14ymedio, Pedro Corzo, Miami, October 14, 2023 — Castroite totalitarianism is reinventing itself by launching the rise and development of small enterprises, an activity that would not be possible if the ruling class weren’t strongly involved with the opportunistic objective of preserving power.
I confess that I do not believe in the good faith of Cuban autocrats. They’ve demonstrated more than enough skill to manipulate the population and other people of good faith, without excluding professional climbers who only seek to promote their own interests. Subjects whom we all know.
The heirs of those who belong to “the new class” — as Yugoslav Milovan Djila would wisely identify them — is greedy for the wealth and wellbeing that competes with the resentment and sectarianism of their predecesors. Nevertheless, they do no want to leave the government, which would mean losing their invaluable prerogatives.
On March 13, 1968, with the so called Revolutionary Offensive — which eliminated close to 60,000 small private businesses that had survived other confiscations by Castroism — Fidel realized his dream of building a kind of trinity comprising him, the Revolution and Cuba.
The confiscations were so absurd, says writer Jose Antonio Albertini, that a high-ranking government official, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, one of Castro’s loyal servants, opposed the measure alleging that socialist countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland hadn’t implemented that option. The Castros never listened to the claim.
To grow, the ’mipymes’ need the least intrusive government possible, a condition the Cuban authorities never grant, due to their controlling and arbitrary nature
One year later, Christmas was banned on the Island by governmental decree. The regime declared July 25, 26 and 27 official holidays. The ca