[Marxism] Mariela Castro on the Future of Sex and Socialism in Cuba

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Yoshie Furuhashi who posted this to CubaNews tonight.
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<http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/castro030109.html>
Interview with Mariela Castro on the Future of Sex and Socialism in Cuba
by Anastasia Haydulina

Mariela Castro is Director of the National Center for Sex Education in Cuba.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EInIlVbQ4>

Anastasia Haydulina: One day your uncle Fidel Castro . . . is going to
die.  Do you think his death will change the status quo of your Cuba?

Mariela Castro: First of all, the death of Fidel will bring great
suffering for the Cuban people, and it will be an enormous loss.  But
as far as I can see, the Cubans are willing to continue on the path of
socialism even when our Comandante is no longer with us, even when my
father and other forefathers of the revolution are not.  Our people
want socialism.  Of course, we're very self-critical, so what we need
is a better and rich socialreform that will resolve most of the
existing contradictions.  People themselves are proposing actions
necessary for the survival of our socialist society, a society that
should always guarantee social justice, equality, and solidarity
within the nation, as well as in relations with others.  We want
welfare, but not as exaggerated as that of consumer societies.  I
think that socialism in Cuba will survive and become what we have
considered to be a utopia.

Anastasia Haydulina: Same-sex unions in a Communist, originally Catholic, state?

Mariela Castro: Yes, I believe that, in societies like ours, same-sex
unions are possible.  It's true that, in the history of countries that
have tried to create socialism, sexuality-related prejudices from the
capitalist past have persisted.  But in the Cuban version of socialism
it will surely be possible to make fundamental changes in the lives of
men and women according to their sexual orientation and other elements
of their sexuality that haven't been contemplated by other socialist
nations to date.  Of course there are very strong influences of
religions predominant in our cultures, but they are not going to
become obstacles to achieving the aim of guaranteeing human rights
socialism must guarantee.  That is why we proposed a bill to legalize
same-sex unions to parliament.

Anastasia Haydulina: What makes you feel you can overcome the stigma
within the Communist Party and legislative barriers to pass it as
well?

Mariela Castro: As head of the National Center for Sex Education, not
as daughter of the president, I presented an educational strategy
strongly based on the mass media to bring the attention of the Cuban
society to various expressions of sexuality within it.

Anastasia Haydulina: Realistically, when do you think we are going to
see this bill passed here in Cuba?

Mariela Castro: We've already accomplished a lot.  For example, we've
achieved a resolution by the public health ministry that guarantees
transsexuals specialized attention, including sex change surgeries.
The first of these types of operation are about to begin.  They were
first performed in 1988 but were interrupted due to people's
incomprehension.  We're proposing important changes to the family code
that include the right of people of the same sex to legalize their
unions.   We're also working on a gender identity decree law that will
make it easier for transsexuals to change their sex and identity
papers, regardless of the sex change surgery.  Because not all of them
are automatically eligible for this operation, but nevertheless people
do need society to recognize them in accordance with their gender
identity, not by biological sex.

Anastasia Haydulina: Tell us more about the history of homophobia in
this country.

Mariela Castro: Just like any other patriarchal societies in the
world, Cuban society is homophobic.  In the 1960s and 70s, it
expressed itself as a political decision that discriminated against
homosexuals, especially men.  That was a general criterion coming from
not only religions but even from sciences.  Psychiatry classified
homosexuality as a mental disorder.  There were even therapists to
change homosexuals into heterosexuals, since that's what was
considered normal and healthy.  So, the Cuban politicians,
educationalists, and doctors acted in accordance with the scientific
precepts of the time as well.  Neither teachers nor doctors could be
gay.  Today, no military person can be gay either.  But there are
homosexuals everywhere, whether out in the open or not.  So we attend
to them in our center, because humanity is about diversity.  The most
important thing here is that there have been discussion and change
ever since.  And in order to avoid this [homophobia] in the future,
we've got to be explicit in our laws and policies.  Homosexuality is a
reality to be taken into account, not got rid of.

Anastasia Haydulina: Two thirds of Cubans with HIV/AIDS are homosexual
men.  Are they provided due treatment?  Are the Cubans with HIV
provided the treatments they need?

Mariela Castro: In 1983, when Fidel learned about the existence of
AIDS, he asked the doctors of the Pedro Kourà Institute of Tropical
Medicine to carry out research to avoid the tragedy on our island.
Since then the state began designing its policies for HIV/AIDS
treatment and prevention.  Each patient infected with the virus is
provided with all the medical assistance at the cost of the state.
Although the medicines are very expensive, as well as prevention
matters, these are fundamental to avoid the spreading of the epidemic.
 Even though Cuba maintains the lowest level [of infection] in the
region and in the world, it keeps rising, so we need much more
effective prevention and treatment.  For example, the island buys
condoms for the pharmacies, but many are donated and distributed free
of charge as part of the center's educational activities across the
country.  Thanks to this efficient work, [HIV] infection hardly occurs
among adolescents.  Unfortunately the existing prejudices impede us
from many of the educational activities planned for the homosexual
male population.

Anastasia Haydulina: Is your father supportive of your work?

Mariela Castro: Yes, he's supportive of my work, thanks to the past
influence of my mother, on sexual education, and mine.  Of course,
from time to time we have discussions meant to convince him of the
need for quicker solutions.  He's also influenced by other people that
disagree with my work, and it's those people who create obstacles.
But I believe that dialogue is fundamental to progress, so whenever I
have a chance to sit down and talk with my father to convince him, I
do so.

Anastasia Haydulina: Your mother was an internationally recognized
champion of women's rights.  What challenges remain for women in Cuba?

Mariela Castro: There are still the remains of machismo and inequality
between men and women.  Although there are few women in top
governmental positions, we observe rising percentages of women
technicians, lawmakers, vice ministers, ministers, as well as among
the regional party leadership.  Besides, in the last two hurricanes
that hit the island, the actions of the women governing the two worst
affected provinces made Cubans, and especially women, very proud.  In
troubled families, women keep returning to household chores and the
upbringing up of children, because most of them still think that is
our job, that "nobody can do it better than us."  But men's
participation in all these household duties is no less fundamental,
especially in a time of crisis.

Anastasia Haydulina: What other changes would you like to see in Cuba?

Mariela Castro: I would like the US government to lift the financial,
economic, and commercial blockade that it has imposed on our island
for fifty years against the Cuban people and that has considerably
prevented us from achieving our development goals.  It has affected
our economy, commercial relations, and financial mechanisms.  Cuba
doesn't receive credit from any bank, and it's very difficult for us
to survive in the field of international economy.  The companies that
trade with Cuba are being penalized.  We have big problems with the
Internet without the access to optical fiber.  It would be fundamental
for life in Cuba to change, for its economy to grow, the salaries to
rise.  Then, we'd be able to produce, obtain, more materials and use
the latest technologies.  For example, I'd like to see improvements in
democratic participation mechanisms on the island, so that our
government could function more fluently. It has a very peculiar and
good structure, like no other in the world, and we like its maturity.
That's why we need to cultivate mechanisms for people's participation.
 It's one of the things that preoccupy me most and will bring about a
whole range of other changes.

This interview was broadcast by Russia Today on 1 January 2009.  The
text above is a partial transcript of the interview



=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Havana, Cuba
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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