COMMUNISM always seemed far more appealing in the Cuban setting of sun, sea and salsa than it did in Siberia. And Fidel Castro is incomparably more charismatic than the succession of ailing party apparatchiks who ruled the Soviet Union before Mikhail Gorbachev came along.
This helps to explain why the Cuban leader retains his share of admirers around the world despite 47 years of authoritarian, one-party rule. But has the Cuban experience of communism really been any different to that of the Soviet Union? What is the record of the world’s longest active ruler?
As he turns 80 in his hospital bed on Sunday, Castro can look back on some unquestionable achievements. For a start he has defied the world’s most powerful nation, just 90 miles from his shores, and lived to tell the tale. Cuban claims that he has survived 638 assassination attempts seem like a stretch of the imagination. But even considering plots we do know about — the deadly cigars, skin diseases and explosive shellfish dreamt up by the CIA — Castro seems justified in declaring that “If surviving assassination were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal”.
El Comandante has clung on through nearly five decades of economic sanctions and a US-sponsored invasion attempt. But beyond sheer survival, he has some real accomplishments to point to. Under his rule, the impoverished Caribbean island has created health and education systems that would be the envy of far wealthier nations. Cubans enjoy the same life expectancy as Americans — just over 77 years — despite having less than a tenth the income per head.
The country scores highly on other World Bank development indicators, too. It has a lower infant mortality rate than the US and higher immunisation rates. Similar numbers in both countries attend school and there is near full literacy on the island.
Street crime is rare in Havana, in contrast to other Latin American cities such as Mexico City or São Paulo. In part that is due to his ubiquitous security forces, but Cuba also lacks the gaping income inequalities that give rise to crime in the rest of Latin America.
Less tangibly, Castro has given Cubans a real sense of national identity. Even those who long ago tired of his rule cannot help but be stirred by each new episode in his long-running David-and-Goliath show with the US.
Is Cuba the socialist paradise its defenders make out? Far from it. Even on its own terms, Castro’s regime ran aground long ago. The revolution was founded on principles of social justice, on equality between its citizens and the fulfilment of their basic needs. Above all, Cuba was to be independent of other powers. By those criteria, Castro has not performed well.
Cubans complain bitterly that their meagre state rations are not enough to survive, forcing them to turn to the black market, to hustling tourists or to prostitution. Things have improved somewhat since the hungry years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, until then Cuba’s principal benefactor. But now the country depends on the largesse of Hugo Chávez instead. The Venezuelan President props up the regime with more than $2 billion a year in deferred, forgiven or subsidised payments on oil or other exports.
Even so, Cuba’s infrastructure is in a pitiful state after five decades of economic mismanagement. Old Havana has moved well beyond the picturesque decay of picture postcards. Many buildings in the Unesco World Heritage site are in danger of being lost for ever.
Cuba may not have the disparities of wealth of other Latin American countries, but not everyone is equal. In particular, the black and mulatto majority remain the poorest people in Cuba, while those in power are almost exclusively white. Foreign tourism has also created a visible two-tier system and much discontent.
Cubans are well educated, but they cannot speak their minds. Castro does not allow other political parties, rallies or free elections. Those who voice opinions he does not agree with are driven from the country or thrown into jail.
According to Human Rights Watch, Castro’s regime “denies its citizens basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, movement and a fair trial” and imposes its will through “surveillance, detentions, house arrests, travel restrictions, criminal prosecutions and politically motivated dismissals from employment”. Amnesty International says that there are up to 70 political prisoners in Cuba; Human Rights Watch puts that figure at more than 300.
Castro bars Cubans from leaving the country without government approval. Those caught trying to escape are punished with hefty fines or thrown in jail. Cubans are not allowed to read, listen to or view foreign media. Only state-controlled television or newspapers, extolling the virtues of the Cuban leader, are permitted. Private citizens are banned from buying computers or viewing the internet without a special permit. Some Cubans find ways around the regulations but, by and large, the Government has succeeded in restricting access. In 2004, there were only 13 internet users per 1,000 people in Cuba, compared with 119 in Brazil and 135 in Mexico.
Cuba has always been admired for its rich culture: its music, film and literature have been an inspiration around the world. But in that field Havana is a shadow of its former self; the State’s monopoly on culture and ideas makes it a poor place to be for free-thinking artists or intellectuals. The media repeat a single, state-approved view of the world, insulting the intelligence of its well-educated population. Only artists willing to propagate the cult of Castro are able to get ahead.
During the 1980s, one could still conceivably argue that Cuba’s dictatorship was preferable to its US-backed counterparts in Chile, Argentina, Nicaragua or El Salvador, which went one step farther by murdering thousands of their citizens. No longer. As the rest of Latin America has moved to democracy, Cubans have been stuck in an anachronistic curiosity, a relic of 20th-century history. The frustration is obvious.
None of this means that Cubans are ready to embrace the US. Many in their thirties and forties remain fiercely nationalistic and resentful of what they see as American meddling. Cubans also fear that Miami exiles will march back into the island, taking power with the backing of the US Government and reclaiming property expropriated half a century ago.
Castro has clung on for so long in part because the US has provided him with so many propaganda weapons to rally Cubans to his side. Despite initial signs that he was falling into the same, time-honoured trap, President Bush has rightly declared that Cubans alone should decide their future — not Washington or the exiles in Miami. Whether or not he returns from hospital, Castro’s illness represents the beginning of the end of his totalitarian regime. Left to their own devices, Cubans will move towards a more open society. Any outside inteference can only extend the old regime’s life.
Thomas Catan is Madrid correspondent of The Times
