Cuba’s sovereignty is not negotiable

By Pedro Campos Santos

Apropos the visits to Spain by the U.S. Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister of Cuba, and the invitation by the European Union to Cuba to engage in dialogue.

Various press reports about the visit to Spain by Cuba's Foreign Minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, assume that "Cuba is willing to negotiate human-rights issues in exchange for modifications in the European Union's policy toward Cuba."

The visit to Spain by the foreign minister of the (independent and sovereign) Republic of Cuba was made days after the visit to that country by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a visit that highlighted the differences between the U.S. and Spain regarding the policy to follow toward Cuba.

It was said at the time that the differences were not in the policy's objective — "to promote in Cuba a transition to democracy"– but in the way to achieve that objective. To the U.S., it was the continuation of the policy of pressures of all typesand an economic and political blockade. To Spain, it was through dialogue and rapprochement. 

To the international analysts who follow the topic and watch it from the point of view of the interests of international capitalism, the Cuban minister's visit would fit into this transaction: "Human rights in exchange for an improvement in Europe's relations with Cuba."

To those of us who know and share the principles of Cuba's foreign policy, the principal objective of our foreign minister's trip was to make it very clear to his interlocutors that Cuba's sovereignty is not, never was and never will be negotiable.

According to the BBC, the European Union has offered to open a political dialogue with Cuba "so long as the topic of human rights is included in the agenda." The EU was "in favor of establishing talks both with the government and civilian groups." The ministers "agreed not to reactivate the diplomatic sanctions imposed on Cuba" adding that "the EU's position will be reviewed again in six months."

We Cuban revolutionaries appreciate the efforts of the Spanish government to reduce the tension between Cuba and Europe, but the way the positions are stated, it would seem the EU is offering Cuba an "opportunity to vindicate itself."

We observe what appears to be a blackmail attempt. An effort is being made to force the Revolution to dialogue with the counter-revolutionary opposition under the auspices of the EU and to accept the imperialist version of human rights. Behind that comes a probable road to a "democratic transition" (read, the restoration of capitalism) something that Washington is unable to achieve with its pressure and blockades, in exchange for a halt to the EU's sanctions. If that demand doesn't work, the sanctions could be reinstated six months from now.

In the face of this — in addition to preparing ourselves militarily for any armed aggression — we need to be alert on the political-ideological field, ready to unmask any diversionary maneuver by international capitalism.

If the domestic opposition (traditionally sponsored and breast-fed by the United States) wants to play a positive role in the Cuba to come, it must abjure its intentions to restore a capitalism that is inevitably annexationist. It must accept the existence of the Socialist Revolution and criticize the problems afflicting our society with a constructive and cooperative attitude.

Similarly, the opposition must reject any foreign patronage that would manipulate it to the benefit of its own interests and would turn the opposition into a "Trojan horse." The problems that exist between Cubans must be solved between Cubans, without foreign intervention.

The fact that the Cuban government has occasionally agreed to release counter-revolutionary elements at the request of some foreign visitors, as a good-will gesture to the visitors, should not be interpreted as a sign that Cuba negotiates its internal affairs in the marketplace of international politics.

That could be so only for those who see everything through the prism of profit and markets, not for a revolutionary government that aspires to build socialism.

The much-vaunted topic of human rights violations in Cuba always has been the subject of manipulation by U.S. imperialism, as part of its policy of international isolation and economic and political siege against the Cuban Revolution for the purpose of destroying it. Cuba's "sin" has been to explore a new society without exploiters or exploited, without capitalism — in brief, a socialist society.

If the European governments truly want to help Cuba to improve its economic situation and advance in its social project, they must respect our sovereignty, put aside all attempts to impose "deals" between the Cuban government and the opposition, and stop interfering with our internal affairs.

The Cuban government is not going to tell Spain how to deal with the ETA, or tell Blair in London how to deal with Spain on the issue of the Strait of Gibraltar. Nor will it tell France how it should deal with its student, immigration, xenophobic or labor problems.

Without justifying the excesses and errors already made (which may continue to be made occasionally as part of the sharpening of the class struggle that imperialism has precipitated and stimulates with its aggression and subsidization of the domestic counter-revolution) it is imperative to acknowledge that every genuine Revolution is a complex process of learning, trial and error, renewal and perfection in all aspects of society.

It is necessary to recall the excesses of the French Revolution and other revolutionary processes that occurred in Europe at various periods in history. Can the excesses of the Cuban Revolution be compared with those of other revolutions in the century just past?

"I don't live in a perfect society," Pablo Milanés sings. We all know that, and that's why we fight to move ahead and improve in every sense. But we do so without granting the slightest concession to imperialism and its minions.

We are aware that our laws, our political, social and productive organization, our State, our system of participation, our systems of education and health — with all their gains — must be improved and in some cases substantially modified.

But that's not what they ask. They want to impose upon us their interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They want us to turn to mercantilism, to more foreign investment, more "freedom" to exploit other people's work, more of the bourgeois "representative democracy" that is so unrelated to the interests of our people. They want a free hand for the counter-revolution. In sum, they want to create the conditions for the restoration of capitalism, something they euphemistically call "a transition to democracy."

Those "rights" will never be obtained in Cuba by those who attempt to restore capitalism by any means. Once and for all: our answer to a "democratic transition" to capitalism is NO. The type of transition our people desire was chosen in 1961, when they declared our Revolution to be socialist. History has taught us that true socialism must be participative, democratic, self-managed and inclusive.

We have to perfect our "rights," yes — our right to improve our quality of life, to bring about socialization, that is, the participation of the workers in the property and the distribution of the gains obtained through our joint effort. The right to dismantle all the internal obstacles that hamper popular participation in the decisions that affect us all and in the governments of the community. The right to promote Bolivarian integration, to continue to perform a revolutionary internationalism, to defend our accomplishments and continue to advance toward more socialism.

But all that is a matter that affects us Cubans. How to achieve it? That's our problem.

Pedro Campos Santos, now retired, was a member of Cuba’s Foreign Relations Ministry (MINREX).