On The Anatomy Of Castroism

...The small peasant landowners sold on the black market or sowed less...

...It will also incorporate much not there, or merely hinted at...

...But the negative aspect was probably still more important, for it was the mass desertion of the middle class, more than any military victory of Castro's guerrillas, that led to Batista's internal collapse...

...Curiously, Mr...

...to the contrary, it is quite typical of a time when the old order has collapsed and radical youth is willing to experiment...

...Draper recently wrote a brilliant essay condemning the American intervention in the Dominican Republic, an essay with the single grave weakness that it failed to link up U.S...

...Contrary to classic Communist ideology, it was not based on the working class...

...In a footnote, for example, the author writes, "We now know that President Eisenhower authorized the training of a stand-by Cuban exile force in March, 1960," and then goes on to state candidly: "Only a U.S...

...As Theodore Draper tartly remarks: "It would appear, then, that Guevara and others have been enrolled in one of the most expensive courses ever given in elementary economics...

...The exegetic method, if it is to be fair, must examine the total context...

...In economic terms, Castro's experiment is a complete failure, suppressing personal freedom (or what went under that name before Fidel) and not gaining in exchange economic freedom...

...Draper has insight, knowledge and the ability to communicate...

...Mr...

...If Castro has his way, by 1970 the economy of Cuba will more closely resemble that of 1920 than the year he took power...

...As usual, Draper's facts are correct but do not really answer the questions raised, since such policy shifts cannot occur in a vacuum...

...Is he not aware of recent revelations (which had been told to this reviewer over two years ago by Manuel Ray, head of the left opposition to Castro) that the CIA did not want an internal uprising because its leaders feared democratic socialists might take control instead of the old line politicians...

...This occurred in both a positive and negative way...

...of all social classes...

...It will incorporate much from the writings of Theodore Draper...

...This may be expressed on the general level by restating the old definition of genius as an ability to intuit hidden relations...

...If Castro is to be condemned for changing his course after coming to power, if this of itself is a basis for condemnation, we must do the same for Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, not to mention our present epigone...

...and even de Gaulle, Bourguiba and Kenyatta...

...The great virtue of Theodore Draper as an interpreter of the Cuban Revolution is his insistence on supporting judgments by facts, almost unique in writings on the subject...

...We choose in ideology and interest, our culture and pocketbook convert themselves into passions and philosophy...

...The state farm administrators were so incompetent, 80 per cent of them had to be removed...

...Much the same could be said about Sukarno, Nkrumah, the late deposed Ben Bella, Sekou Toure...

...This new definition, too, has its weaknesses —but at least it touches the larger reality...

...If parallel with the various statements of Castro in one column, date by date, we could run another column consisting of inflammatory remarks from U.S...

...One can almost hear Che Guevara reading inside reports and saying: "See, it is just like Guatemala all over again...

...Draper describes: contradictory, dictatorial, ruthless, ignorant of economic methods, insanely ambitious...

...In this case, the relations are Cuba and the United States, the revolutionary young and their resigned elders, and the rejection of 19th century myths of progress—evo lution, parliamentary democracy, capitalism, and the tutelary function of the Anglo-Saxon nations—on the part of many new leaders...

...And by 1962 Russia began to ask questions about its aid-money...

...Theodore Draper states, and it is generally accepted, that the middle class—now the number one enemy of Fidelistas—was the actual cause of Batista's overthrow...

...The great study of the meaning of Castroism still has to be written...

...Not to understand this larger framework is the major weakness of all Theodore Draper's analysis of the Cuban Revolution...

...It still might be, but at least the option exists, which already puts the matter on a different level...

...The flight of the administrative personnel from Cuba left the operation of the economy to theoreticians like Che Guevara, impulsive rhetoricians like Fidel Castro, oldline Communists like Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, and young men with great enthusiasm but no knowledge...

...Che Guevara, with his usual honesty, spoke of the "fundamental error" of "a declaration of war on sugar cane," while Castro lashed out a g a i n s t "socialist administrators" building "in the air," of "revolutionary infantilism," and of "illusionism...

...Perhaps Draper's definition of Castroism could be deepened by putting a suffix to each phrase of the sentence...

...pressures...

...is "Historically, then, Castroism is a leader in search of a movement, a movement in search of power, and power in search of an ideology...

...I for one happen to prefer American-style hypocrisy because I have an aversion to demagogues and concentration camps...

...It is thus factually correct to quote Fidel, but does not add much to our knowledge...

...But such an economic policy cannot continue without unlimited credit...

...Yet for that very reason, the weakness of his method can be seen more starkly...

...The revulsion against Batista's rule was so universal that it was an entire people who celebrated his flight...

...Nobody stands near him as an interpreter of events in Cuba...

...Unless the general climate of revolutionary opinion is felt in the bones, rather than the head, any study of Castroism is bound to be insufficient...

...In classic Marxist theory the motor power of revolution, the working class, played a very minor role in Castro's triumph...

...Following the Bay of Pigs invasion, in the famous speech when Castro admitted to being a Marxist-Leninist, he claimed he had been a victim of "imperialist propaganda" during the earlier period...

...The first essay, "What Is Castroism...

...Chaos ensued...

...Furthermore, the watchword of the revolution was forced industrialism in a country superbly blessed by nature for agriculture...

