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GUEST: Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College and author of the book, “Cuba Represent: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures”

The “Granma International” newspaper of Cuba reported yesterday that Raul Castro would give the public address at the annual celebration of the July 26th Moncada barrack assaults of 1953. This major annual Cuban event has usually been presided over by Fidel Castro. In fact, Fidel Castro’s last public appearance was exactly a year ago today for last year’s Moncada celebration. Five days after that appearance, Fidel Castro underwent surgery for an undisclosed medical condition, and, in an unprecedented move, temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul. Fidel has missed every major Cuban event since his initial surgery including the funeral of Raul’s wife, Vilma Espin. Cuban exiles have been largely disappointed however – over the past year the structures of the Cuban revolution have remained intact without major reforms or political uprisings. Some U.S.-based Cuba analysts speculate that Raul Castro would have implemented reforms if Fidel had left the scene. However, Fidel has assumed a presence through his essays entitled, “Reflections of a Commander in Chief.” His political future and the future of the Cuban Revolution remain a question yet to be answered.

Rough Transcript:

Sonali: So, is it significant that it’s been a year now that Fidel has not made any major public addresses in Cuba? We’re seeing his brother take on a task that he traditionally, in fact, always, has taken on since he’s been in power. Is it significant that today on this very important anniversary in Cuba, he is not going to be doing this public address?

Sujatha: I don’t think it’s that significant. I think what we’re seeing take place is a kind of gradual and moderate transition to people kind of accepting that Fidel has moved out of the public spotlight, that Raul is now the one who will be doing the important addresses, who will be, sort of, taking the head of the nation and the absence of Fidel I think, is in some ways, trying to reinforce that transition that, in many ways, has already happened.

Sonali: Now, let’s talk about this past year and the role that Fidel Castro has played. In his essays, he has certainly, I think, tried to maintain a symbolic presence. What has the effect of that been within Cuba?

Sujatha: Well, I mean, I think that it has, as you noted earlier, the fact that there have been not really many signs of tension or conflict or dissent, I think that Fidel’s kind of gradual removal from the scene, while continuing to give his commentary, while continuing to make, sort of, these, you know, small appearances here and there and by his commentary really does show that, you know, I mean, I think that is having an effect, in a sense, that people are not, you know, that there wasn’t the radical break where with either the death of Fidel or his sudden removal from the political scene that people see it might lead to more political upheaval. I think that what we’re seeing is just this kind of moderate removal and in that sense, he does maintain. I mean, people have always said that Cuba is a kind of consultative democracy, that Fidel, from when he first came to power in ‘59, was always, you know, talking to the people, was always going to schools, was always going to hospitals, there was a sense of this, sort of, popular plebiscite every time he appeared. And, I think that the Cuban political leadership is unwilling to sort of completely remove that because they realize that, you know, that Fidel is not the Cuban Revolution, but that aspect of consultative democracy still plays some kind of role in the functioning of the system.

Sonali: Now, if there has not been the major upheaval that some expected in Cuba over the past year, does that mean that the dissent within Cuba of the structures of the Revolution is pretty insignificant? Or are people simply biding their time?

Sujatha: I think that’s really hard to say and, you know, many, many people have tried to make predictions. Ever since the Soviet Union collapsed, people have tried to make predictions about what would happen and, you know, most have said, well, this is going to happen and then the system will collapse or this will happen and then the system will collapse and they’ve all been wrong because it hasn’t collapsed. And, my sense is because there is a much greater sort of appreciation of what the Cuban Revolution has achieved among ordinary Cuban citizens and there’s also a system of values associated with Socialism, about the importance of collectivism, about the importance of solidarity and many other values that I feel are a really important part of Cuban society and culture, much deeper than, say, the United States government would be willing to admit, and that, in a sense, has provided a sense of coherence and continuity among Cubans. So, I think it’s really hard to say what will happen. There’s also, precisely because of this high level of support for the Revolution, there’s been a low level of dissent. And, you know, it’s also been argued, well, there’s a low level of dissent because Cuba exports its dissenters, that they go to Miami or they go outside and I think, to some extent, that’s true, that people who are part of the opposition have not been able to establish much of a base within Cuba and so, they do it from the outside which really reduces their credibility within Cuba if they’re in Miami or another place. So, I mean, I think all of those factors have led to what we’ve seen in this sort of very calm kind of year as Fidel has extracted himself from the political situation and, to me, that’s really what’s playing an important role: the fact of what the Revolution itself really means to Cubans.

