The collapse of the Soviet Union also brought sharply to the fore the fundamental problem facing the Cuban revolution: its isolation. The Cuban economy, despite the limitations imposed by the embargo, is inserted in the world market on very unfavorable terms. It acquires hard currency by selling nickel and medical services, through tourism and remittances which then it has to use to buy at full market price almost everything (from heavy machinery to food). As with any other underdeveloped economy, with low productivity of labour and outdated machinery in most sectors, the terms of trade extract a heavy toll. It is in this context that significant sections of the leadership in Cuba have started to toy with the idea that the “Chinese way” (that is, introducing market relations in certain aspects of the economy, while maintaining an overall control on the part of the state) was the way forward. At the end of the day, wasn’t China the fastest growing economy in the world? The problem with this plan is that in China, market mechanisms in certain sectors progressively led to the full restoration of capitalism in the country and the destruction of many of the conquests of the revolution. Cuba, a small island with limited resources, is in a much weaker position than China was when it went back into the world market. marxist/us-admits-failure-and-re-establishes-diplomatic-relations-with-cuba-a-change-of-tactics-to-achieve-the-same-aim.htm
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:05:59 +0000
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