Freedom Socialist Party
International Executive Committee Coordinating Centre
PO Box 266, West Brunswick Vic 3055, Australia
Phone/fax 61-3-9386-5065 <fsprwaus@ozemail.com.au> <www.socialism.com>
Discussion Paper for
"Socialism Towards the 21st Century"
October 21 - 23, 1997 • Havana, Cuba
DEFEND CUBA AND BUILD SOCIALISM THROUGH A CUBAN-LED
INTERNATIONAL REGROUPMENT OF LEFT FORCES
The late ’90s are contradictory times for radicals. Cuba--the most beautiful proof that the future belongs to the working class--is suffering acutely from the vicious U.S. blockade. All workers states are under excruciating pressure to go capitalist, but world labor is also on the move with growing numbers of strikes and protests. The fall of the USSR wreaked havoc for former trading partners and Communist adherents, while also providing new openings for non-Stalinist radicals. The status of women, always an indicator of the political climate, is being advanced globally in a way never seen before, although women are also are the hardest hit by austerity measures and are suffering extreme repression in numerous countries where rightwing fundamentalists have gained control.
In these times of danger and opportunity, the forces of world revolution are scattered. Class-conscious workers and radicals are desperately crying out for leaders. A united front of the Left is urgently needed to defend workers’ gains around the world--especially beleaguered Cuba. To pull together an international coalition of radicals requires the initiative of leaders of undisputed stature and authority. For this role, no one can compare to Fidel Castro and the leaders of revolutionary Cuba who live and breathe the truth of Che Guevara’s statement that "internationalism is an inescapable necessity."
Lessons from the rise and fall of the USSR
In looking toward the next century, we must begin by understanding the ups and downs of the Soviet Union, which at every turn has been the most defining factor in the politics of this century.
The 1917 Russian Revolution was the first complete transformation of economic and social relations ever achieved by workers. From the very start, it was attacked by hostile imperialist forces, decimated by civil war and famine, and subjected to devastating blockades which made scarcity a grinding reality.
Gradually, a bureaucratic caste arose whose power was based on its ability to distribute the goods needed for survival. Headed by Stalin, this bloody, self-serving caste crushed workers’ democracy. Stalin betrayed revolutions around the world by creating the fiction of "socialism in one country," i.e., in the USSR only, and by striking a deal for "peaceful co-existence" with world capitalism.
The Stalinist bureaucracy represented the internal forces of counterrevolution which, together with the unrelenting pressures of imperialism, brought the ultimate demise of the USSR.
Internationalism: more essential than ever
The fall of the Soviet Union sounded the death knell for the theory that socialism could be achieved in a single country. It showed--as Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky had always maintained--that socialism must be an international system in which pioneering workers states are joined and sustained by revolutionary movements across the globe.
Internationalism is especially vital since the first breaks in the capitalist chain occurred in impoverished colonial and semi-colonial countries, rather than in the richer industrialized nations as envisioned by Marx. Denied the resources of technically advanced countries, workers states have been forced to introduce some "free market" measures in order to keep their economies afloat. But these experiments with mixed economies are risky and short term at best. The only long-range solution is a global socialist economy, which can only be realized with revolution in the U.S.--a task that is embraced with great optimism by U.S. comrades in the Freedom Socialist Party.
State of the world radical movement
The disintegration of the Eastern Bloc was a terrible blow for the forces of revolution. Cubans are suffering more than anyone except those in the former Communist countries, but the whole world has been affected. While robbing the defunct workers states of nationalized property, capitalism is also slashing public services at home. Amid a barrage of anti-communist propaganda, the New World Order has ushered in civil wars, military invasions and occupations, and "peace-keeping" missions. That is the bad news that most radicals agree on.
The good news is that the demise of Stalinism has reopened the possibility of genuine communism and workers democracy!
Unfortunately, this is not the perspective of many groups on the Left. Huge sections of the movement have deserted class struggle politics, entered social democratic or capitalist parties, or split into a thousand warring pieces. Organizations such as the Trotskyist Fourth International and the USSR-aligned Communist Parties have abandoned the need to build revolutionary vanguard organizations. They have mistakenly revolted against Leninism and democratic centralism, instead of identifying the real culprit--Stalinist bureaucratic centralism.
Yet the need for revolutionary leadership has never been greater. In response to falling living standards and assaults on workers rights, open resistance is emerging from Colombia to France, from Mexico to South Africa. Workers, women, native peoples, oppressed races and nations, lesbians and gays, and youth are fighting back on all fronts.