Sonali: I’m speaking with Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College. She’s written the book, Cuba Represent: Cuban Arts, State Power and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures. So, let’s talk about Raul Castro and what he represents. His role, this past year, some have characterized as simply the role of a caretaker in place of Fidel, you know, simply trying to continue what Fidel’s policy has been but really not playing his own leadership role within Cuban government. Would you concur with that?

Sujatha: Yes, no, I mean I think that that’s definitely true and, as you said earlier, I think some people believe that Raul is just biding his time waiting until Fidel goes to make a more, switch to a China-style market economy. And, you know, he is in some ways a mysterious figure because, you know, people say, well, he is this kind of military man, as compared to Fidel who had the much more open relationship with the people. He also doesn’t tend to give the long speeches that Fidel gives, he’s much more practical and to-the-point and, given those facts, I think that it is true he has played this kind of caretaker role. He has presided over a transition which has not only meant a sort of transference of power from Fidel to Raul but a more broad transference from Fidel to a collective leadership which involves other people like Vice President Carlos Lege and Foreign Minister Felipe Peres-Rocai and others who have, in some ways, taken up the slack and have begun to collectively assume some of these tasks. And, I think that, but in some way that transition has been quite seamless and that Raul really has played an important role in managing that transition. Beyond that, I’m not really sure what to say. I think the only thing I can say is with Raul is that I think there will be more continuity in what he does regardless with what happens with Fidel. I think, in his actions, I think we’re going to see more continuity rather than a kind of dramatic change.

Sonali: Taking a broad view, Sujatha, how much of the durability of the Revolution, do you think, has relied on Fidel’s leadership style, his charisma and his sheer force of personality?

Sujatha: I think it can’t be denied that quite a large proportion of the popularity of the Revolution among ordinary Cubans has, you know, depended on the charismatic figure of Fidel and, you know, I remember just being in Cuba and sitting with, you know, sitting with an old man who was watching these old pictures of Fidel and he just had tears in his eyes as he was watching him. And, I think that it’s a very, very emotional thing, particularly for people who remember those early years of the Revolution. And, you know, as I was talking about before, this kind of style he has of consultative Democracy, of going to the people and, you know, just appearing at a school. I have a friend who told me, “Oh, when I was 7 years old and in school, Fidel turned up at my school one day and he started coming to the playground, asking us what we thought about, you know, our school.” And, so there’s this role that he does, that he’s always played and so I think that you can’t deny that Fidel has really played an important role. Nevertheless, it has been surprising to a lot of U.S. observers who’ve always maintained that, you know, Fidel is the only reason that the Cuban Revolution exists and the minute you take out the man, you know, every structure will just collapse and the fact that that hasn’t happened, I think, shows that there is some sustainability to the institutions that were established under the Revolution and perhaps some ability to perpetuate themselves even in his absence.

Sonali: Now, you’ve said that there is certainly an emotional aspect to it, particularly among those who remember the Revolution, but what about among the youth? You’ve written a book that focuses on new revolutionary cultures in Cuba. How do Cuban youth view the Revolution under Fidel and do they have a different outlook for the future compared to their parents and grandparents?

