Contemporary Political Regime in Cuba
Introduction
There is a common argument made about Cubans that they live in a Cuba-centric world. Most politicians regard Cuba to be not part of Latin America. The history of Cuba since the colonial period up to date is very interesting. It is referred to as a unique Island in Latin America. Before I begin discussing the colonial heritage of contemporary political regimes in Cuba, the manner in which Cuba reflects and resembles general patterns found in Latin America may actually provide a strong foundation in what is happening in the isolated island. This is because for the last forty years with Fidel Castro being the president, the country has had a unique history that is quite different from its neighbors.
A number of issues in Latin America in general keep on reoccurring up to now. They include poverty, inequality, political instability and weak states, frustrated democracy and military intervention, and finally US interference. For the past few decades Cuba has been joined by the rise of the informal sector, increasing importance of migration and remittances for social mobility together with the dominance by a neoliberal ethos. However after 1959 the country separated itself from the characteristics of Latin America states whereby it started resisting deliberation and also advocated for democracy. I believe in the near future Cuba will either be the worst country in the region or the happiest so far. What I can say that there is no single country in the region that can enjoy political stability if Cuba is ignored. Some of the issues are discussed in this paper showing the Cuba transition and better understand what is happening in Latin America at large.
Political instability and weak states
Since the time of independence up to date Latin American states as whole has failed to establish their institutional autonomy. Areas where weaknesses are realized are in the provision of basic social services associated with a modern state. Social services comprise of health, housing education and communications infrastructure with reference to the maintenance of social or civil order, citizens of Latin American states increasingly find themselves victims to crime and they in turn, are turning to some form of privatized protection. In some states are the most powerful figure are not assured of security. A good example is Chile, where no one can rely on the state to provide reasonable assurance of protection. (Thomas, 1971).
When we consider Cuba, its state of political instability is not serious at the moment. The political development began to grow stronger in Cuba when it opposed the influence of US. At the same time the country has enjoyed stability with the elimination of the previous armed forces and the practically wholesale replacement of government workers integrated with the unique legitimacy that Fidel enjoyed. Social services have been provided with each individual interest being taken into consideration. The Cuban government has also developed a national security infrastructure involving block level surveillance making to be at far from other states in Latin America as far as security is concerned. (Chadwick, 1975).
The authoritarian rule that has been embraced by Fidel has made the county to survive longer. What I can say is that if a public violence is a sign of an authoritarian regime’s weakness then the Cuban state is very strong as it has had to show the iron fist on rare occasions since it has been able to stop trouble before it actually encroaches into the country (Phillips, 1959).
Frustrated Democracy the military and the U.S
Another characteristic of Latin American states is failure to institutionalize democratic rule with few exceptions. In this context, I simply mean a respect for the role of law regardless of social consequences (Thomas, 1971). The government and structure of state power in Latin American is poorly represented. The same system of poor representation also applies to Cuba before Fidel came to power.
By the time Fidel came into power he made a promise to return the spirit of constitutional integration by using the policy of populism. The rights of citizens were clearly described in the constitution where by Fidel used the party law to serve an entirely public purpose. Before there was unequal representation and protection of the lesser community with the Bourgeois enjoying the legal protection of their personal rights. These issues were addressed in the manifesto of Fidel and became the emblem of what the Revolution sought to escerate (Suchlicki, 1987).
Racism is another area that cannot be ignored. In several occasions the America foreign policy seems dictated by the belief that only western Europeans and East Asians are the only group that can be taken seriously. Latin Americans are just inconsequential and should not be seen as public figure. Cuba is one country that has reacted fiercely against the American foreign policy. It has closed its doors to any information from Washington about its affairs. Instead it has formed a migration reform to deal with cases of racial discrimination in the region. Migration has been such as a significant part of the Cuban social dynamic for some years. With the institutionalization of exile, Cuba regime has realized a significant breathing room. This has been identified as a source of inequality since the over-presentation of light skinned exile implies that the flow of dollars is not evenly distributed by rather concentrated to the while urban population (Suchlicki, 1989).
Cuban Immigration to the US
By the time Fidel Castro took power he eliminated any dissenters by execution or exile. Many people went to US complaining of the dictatorship style used to settle immigrants in Miami area. Human rights violations was very high, no right of expression and democracy was unheard of during the new regime. The properties of the middle and upper class especially hands were expropriated by the government. This led to the migration of the victims to the states. The economy of Cuba is still going down because of the new reforms that were brought by Castro (Chadwick, 1975).
Conclusion
Before Castro took power the political situation of Cuba was in turmoil. Economically the country was down as compared to others. When he came to power, he improved the economy of the country. Some improvement in the literacy level was also achieved on the island. There was also improved health facilities and better housing for the poor. However his economic policies did not fair on well because it mainly focused on industrial sector but not agricultural sector. This makes it up to now to rely on another nation for example Russia.
References
Chadwick, L. (1975). Cuba Today .West port: Lawrence Hill & Co.
Phillips, R. H. (1959). Cuba Island of Paradox. New York: McDowells, obolensky, Inc.
Thomas, H. (1971). Cuba The Pursuit of Freedom. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Suchlicki, J. (1987). Cuba: from Columbus to Castro. Washington: Pergamon- Brassey’s International Defense Publishers.