Trinidad Sunday Guardian

OBAMA AND CASTRO:
CONFRONTING THE ESTABLISHMENT 

      
Dr. Indira Rampersad
 indi2304@yahoo.com

In a combustive explosion of colour, music, song and dance, the essence of Cuba’s soul reverberates along the Malecon (sea-wall) from where I now write as Cubans congregate en masse, for the week-long celebration of Havana’s annual Carnival.

Transported back in time to a more parochial existence, where neither computers Internet nor cellular phones are common, one expression keeps coming to mind – “change is constant.”

McCain’s Hate Campaign

Yet, the innumerable old American cars; Cuba’s national sport, baseball; and the national drink, Cuba Libre – a mixture of Cuban rum and Coca-Cola - are perpetual reminders of the past American presence and the current U.S. elections as Cubans too rally around Obama while acutely aware of John McCain’s most recent hate campaign.

McCain latest tactics involve an advertisement with a photo of Fidel Castro alongside Obama which says, “Learn More: Fidel Castro thinks he (Obama) is the most advanced candidate.” The quote actually comes from an article in the Cuban newspaper, Granma, written by Castro on May 26 which ironically, was highly critical of Obama after the Senator’s address to the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) in South Florida on May 23.

In the article, Castro complained that “Obama portrays the Cuban Revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights”. He continues that … “It is the exact same argument which, almost without exception, U.S. administrations have used again and again to justify their crimes against our country. The blockade, in and of itself, is an act of genocide. I don’t want to see U.S. children inculcated with those shameful values.”

Castro’s scathing attack on Obama is not entirely unfounded for Obama himself had been advocating dialogue with Cuba, “without preconditions” before his visit to South Florida. His speech to the Cuban-Americans explains Castro’s wrath as Obama ranted on and on about repression in Cuba: “Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba. Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy…This is the terrible and tragic status quo that we have known for half a century – of elections that are anything but free or fair… I won’t stand for this injustice, you won’t stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba,” …It’s time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime… I will maintain the embargo.”

Yet, Castro had high praise for Obama: “I am not questioning Obama’s great intelligence, his debating skills or his work ethic. He is a talented orator and is ahead of his rivals in the electoral race.”

But even with Castro’s claims that he “feels no resentment” toward Obama because he is not responsible “for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity”, El Comandante’s deep disappointment in Obama is obvious.

Obama- An American Fidel Castro

In Cuba, Obama is viewed as an American Fidel Castro confronting a well-entrenched, White, imperialist Establishment which thrives on discrimination, foreign domination, hegemony and exploitation. Castro had high hopes that Obama would prioritize the eternal struggle “not against foreign armies”, but, “against the deadly threat of hunger and thirst, disease and despair… That is not a future that we have to accept -not for the child in Port au Prince or the family in the highlands of Peru. We can do better. We must do better… We cannot ignore suffering to our South, nor stand for the globalization of the empty stomach.”

But change is constant. Obama’s speech to CANF reinforces the continuing role of U.S. domestic politics on American foreign policy. Traditionally, powerful hardline Cuban Americans have held a lock on U.S.-Cuba policy, mainly because Florida is a marginal electoral constituency.

Thus, the international public including Caribbean nationals should not have unrealistic expectations that Obama’s foreign policy agenda could radically change the course of history. The convergence of domestic politics and systemic forces is too powerful for any politician to combat. Should he become President, Obama’s greatest contribution may be in the U.S. domestic policy arena.

Socialism - Alive and Kicking

Yes, change is constant. In the face of unceasing American aggression but with undying adulation for Fidel and Raúl, and with high expectations of Obama, Cubans continue to confront the Establishment. Socialism is alive and kicking in every nook and cranny of the island in the deafening nationalistic cry resounding through the millions of replicas of Jose Martí and Che Guevara.

Now blissfully inebriated with cervesa, Cuba Libre and an intoxicating blend of salsa, meringue, reggaeton and Afro-Cuban rhythms, the revellers continue the Carnival parade amidst the clarion call of the Revolution inscribed in the massive billboards along the Malecon: “Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!”

Dr. Indira Rampersad - Email: indi2304@yahoo.com
Lecturer in Political Science/International Relations
Department of Behavioural Sciences
University of the West Indies
St. Augustine
Trinidad, W.I. 

Dr. Indira Rampersad holds a Ph.D in Political Science/ International Relations from the University of Florida. Her research focus is U.S. foreign policy to Cuba. She has published on “Human Rights Groups and U.S. Cuba Policy” in the Peace Review. She is currently a Lecturer in Political Science/International Relations at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, and writes a regular political column for the Trinidad Sunday Guardian and the New York based Guyana Journal.