Castro against Castro. Reflections on a distorted revolution, 1989-2014

Abstract

Since the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba’s economy survives with many difficulties and hardships, which negatively affect the majority of its population. Raul Castro has publicly stated that Cubans must work harder because they have to import food while arable land is left unproductive. He has assured, fifty years later, that they are considering a plan to guarantee the food needed for a population that endures with increasingly greater difficulty the scarcity or the exorbitant prices it has to pay for goods. Ordinary people complain, as we know from those who write under pressure from within the island, but the regime resists. It does this through its tight control of the domestic political situation, by legitimizing the U.S. embargo, and also thanks to the fact that continental governments, both progressive and conservative, do not want to be perceived as fellow travelers of Goliath (Washington) fighting against David (La Habana). Cuba wants to return to Latin America and Latin America wants it back. But the obstacles are not minor: no flexibility in the internal politics, the Venezuelan factor, and the connection established by the U.S. between its policy towards Cuba and its impact on the state of Florida.