How the Workers' Parliaments Saved the Cuban Revolution: Reviving Socialism after the Collapse of the Soviet Union
288
How the Workers' Parliaments Saved the Cuban Revolution: Reviving Socialism after the Collapse of the Soviet Union
288Hardcover
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Overview
How the Workers’ Parliaments Saved the Cuban Revolution brings us to the heart of one of the most precarious and transformational moments in Cuba’s evolution. As the Soviet Union fell to pieces in the 1990s, Cuba managed to evade the fate of its primary trading ally. How was this possible, especially as Cuba endured relentless attacks from the capitalist behemoth directly to its north? As the GDP plunged by over a third, and the Cuban people endured brutal food shortages— a time of crisis known as the “Special Period”— the country embarked upon a remarkable collective effort to cope with its dire circumstances and escaped the starvation, disease, death, and violence that often plague poor countries facing similar conditions. Not only did Cuba manage to evade collapse, it maintained its high life expectancy, low infant mortality, and universal access to health and education, preserving many of the gains of the revolution.
At the center of this collective effort were lifelong revolutionaries like Pedro Ross, construction worker, literacy educator, and labor activist. As head of Cuba’s labor federation throughout the “Special Period,” Ross developed a nationwide series of “Labor Parliaments” which turned the country into an immense school of economics and politics. Over a 45-day span in 1993, women’s rights activists, farmers' organizations, youth movements, and academic associations came together for tens of thousands of meetings, successfully restored the production cycle, and ultimately revolutionized nearly every aspect of life in Cuba. Singularly positioned to write this seminal account of those days, Ross has given us a rare, moving, on-the-ground account of a society mobilized from below, buttressing the Revolution when it was under maximum stress.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781583679791 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Monthly Review Press |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2022 |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Foreword Chris Remington 9
Part 1 17
A Brief Introduction 19
Why Workers' Parliaments? 23
Fidel Saw It Coming 26
A Congress in Military Uniforms 27
What Is a Special Period in Peacetime? 27
The Fourth Party Congress and the Start of the Special Period 28
Measures to Address the Crisis 30
Enemy Encouragement of Social Indiscipline and Vandalism 30
Fidel Meets the People 31
The People Respond 32
"It Is Easier to Find a Dinosaur Crossing the Street Than a Pumpkin in the Market" 33
It Was Not the First Time 34
"Yes, We Can" 35
Why Do Unions Exist? 36
Analysis, Measures, Actions 37
The Second Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People's Power 38
What the Workers Say in the Parliaments 40
Fidel Reflects, Argues, Gives His Opinion, Promotes Discussion 41
People Work Because They Must 43
"We Haven't Always Done Things Right by Consulting" 44
The Sources of the Black Market 45
Our Proposal 46
Workers' Assemblies into Workers' Parliaments 47
The Call 50
The Preparation 50
The Workers Are the Owners 52
A Light at the End of the Tunnel 53
Unequivocal Support 53
Sociopolitical and Opinion Studies: The First Survey 54
A Vast School of Economics 55
The Issue of Prices 55
Reducing Employment Rolls … But How? 56
Our Meeting with the Cigar Workers' Parliament 58
Keeping Fidel Informed 60
With the Milkmen in Pinar del Río 61
Workers' Parliaments in Camagüey 62
The Workers' Parliament at the Lenin Central Workshop 63
With Fidel: Salary Guarantee and Other Topics 66
The Building Contractor Contingents 67
Exchanging Ideas with Fidel 69
Another Survey: Workers Endorse the Parliaments 71
Assessment Time: What Happened in the Parliaments? 72
A Faint Ray of Light 75
The Final Summary of the Workers' Parliaments 77
The Ministry of Finances and Prices Reports 79
The Debate 85
The International Solidarity of Trade Unionists 86
Conclusions 89
Part 2 91
The Nightmare of a Devastating Hurricane 93
The Origins of Cuban Nationality 94
A Fecund Truce 97
Marti's Legacy 97
The Imperialist Intervention of the United States 100
The Piatt Amendment 103
The Second Occupation of Cuba by the United States 105
First Governments of the Neocolonial Republic 106
The Machado Dictatorship 107
The September 4 Coup d'état and the 100 Days Government 109
Historical Significance of the Revolution of 1933 111
The 1940 Constitution 111
Fulgencio Batista: Demagogy and Repression 113
The Authentic Governments 114
Eduardo Chibás: Decency versus Money 116
The Coup of March 10, 1952 116
Popular Repudiation Grows 118
The Assaults of July 26, 1953 118
"Condemn Me, It Doesn't Matter, History Will Absolve Me" 120
The Release of the "Moneadists" 122
The Granma 122
The November 30 Uprising in Santiago de Cuba 125
The National Liberation War 125
The Triumph of the Revolution 133
Cuba Transforms Itself 133
Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) 135
New Paths 136
The War Against the Bandits 137
The United States Tries to Isolate Cuba 138
The Mongoose Plan 139
The October Crisis 139
Cuba Built; the United States Attacked 141
Transformations of Cuban Economy and Society 142
Rectifying Errors 144
The Revolution's Social Initiatives 145
The Cuban Revolution's Foreign Policy 147
Epilogue 150
Appendix A 156
Bibliography 160
Notes 165