...Draper referred to the idiocy of not coordinating an internal uprising with an invasion at the Bay of Pigs...

...This is lamentably true, but not uncommon...

...This decision has even reversed the diversification of the Cuban economy that was taking place during the Batista era, for now sugar—by direct decree from Castro in July 1964—is reclaiming land that had been given over to other crops...

...policy with the economic interests of American investors on that island...

...The new emphasis was on the cash crop of sugar, more and more sugar while industry took a back seat...

...If a revolutionary peasantry did not spearhead the Rebel Army, neither did the working class...

...Historically, then, Castroism is a leader in search of a movement to destroy American control of Cuba, a movement in search of power to initiate state socialism, and power in search of an ideology to garner Russian support without being completely dependent...

...The last essay, "Castro's Economics," is an excellent study of how a rich land can be upset by ideological fanaticism...

...The answers quite evidently were not reassuring— the system was described as "bureaucratized anarchy" by a prominent Castro sympathizer — for a crackdown started...

...Fidel Castro is all the things that Mr...

...Fidel Castro himself said the battle had been won "with the help of men of all ideas...

...But Castro's Cuba "historically" is not that unique...

...But this does not explain why he stays in power with a good measure of popular support—despite the exodus of the trained professional and administrative groups, despite the American economic blockade, despite the savage new concentration camps, despite the totalitarian panoply of press and politics, despite the general mess he has created...

...It was only later, for his own purposes, that various myths about the origin and inner meaning of the revolt were concocted...

...The Cuban simplicists were astounded to learn that finished goods are made from raw materials, and factories bought on credit from Russia and Eastern Europe had no ready access to such materials...

...Draper does not mention other very heavy expenses in this same period—such matters as the building of schools and hospitals and cooperative housing throughout the country, and the guaranteed wage and paid vacations for peasants...

...To Draper's credit, he points out much evidence to support the view that Castro was not initially a Communist...

...But I am not too sure, if I were colored, poor and ambitious for my children, that that would be my option...

...The first Castro-Communist alliance took place in 1958, but it was a tactical move against Batista rather than a fraternal embrace...

...This is correct—but it also defines much more than Castroism...

...Theodore Draper, the noted historian of the Cuban Revolution, has grouped his most recent thought in Castroism: Theory and Practice, a series of essays, some already printed in various magazines and now recast, others written specially for this occasion...

...Partly by deliberate policy and partly through ignorance, the important sugar crop fell off radically-42 per cent in ground cane and 33 per cent in unit yield from 1961 to 1963...

...Suddenly sugar again became important to Cuba and forced industrialization was shunted aside...

...Contrary to Che Guevara's thesis, the revolution was not a peasant movement...

...Senators, editorials of leading American papers, advice from former ambassadors to Cuba like Messrs Gardner and Smith, and CIA briefings at bases created to invade Cuba (of which Castro was informed), then the picture might be clarified...

...government which had grossly miscalculated the forces at work or did not care any longer for other reasons would have made the break so easy...

...The conclusion of the essay "What Is Castroism...

...When attacking Senator Fulbright's view that we should treat Cuba as a "distasteful nuisance" rather than an "intolerable danger," Mr...

...The peasants in Castro's Sierra Maestra army, directed by urban intellectuals, fought for land...

...As Juan Marinello, an important Communist leader, admitted: "It was clear that the triumphant revolution was directed by the 'radicalized' urban petty bourgeoisie—students, members of the liberal professions — with important participation by the national bourgeoisie...

...The second essay, "The Déclassé Revolution," starts with an analysis of Che Guevara's theory of peasant guerrilla action as the way to achieve power...

...In the next two years, however, this alliance moved toward fusion even while Cas tro, intermittently, was calling the Communists vile names...

...But this should not blind one to the drama which took place...

...It is Mr...

...Not to see this connection is to abort the analysis...

...Despite many disclosures, we know only the surface of U.S...

...The present writer, with memories of Stalin and Hitler, has a violent prejudice against the police state and hence abhors Castroite Cuba...

...But even the circumspect reports on CIA movements in Cuban exile training centers, as well as recent actions in the Dominican Republic, put matters in a larger frame...

...For the world is a higgledy-piggledy place in the 20th century, a gigantic laboratory where social experiment is rife...

...This is merely a gimmick to get cheap forced labor...

...If President Kennedy, against his better judgment, was compelled to launch the Bay of Pigs invasion, one can imagine what was happening in the other camp...

...Draper's contention that Castro subscribed to this ideology in order to fill a hole left when "Cuban humanism"—both bread and liberty— declined to the sterner realities of little bread and no liberty...

...And parallel with the reemphasis on sugar production was the decision to introduce compulsory military service, recruits getting 7 pesos a month, where the drafted men will be sent for three to four months a year cutting sugar cane or picking coffee beans...

...Without such a balance of both stupidity and idealism, it is incomprehensible how the regime could have lasted...

...points out that Castro's ideology before attaining power—mainly expressed through History Will Absolve Me and The Manifesto of the Sierra Maestra—was the contrary of his present position...

...In many cases, the necessity to import both raw materials and the factories meant that the total cost of production was much higher than importation of the same finished goods...

...They never dreamed their efforts would lead to state farms which in some respects would come to resemble the large estates of former absentee landlords...