Fidel Castro's Death and Propaganda of the Capitalist Media

Following the death of Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuban revolution and a figure loved by the Cuban people and many of the oppressed around the world, another wave of attacks by reactionary capitalist parties and forces in the world has been started against the Cuban revolution and the role Castro played in leading this revolution and the Cuban society.  The leaders of the capitalist states around the world, many of which were involved in imposing the economic embargo and the crimes committed against the Cuban people, both those who remembered Castro’s role with respect and someone like Trump, the very manifestation of the rottenness of capitalism who could not hide his delight in commander’s death, all shared the same goal and that was to discredit the achievements of the Cuban revolution.

The imperialist media such as BBC, CNN and other western media are trying to portray a despotic and dictatorial image of the political system in Cuba for the public opinion just because Cuba did not give into the model of “democracy” and free market the capitalist world had in mind. These media took out from archives videos showing waves of Cuban refugees risking their lives trying to arrive in the US after the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union with the purpose of making political use of these images and shaping the public opinion.  They are repeating the same propaganda campaign they conducted towards the end of the cold war and when Fidel Castro stepped down as president. These media are trying to tell the world that Cuban people escaped from the country because of authoritarian repression and lack of democracy, and not from the consequences of half a century of economic embargo and poverty.

Even with all these poisonous propaganda they still cannot hide this simple fact that after the Cuban revolution and toppling the Batista dictatorship in 1959 and despite the economic sanctions imposed by the US and its allies, the country built the most advanced social security system in terms of access to education, healthcare and housing. Despite extremely limited resources, the Cuban healthcare system is recognized worldwide for its excellence and world-class results similar to those of the most developed nations. Cuba has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. Illiteracy has long been eradicated in the country and all citizens have access to free education. If the US is known as an organizer of coups in Latin America, but besieged Cuba, despite its limited resources, is known for its export of medical services into the countries of Latin America. The quality medical services provided in Cuba cannot be found elsewhere, neither in the US, as the largest economy of the world nor in the other major economies of the world. The fact is that Fidel Castro with his socialist ideas and goals to which he remained loyal till his last day as well as because of the influence and popularity he had among Cuban people, he played an undeniable role in consolidating these achievements and promoting the personal dignity of the Cuban people. It was because of his protection for these human values that Castro was so hated by different US administrations and its intelligence agency. Fidel Castro and his comrades were able to defy the hostility of ten US presidents relying on the achievements and the services offered to the Cuban people, but the US never gave up trying to crush the Cuban experience and never stopped its conspiracies to murder Castro. 

On April 17, 1961 on the order of President John Kennedy a force of about two thousand Cuban counter-revolutionaries affiliated with the toppled regime of Batista, under the commands of the US army and with the help of CIA agents, landed at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba to overthrow the Cuban revolutionary government leaded by Fidel Castro. But Cuban revolutionary forces crushed the US mercenaries and dashed Kennedy's dreams and the Bay of Pigs operation. Castro became the target of more than 600 assassination attempts by the CIA and US agents from 1959 till he stepped down from power and he survived all of them.

The US was defeated not only in war and in its conspiracies and assassination attempts against Castro, but also in the war of values that were defended by Castro. If no poster of Fidel Castro can be seen on the walls in any cities of Cuba and if no statue of him was made or no street was named after him, but his presence is still felt everywhere, it is essentially because of the role that commander played in gaining these achievements and promoting respect for the Cuban people and human values in a country under siege.

Despite the role Castro played in the anti-imperialist revolution and the symbolic role he had in the struggle against the US imperialism and despite his achievements in terms of securing a social welfare system for the Cuban people under decades of severe economic blockade, he could not realize socialism in Cuba. Despite his loyalty to the cause of socialism, Castro could not transform the relations of labor and capital in Cuba. What we see in Cuba is a centralized state capitalism. The state itself works as a capitalist, workers are also exploited and there is still a monetary system as in the rest of the world but with slight differences.  What we see in Cuba is not socialism, but state control of the gap between rich and poor and almost equal access to social services and benefits by all.

But these same achievements, despite all its limitations, can be an anchor for the Cuban working class to advance towards socialism. The victory of Cuban revolution inspired many liberation movements in Latin America and around the capitalist world. Castro just like his comrade Che Guevara will be always remembered as a symbol of struggle and revolution against capitalist powers and his memory will be recorded in the history of class struggle. 

27 November 2016

CPI TV (The Communist Party of Iran TV Channel)