Castro vs. Castro

Castro vs. Castro / Ivan Garcia
Ivan Garcia, Translator: Unstated

If we compare the style of governance of the Castros during their
respective terms in office from a bird's eye view, we would make a
serious mistake in believing the two autocrats are much the same.

You don't need a magnifying glass to see the differences. What are the
similarities? Well, the duo have authoritarianism in their genes. And
they see democracy as their major enemy.

While Fidel Castro acted like a true visionary, father of the country
and shopkeeper of the neighborhood, his brother prefers to exercise
power from behind the scenes. Castro I was an impetuous hurricane. He
never kept still. On any given morning he was capable of mobilizing all
the means of production in the country for a banana harvest.

Overriding the national budget, he ordered the construction of a
biotechnology center. Believing himself to be a world-class statesman,
he devised a plan to abolish Latin America's external debt.

His vocation was that of a warrior. He handled the various conflicts in
Africa as though he were the supreme commander. He personally directed
the military campaign in Angola from a mansion in Havana'sNuevo Vedado
district.

He controlled everything down to the last detail. He knew the amount of
asphalt needed to build an airport runway and the exact number of
chocolates and sardines his troops consumed.

In domestic affairs he governed with the mentality of a shopkeeper. He
ran some numbers on his calculator and decided to purchase refrigerators
that he thought would be most effective in launching the energy revolution.

He could recite from memory the exact number of energy-saving lightbulbs
the country had to import. And the benefits of Cerelac. And the amount
of concrete required to build one-hundred daycare facilities.

Fidel Castro was an autocrat. A narcissist his entire life. Even in
retirement he cannot be constrained. Now at times he predicts atomic
disasters and swears he has discovered a formula—the moringa plant—that
will satisfy all of humanity's food needs.

His supporters consider him to be the most important statesman of the
twentieth century; his detractors think he is certifiably insane. His 47
years governing Cuba were marked by predictions of war against "Yankee
imperialism" and mass demonstrations condemning those who chose to leave
the country.

When the mood struck him, he would storm TV studios and give long
lectures on a variety of topics. But the figures do not lie; Fidel
Castro was a bad administrator of the nation.

By the time he was forced to give up power due to illness, Cuba's
economic statistics had contracted in the extreme. Sugar production, the
mainstay of the economy for centuries, was at the level it was in 1910.
Cities were run-down and needed painting. Streets were filled with
potholes. Drug dispensaries were empty. Free health care and education
remained in place, but they were of poor quality and headed downhill.

The transfer of power to General Raúl Castro on July 31, 2006 occurred
without popular consent. He was hand-picked by his brother.

Since the end of the 1990s many sectors of the economy have been run
byRaúl Castro's men, the military's businessmen. It is a closed circuit
of olivegreen-khaki-clad executives who have devised methods for
entrepreneurial advancement, which they apply to their industries and
businesses.

Raúl Castro has quietly buried the notion of volunteerism and the
anarchy of his brother under thirty feet of earth. He has also shut down
ludicrous government agencies like the Ministry for the Battle of
Ideas—a monument to ineffectiveness—and restructured the administrative
apparatus.

He has cleaned house as much as possible. Fidel Castro's trusted men
were either retired or went down in disgrace. Schools in the
countryside—cradles of unwanted pregnancies and a burden on the national
budget—were shut down.

The general has not taken these measures as a prelude to serious and
profound reform. No. They are simply temporary cures intended to
stimulate the functioning of a moribund economy.

The expansion of self-employment and the sale of houses and old Russian
cars are not starting points for the implementation of liberal
methodologies. The objective is to throw out ridiculous laws. Castro II
is focused on the maintaining the continuity of the system.

To achieve this, he needs two things: dollars and the removal of the
heavy weight of excessive state control. In the pursuit of efficiency
and a rise in productivity he has come up with a plan in which a million
and a half workers will lose their jobs.

If Fidel Castro seemed like an idealist, his brother has his feet
planted firmly on the ground. The future, as foreseen by Castro II, is a
capitalism practiced among friends which would allow them to control the
country's main economic levers.

Raúl is not betting on anachronistic Marxist treatises. He prefers
Putin's Russia. And he admires the economic growth achieved through
capitalist means of the Chinese giant.

The general knows that, to perpetuate the work of Fidel, it is essential
that there be an efficient economy which can satisfy the aspirations of
the average Cuban, who wants to live in a decent house and have enough
to eat.

To achieve this without losing power while keeping the opposition at bay
is the goal. The differences betweenRaúl and Fidel are procedural.
Castro I was more about revolution, the third world, mass rallies,
applause and anti-Yankee rhetoric. Castro II is about doing things out
of sight, without too much noise.

The general hopes that the work started by his brother and continued by
him might last a hundred years. Or a little longer.

Photo from a blog by Tania Quintero.

September 30 2012

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