Re: SEXPLOITATION? What is at stake in Cuba?

[Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx <xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

> Xxxx posted:
>
> >According to the UN Council on Trade and
> >Development (UNCTAD), "tourism is the only large sector of international
> >trade in services where poor countries have consistently posted a
> >surplus."15
> <snip>
> >The explosive growth of sex tourism in Cuba in the 1990s has coincided
> >with the island becoming a major destination for international tourists.
> >The Cuban government began to emphasize foreign tourism as a development
> >tool in the 1980s, in part as a response to a stagnant economy. The
> >number of hotel rooms on the island doubled between 1980 and 1988 and by
> >1987 tourism had become the third most important source of foreign
> >exchange.42 The fall of the Soviet Union and and Eastern Europe
> >contributed to turning economic stagnation into economic crisis. More
> >than 80 percent of Cuba's trade had been
> >concentrated with the communist bloc and in addition the U.S. government
> >estimated that Soviet aid to Cuba had reached over $4 billion a year by
> >1989.43 By 1992 that aid had disappeared and between 1989 and 1992 oil
> >imports dropped 86 percent and food imports fell by 42 percent. Aside
> >from the fall of the Eastern bloc, falling world prices for Cuban
> >products also contributed to the economic downturn. For instance, one
> >metric ton (MT) of sugar, Cuba's main export, bought 3.2 MTs of crude
> >oil, Cuba's main import, between 1984 and 1987. By 1992 that same MT of
> >sugar bought just 1.2 MTs of oil.44 The crisis has been described as the
> >worst blow any Latin American country has suffered in the twentieth
> >century (including the Great Depression) as the overall economy shrunk
> >by over one-third between 1989 and 1993.45 Finally, U.S. economic policy
> >toward has changed little since the 1960s. The U.S. embargo continues to
> >prohibit trade and investment with the island, and
> >U.S. citizens are prohibited from spending money on the island without
> >the granting of a special government waiver. The exact economic impact
> >of the embargo is difficult to measure, but few experts expect the Cuban
> >economy to flourish as long as it remains in effect.
>

Yoshie responded:

>
> >The root cause is the world economy of capitalism, in which "tourism
> >is the only large sector of international trade in services where
> >poor countries have consistently posted a surplus."  Criminalizing
> >prostitution under capitalism is counter-productive, if the objective
> >is to help women

The section of article you cite does indeed talk about the world economy of
capitalism and the international circumstances Cuba is facing at the moment--the
growth of sex industry as a means to attract foreign capital . This has 
*nothing*
do with with Cuban government or sexism of  Cuban men. In order the deal with
stagnating economy as a response to US embargo, Cuban government was forced to
emphasize "foreign tourism". That foreign tourism turned into sex tourism has
something to do with the international dynamics of sex industry and the
compulsive capitalist order it legitimizes. This is the unfortunate price Cuba 
is
paying for being a socialist country in a world system characterized by
capitalism.

Second,  the article does not mention anything about "criminalizing 
prostitution"
under capitalism* (although I should stress that just as there are capitalist
interests behind criminalizing, there are also capitalist interests behind the
reverse position, so the issue should not be put as pro or anti-criminalization
in an idealistic fashion) . Since Cuba is a socialist, I don't think that we
should treat this country as if it is a capitalist economy.  In fact, Cuban
government's outlawing of prostitution after the revolution was an attempt " to
address the social conditions that made prostitution an attractive option for
women". Although they were not quite successful with this, they at least tried.
Moreover, outlawing should not ip so facto lead to criminalizing or victimizing
women. These are two seperate technical issues. That is the difference between
outlawing in a capitalist country (where prostitution is seen as a choice by
women to be punished, and prostitutes as "morally harmful beings to society"
bullshit etc..) and outlawing in a socialist country.


The article says:

"Most important was the outlawing of all prostitution and an effort to address
the social conditions that made prostitution an attractive option for women.
Public policy also emphasized rehabilitation of sex workers by offering housing,
education and alternative employment opportunities. Women's engagement in sex
work had been seen as a twin manifestation of imperialism and women's 
subordinate
role in society. "By closing down the brothels, Castro liberated Cuban women 
from
the sexual control of foreigners and restored them to a position of respect in
society."38


Xxxx

---
Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222



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