. to decimate the healthcare and infrastructure of countries around the world and then demonize those same countries for collaborating amongst themselves to outmaneuver western sagbotage. it's evil
the US has always tried to induce hunger and suffering of the people to achieve regime change. you saw it w/ the PRC embargo between 1949-1972, the oil embargo of DPRK in the 90's, everyday with venezuela and everyday with cuba. these sanctions dont harm authorities, but everyone
in the same way that control over ukraine is a major strategic objective for US imperialism in eastern europe for the encirclement/balkanization of russia, control over latin america is central to US imperialism to contain left-wing uprisings & anti-imperialist movements
when socialist cuba houses the homeless, feeds the hungry, boosts the living conditions of over 11M ppl & educates the whole population, that's "authoritarian", but when the US allows millions to suffer from preventable causes, it's "freedom". understand this
the cuban revolution has undoubtedly been a success even in spite of these conditions, but the US, with its explicit goals of undermining socialist cuba, sanctions threaten to destabilize not just cuba but other targets labeled as "enemy nations" by the west
lazy, counterfactual equivalences between the US and "authoritarian" cuba serve as nothing more than to provide rhetorical cover for the one sided escalation of US aggression, not only against cuba but all "enemy nations" which it aids - and there are a lot of those
so if you're denouncing cuba as "capitalist" or w/e b/c their economic reforms or new constitution, it is clear you haven't been paying attention for the past 20+ years. if you did, you'd know the docs of the 7th congress of the partido comunista cubano already recognized reality
my favorite meme about this whole situation is ppl repeatedly going after the same handful of things cuba hasn't done to be "real socialism", as if these issues are
A) not recognized by anyone *but* them
or
B) invalidate the reasons for supporting cuba
A) not recognized by anyone *but* them
or
B) invalidate the reasons for supporting cuba
its almost like to these people the fact that cuba has *been* a target of US imperialism means nothing, and that cuba's actions whether in domestic policy and economic reform are only to be considered in a vacuum, without context, as if reforms were /desired/ rather than *forced*
there has been an arsenal of imperialist furvor aimed at cuba for decades, so of course there will be errors, there will be strategic retreats, & there will be compromises on cuba's part. when lenin spoke about NEP reform, he spoke of the same things happening
know it all "leftists", anarchists, & ultras situate who cuba's revolutionary struggle solely w/i confines of cold war US/USSR binaries are doing it all wrong. socialist cuba has autonomously sought out south-south relations thru commitment to internationalist solidarity
its incredibly chauvinistic to tell cuba/cubans they’d have a perfect socialism by now if they did what other socialist countries have done. don't be an idealistic dork posing as a radical on the internet. think dialectically. factor in actually existing material conditions
we have to understand that in the era of US domination, socialist countries/countries building socialism arent gonna to be perfect or follow a path to socialism according to some rubric or checklist. concessions & compromises are made to preserve gains already made, not undo them
in other news, im currently struggling so if you have anything to give - even a retweet - it’d be greatly appreciated
cshapp: $blkbolshevik
pypl: @/blksknleninCCCP
venmo: @/BLKSKNLENINCCCP https://twitter.com/blkbolshevik/status/1338618597883609088
cshapp: $blkbolshevik
pypl: @/blksknleninCCCP
venmo: @/BLKSKNLENINCCCP https://twitter.com/blkbolshevik/status/1338618597883609088
