Somehow, Cuba remains standing as one of the last relics of totalitarian communism, yet it still appears as if it is fading away into its history as it slowly comes out of its shell.
Communism in Cuba felt like a permanent state of affairs where time stood still: a state of totalitarianism glamourised by junk-old Cadillacs driving around mostly empty highways. Then Fidel Castro got sick and disappeared from public view in April 2006 and suddenly what seemed permanent started coming to an end. In Summer, Fidel Castro broke his silence and Cubans flocked around the nearby TV set to listen to him speak. His supporters watched him speak in relief that he is still alive. Others expected him to lay the groundwork for future change.
“What next?” They thought.
More than 300,000 Cubans fled Cuba to the United States in 2022. Despite an exceptional health care system, Cuba still remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Cuba used to be the poster child of international communism, but people have been running away from communism ever since the Soviet Union occupied Eastern Europe: the Berlin Wall was in fact built to prevent people from escaping soviet totalitarianism.
Last week, as the death of José Mujica was announced and the PKK declared the laying down of arms, it felt like another Berlin Wall moment – not with the rush of liberation when the Wall collapsed, but more like a slow dimming, a flickering light fading into darkness. A chapter quietly closed, not with triumph, but with the hush of things passing.
A lot has been said about José Mujica and his humility, yet communism by the Soviet Union and China was anything but humble. Russian totalitarianism had captured international communist movements and pervaded its toxic waste as far from Spain in the Civil War to Cuba in the 1950s. The Soviet Union infiltrated and captured liberation and anti-colonial movements and turned them into its satellites: just like Fidel Castro.
However, socialism has a very rich and long history and communist totalitarianism is the experience of Russia, China and their subjects. The experience of socialists and communists in many parts of the world is very removed from the Soviet communist experience. In fact, Europe’s experience of socialism has been molded into its democratic and political processes and was even essential for saving Europe from Nazism and creating today’s democratic order.
Britain fought Hitler under a coalition government that included Labour Party members as high-ranking cabinet ministers for the first time in history. This political pact between the Conservatives and Liberals, who had historically shared power, and the socialists of the Labour Party, was one of the most significant social understandings in history. It was widely acknowledged that in order to bring the necessary national unity required to fight the war, the working class had to be treated with respect and fairly rewarded for its sacrifices and efforts. Following the end of the War, the Labour Party went on to win the elections with a landslide and instituted vast social welfare programmes including the National Health Service which is still today, one of the most essential elements of the British welfare state.
There is a lot to learn from Europe’s experience of socialism and it is a shame that this history is muddled by the gross historical crimes of Russia and its leaders.
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Historian and Publisher
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