Cubans discuss transition to multi-polar world

By Kei Kebreau / People’s World

HAVANA— “The transition is over.” In Cuba’s capital city, an energetic 81-year-old, Harvard-trained Argentinian sociologist, Dr. Atilio Borón, delivered his keynote lecture with gusto, keeping his audience on the edge of their seats.

He told the hundreds assembled that we no longer live in an era where the United States is the only world power. China, Russia, Brazil, and others have consolidated power jointly. No more does one government stand above all the others. Dr. Borón said the world is multipolar now.

There is cautious joy, excitement, and comradery in the room of religious, political, and social leaders, all interested in what Dr. Borón has to say. As Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking an axe to the pillars of U.S. democracy just 90 miles to the north, many countries are working together to try to build something new—a balanced world.

Fighting for a balanced world

This conference, the Sixth International Conference for World Balance, was organized by the Cuba-based José Martí Project for International Solidarity. Born 172 years ago, José Martí traveled extensively in Spain, Latin America, and the United States to campaign for the independence of Cuba from Spain. He formed the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892 for the liberation of Cuba and Puerto Rico. He would die in battle during the Cuban Revolutionary War just three years later.

The day of José Martí’s birth marked the first day of the conference, opened by a video presentation of the first day of the original conference in 2003. President Fidel Castro had dedicated that initial conference to Martí.

Citing “The Political Prison in Cuba”, written when Martí was just 18, Castro channeled the Cuban hero: “God exists, however, in the idea of good, which watches over the birth of every being, and leaves in the soul that embodies it a pure tear.” He then underscored the significance of Martí to Cubans: “Martí is the idea of good that he described.”

A thorough anti-imperialist, Martí believed the Cuban Revolution to be of global importance. The U.S. government’s 65-year blockade of Cuba only confirms this.

Martí drafted a letter to his close friend Manuel Mercado the day before his death, stating: “…I am in daily danger of giving my life for my country and duty… of preventing the United States from spreading through the Antilles as Cuba gains its independence, and from overpowering with that additional strength our lands of America.” In word and deed, Martí realized the idea that achieving personal and national self-determination depends on the unity of freedom-loving people, within and across national boundaries. His message of unity rings true today within Cuba and throughout Latin America.

Our unbalanced situation

Dr. Borón continued, urging the audience to look at the big picture. When controlling for the price of goods in each country, China has had a larger GDP than the U.S. for almost a decade, with the gap growing yearly. China is the main trading partner for more countries worldwide than the U.S. ever has been and by a growing margin.

While the U.S. and its allies have tried to restrict Russia with over 18,000 sanctions during the past decade, many question whether the sanctions are effective. The BRICS economic alliance—formed initially by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has grown to overtake the Group of Seven based on GDP at purchasing power parity.

But, said Dr. Borón, this multipolar world must be consolidated against the thrashing of the U.S. and other empires in decline. He offers the RAND Corporation’s 2019 brief, “Overextending and Unbalancing Russia,” as an example.

RAND, borne out of the U.S. Air Force post-WWII, today concerns itself with “confronting the challenges posed by Russia, China, and other adversaries.” While the 2019 brief doesn’t swear off cooperation between the two countries, most of the “most promising cost-imposing options” the U.S. is encouraged to pursue involve economic and military posturing and escalation.

The real work of balancing the world

Across 11 rooms and in the hallways of the Havana International Convention Center, hundreds of discussions take place addressing various questions of world balance. The conference program, well detailed and over a hundred pages long, serves as a strong reminder of the scope of the conference. The more than 1,000 conference attendees from over 90 countries processed the problems they face domestically and internationally.

The air between rooms is heavy with Spanish, English, Italian, Russian, French, and Portuguese. Topics of conversation ranged from modern applications of José Martí’s political writings to the implications of AI on wealth distribution.

The conference delegates ranged from community leaders to leaders of international organizations and progressive political parties. Most tangible was the realization of the importance of organizing a bottom-up, progressive, human-centered movement, as exemplified by our Cuban hosts.

The Sixth International Conference for World Balance in Havana was not just a reflection on Cuba’s past or present—it was a call to action for a more equitable future. As Martí emphasizes in his writing, the challenges of imperialism, inequality, and injustice threaten the multipolar world in birth. His legacy of anti-imperialism and unity remains strikingly relevant, not only for Cuba but for nations grappling with similar struggles worldwide.

In the U.S., where the fight for human rights is reaching a fever pitch, the conference’s themes resonate deeply. From the ongoing battles for racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights to the push for economic equity and climate action, the U.S. faces its own imbalances.

The erosion of democratic norms, the concentration of power into the hands of just a few billionaires, and the widening gap between the powerful and the marginalized underscore the urgency of Martí’s vision: that “homeland is humanity”. The conversations in the convention hallways all conclude that solidarity, the sharing of culture, and movement toward the collective progress of humanity is the path to a more balanced world. People in the U.S. who want to steer their country toward greatness in today’s world do themselves well to take note.

As the conference drew to a close, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel addressed the audience: “But Martí accompanies not only Cubans, but all citizens of the world who firmly believe in the possibility of improving and balancing this world, and who do so against the current of barbarism visible today in the height of greed and in the infinite pain caused by the greedy due to their absolute contempt for human suffering.

“We will continue fighting for the balance of the world, as a contribution to preserving the human species!”