Cuba libre!
Some weeks ago, I listened to a radio show with Swedish comedian Michael Lindgren who spoke about how he was a socialist during the early 2000s. Lindgren used to read left-wing intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein who convinced him that globalisation was a bad thing resulting in everything from poverty and destruction of middle-class to anti-democratic governance and wars.
As a young left-winger, Lindgren went to Cuba that he saw as a socialist paradise and alternative to capitalism. After spending several months in this “ideal society”, Lindgren became disappointed and realised that he was wrong. He personally witnessed the repressive character of the communist regime and that many Cubans were afraid of saying what they really felt about aspects as economy, basic needs and governance.
After the disappointment, Lindgren “escaped” to Mexiko in order to reflect his mind. He came to a hostel and started searching for a book to read. In a book pile, one book came to capture his attention - “In Defense of Global Capitalism” by liberal intellectual Johan Norberg, who at the moment was one of the leading pro-globalisation and pro-freedom opinion-makers globally seen and especially within the Swedish political context.
After he read the book, Lindgren realised once more that he was wrong. In his show, Lindgren says that he simply realised that globalisation, despite its problems, has mainly been a positive process resulting in the reduction of poverty around the world and overall improvement of quality of life. Lindgren even states that “Johan Norberg 1: Nooshi Dadgostar (current leader of the post-communist and socialist Left Party) 0” regarding the globalisation debate.
Historically seen, Cuba has been an inspiration for many European left-wingers, including the legendary Swedish prime minister and social-democrat Olof Palme who had close relations with the former Cuban dictator and killer Fidel Castro. Even today, old authoritarian left-wing myths about Cuba are being promoted. One myth is that the American sanctions and blockade are the main reason for Cuba’s economic problems. Another myth is that Cuba cannot become a demoracy due to American imperialism and because the USA will never allow a democratic Cuba.
Such myths are still being promoted despite the current demonstrations being the largest ones in Cuba since the 1990s and that demonstrators are demanding basic needs like food, medicine, and accommodation. So let us take a closer look at Cuba when it comes to aspects like the human development index.
Martin Lupy from Human Progress has written that Cuba is still a society that never has achieved earlier communist ambitions. As Lupy states, Cuba has trade agreements with almost all other countries, including the EU, despite the effect of American sanctions. Other examples are child mortality, access to health care, and general quality of life are worse in Cuba compared to other South American countries such as Chile, Brasil, and even Paraguay.
Also, Cuba is still a society with present racism because black Cubans have almost never been in leading positions, which partly explains why many demonstrators are Afrocubans.
Cuba will remain a dictatorship as long as the governing communist party is in power by using repression, fear and propaganda. Cuba is still an example of how a government-controlled economy leads to poverty, dissatisfaction and other problems. Thereby, all of us in politics, including left-wingers, should condemn the dictatorship and support the democratisation of Cuba and freedom for all Cubans. Cuba libre!
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