Re: Reply to comrade Mac

["Jose G. Perez" <jg_perez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>I would argue that Cuba is much more under siege than North Korea, the
latter now having sanctions lifted by American imperialism, whilst Cuba
remains under total blockade. Even if it were true, the Cuban bureaucracy is
benevolent even in a period of total siege by the most powerful imperialist
country on the planet just miles off the coast, because of the higher
cultural level of the Cuban proletariat, the fact they actively participated
in the construction of a workers' state, and their social weight.<<

Hiya Owen!

    You KNOW I can't let you get away with this. Just what Cuban
"bureaucracy" are you referring to?

    If you think there's been a Stalinist counterrevolution in Cuba, when
was the Thermidor? Did anybody get purged? Did anybody get shot? Was
Escalante really the Cuban Trotsky? Or was it general Ochoa?

    And, of course, international policy is a reflection of domestic policy.
Just how did the narrow-minded bureaucratic outlook of the conservative
bureaucratic caste you imagine exists in Havana express itself in Fidel's
intervention at the UN summit? Was it the handshake with Clinton? The blue
suit instead of the fatigues?

    I'm not sure you can make the case that Cuban working people are as
educated as a rule than, say, those in Eastern Europe, and even if that's
the case, that's a fairly recent development. Why wasn't the East German
regime more --what was your word?-- "benevolent"?

José

    Inquiring minds want to know.

José

----- Original Message -----
From: "Owen Jones" <owen_jones@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2000 8:58 AM
Subject: Re: Reply to comrade Mac