The 15th April 2011 marked 50 years to the day that airstrikes were carried out on Cuban airfields in preparation for the attempted invasion by anti-Castro forces, which became known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. The invasion and its failure represented a milestone in the deteriorating relations between Cuba and it’s formerly largest trading partner, the United States whom covertly sponsored the invasion by Cuban exiles. Two years earlier a guerrilla army lead by Fidel Castro and in cooperation with other resistance groups overthrew the United States’ sponsored dictator Fulgencio Batista, and set about forming a reformist government. Cuban Communist Party figures close to and within the regime’s leadership (Fidel’s brother Raul Castro for instance), raised early concerns in the US’s Eisenhower Administration about Communist infiltration. A trade dispute between the US and Cuba mixed with the Communist scares, lead the Eisenhower to endorse the creation of the plan that lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Any lingering doubts about Fidel’s ideology disappeared after the funeral. At the funeral of those Cubans killed during the airstrikes Fidel infamously proclaimed “I am a Marxist-Leninist, and will be until I die”. From then to the present day the US and Cuba existed in a state of frozen war.
Since then the Cuban Revolution has lingered on. The dissolution of the Soviet Union ended its economic assistance to Cuba, the government promoted austerity and more growth in the small private sector. Tourism in particular has proved a vital earner for the country in terms of foreign revenue, helped by its tropical climate and towns full of historic buildings and vibrant culture. An innovative biotechnology sector has also grown over the years, a bi-product of the government’s strong investment in its health system. However internal and external issues have consistently held back the country from greater development. In the Cold War days it was customary for Fidel Castro to denounce the hostile neighbour to the north in explaining away problems at home. However times have changed, Fidel has retired from politics and allowed his brother Raul to be formerly sworn in as President. And the new President it seems is prepared to talk about reform, in order to in his language improve and not stop the revolution.
A recent Cuban Communist Party Congress outlined some of these reforms. These include the right for Cubans to buy and sell their own homes (a once notoriously corrupt and bureaucratic process), the reduction in state sector jobs and the expansion of self employment. This could be interpreted as a moderate step towards an economic model more typical of post Cold War Communist regimes such as China, however the political reforms announced have been even more modest.
So far political reform measures announced by the Congress have included promises for term limits for top Communist party officials at a maximum of 10 years. Vague promises have also been made to push younger leaders to the front ranks of the regime; this issue has become more pressing not in the least since the President himself is approaching 80 years old.
Washington cites lack of political reform for its lack of relations or even dialogue with the Castro regime, as well as its maintenance (and in the 1990s its expansion) of the US Trade Embargo on the country. One wonders at this justification, since US trade with clients such as China and Saudi Arabia flourishes in the meantime. Perhaps if Raul Castro takes a few steps away from the old beaten track, so should Barack Obama.