These conditions present radicals with two essential tasks: 1) To defend Cuba and other workers states; and 2) To consolidate the forces of world revolution in order to revitalize the international struggle for socialism. Cuba is key to both of these efforts.
Build an international united front to defend Cuba
A call from the Cuban leadership for international coordination among radicals would resonate among liberation fighters globally and build optimism among Cubanas and Cubanos who know their future is tied to the success of world socialism.
This realignment could begin by joint work to defend the Cuban Revolution and then expand to include activity on other points of agreement. It would accomplish the crucial task of bringing together radicals throughout the Americas to work together for socialism. While seeking out shared ideas, the coalition would not be homogeneous, but would include groups with differing politics as long as they are workingclass in orientation.
Cuba has the moral authority to call for revolutionary regroupment because of its impressive history of internationalism, embodied by Che Guevara, and its creation of an egalitarian, highly democratic society which treats women and all races with respect. It already fosters Left dialogue through intervention in the São Paulo Forum and other discussions among the Latin American Left, and its hosting of seminars and conferences such as the World Youth Festival, the International Workers Meeting, and the International Feminist Brigade. The Federation of Cuban Women, the mass organization which co-sponsored the International Feminist Brigade, also does much to promote communication between revolutionary feminists internationally.
We applaud these efforts and see them as a first step toward building a radical united front. But there would be less sectarianism and more productive results if these endeavors were focused on agreed-upon goals as part of an overall campaign led by the Cubans.
Answering the nay-sayers
Some may not like the idea of trying to link up the Left. They think it will be too hard--radicals are notoriously argumentative. But this is what is needed. And if the call has the unsurpassed authority of the Cuban leadership and Fidel Castro, it will go a long way toward overcoming the divisions that keep the revolutionary Left from working together.
Others may say this is not the right time: the Cubans are too busy surviving and the revolutionary movement is too dispersed. But when will the right time come, if not now? When will Cuba ever get a breathing space if not through massive organizing on a global scale? And when will radicals come together without an impetus and strong leadership?
Still others say that a radical movement to defend Cuba would hinder broader organizing with labor, progressives, the middle class and religious groups. But quiet as it’s kept, the Left is currently directing the majority of Cuba solidarity work. And it brings an unhealthy degree of competitive sectarianism and petty egoism into the movement which could be reduced if we were working collectively under Cuban leadership. In addition, the open endorsement of an esteemed international leader would not scare people away from radical politics, but encourage them to explore these ideas for themselves!
Solidarity in action
We invite everyone at this historic meeting to begin the discussion now on how we as socialists can coordinate our support for the Cuban Revolution. We urge the Cuban delegates to raise these ideas with others in leadership. We look forward to collaborative work with serious revolutionaries from every socialist milieu.
Radicals of the world, unite! We have nothing to lose, but a world to gain!
Stephen Durham, Conference Presenter,
National Committee,
Freedom Socialist Party, U.S.
Yolanda Vasquez Alaniz,
National Comrades of Color Caucus Coordinator,
Freedom Socialist Party, U.S.
Alison Thorne,
International Executive Committee Coordinator,
Freedom Socialist Party, Australia
Marcel Hatch,
International Executive Committee,
Freedom Socialist Party, Canada
The Freedom Socialist Party has sections in the United States, Canada and Australia. We follow Lenin and Trotsky's mandate to fight for the needs of the most oppressed workers, women, youth, people of color, Jews, lesbians/gays, and all those spurned by capitalism.
We have defended the Cuban Revolution since its inception. Our founder, Clara Fraser, led the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in Seattle during the 1960s. Over the last five years, we have played a leading role building the Pastors for Peace Friendshipments in the U.S. and Canada. We consider the Friendshipments to be the most crucial mass challenges to the embargo since it began.
FSP and our sister organization, Radical Women (RW)--an autonomous women’s organization--have built ties to the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) based on our understanding of the crucial importance of women to the future of the revolution in Cuba and elsewhere. The FMC and RW just concluded a highly successful 52-person International Feminist Brigade to Cuba, which brought aid and representatives from Australia, Canada, the U.S. and South Africa. The joint resolution from the Brigade-FMC International Feminist Solidarity Conference is attached.
The FMC, São Paulo Forum, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, MADRE, Radical Women, and other groups are sponsoring the International Encounter of Solidarity Among Women, which will meet April 13-16, 1998 in Havana. We look forward to additional opportunities for joint action in defense of the Cuban Revolution and Left regroupment with feminist radicals at that conference.
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