Sujatha: I think that they do. I think that there’s not the same kind of revolutionary euphoria among young people as you see among an older generation. There’s not the same kind of understanding of what the Revolution means but, nevertheless, the Revolution has bequeathed them an education, it’s bequeathed them a sort of understanding of social rights, you know, that you don’t see in, necessarily, in other parts of Latin America – this sense that, you know, among Cuban rappers, for instance, and that’s mainly who I’ve worked among, you see this sense that, you know, we have increasing racism in Cuban society because of tourism, because of economic crisis. You have all these problems emerging but the government has to fix them because these are our rights. Now, in many other parts of Latin America with the crisis of the states under neo-liberalism, you’ve had this abandonment of the idea that the state should even do anything and, you know, you just rely on your own resources in the urban context whereas, in Cuba, there’s still among young people a very strong sense that the government has the obligation to actually make sure that the poorest and the most vulnerable in society are still cared for. And, just the framing of many rap songs is really interesting to me in that you can see the legacy of the Revolution among young people and, you know, and how that will play out I’m really not sure. You’re seeing much more political forms like rap music gradually replaced by Le Gaetan(?) and you’re seeing, you know, the migration out of Cuba of a lot of rap musicians who are fundamental in creating the movement in the early 90’s. And so, that doesn’t necessarily bode well for the future of some of these movements but there are people who are continuing to stay in Cuba and I think that, you know, another movement I looked at was visual arts and looking at the young people coming out of the schools, the art schools, and just, you know, the kinds of ways that they want to engage in their society doing public – not interested in art in an art gallery – but wanting to take to the streets and do street art and engage with people through public performances and critical commentary on their society and so, I think, in a whole lot of ways, young people really are building these new revolutionary cultures that is trying to take the legacy of how they were brought up but, deployed in a critical way. I mean, there’s no telling how the current Cuban leadership may take you but they may take them down the road of what happened to the Soviet Union. And, I think that young people and artists really are acting as the critical voice to ensure that, you know, that social justice continues to be an important part of whatever kind of transition takes place in Cuba.

Sonali: Sujatha, what has the U.S. been doing in this past year regarding Cuba? What has the Bush administration’s thinking been on Cuba, either publicly or through any policy documents that you might’ve been able to track down in preparation for what they see as the end of Fidel Castro’s regime?

Sujatha: Well, I think that they are keeping their eye very closely on what is unfolding. They have surprisingly not, other than continuing to provide funds to dissident organizations and they’ve provided a lot of money – I’m not sure if it’s been more or less but they have provided a lot of continuing funds to dissident organizations. You know, they’ve also released policy statements saying things like, you know, we want to promote freedom of Cubans, we want to, you know, all of this kind of things. We’ve also seen at the same time, you know, all these reports – CNN on the sort of one-year anniversary of Fidel’s illness has also come out with a report just recently where they said, you know, “Cubans are longing for the day when they can buy cellular phones and computers and cars…”, so on many fronts, I think that the U.S. government has been looking for any way that they can destabilize the situation there but, you know, I think that they’re also recognizing that the time is not right for them to do anything beyond that because, you know, the sort of uprisings in the streets that I think they were hoping for has just not happened and so their reaction has been a lot more muted than they possibly thought it would be.

Sonali: Finally, Sujatha, was last year’s appearance by Fidel Castro at the Moncada celebration – do you think that it is basically going to be his last public appearance? For good?

Sujatha: It’s really hard to say because, you know, nobody really knows what the situation with his health is. And, to me, you know, I have a feeling that it possibly is given that he hasn’t made any public appearances since then and, other than writing, we haven’t really heard too much about his health situation. So, it may well be the last time that we heard from him.

Sonali: Well, Sujatha, I want to thank you very much for joining us today.

Sujatha: Thank you very much for having me on the show.

Sonali: Sujatha Fernandes is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College. She’s the author of the book, Cuba Represent: Cuban Arts, State Power and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures. We’ve been talking about Cuba and Fidel Castro a year, exactly a year, after Fidel Castro made his last public appearance before he took ill and ceded power to his brother, Raul Castro. Raul will be giving the address tonight in Cuba for the Moncada celebrations. Today is July 26th, the annual event, the anniversary of the 1953 Moncada barracks event that marked the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.

Special Thanks to Julie Svendsen for transcribing this interview