Continuities in Cuban Revolutionary Politics

Abstract

In the pages that follow I shall not indulge in detailed description or analysis of what the Cuban revolutionary government has tried to do or how it has gone about trying to do it. Rather, I shall address myself to two more basic, interrelated questions: Underlying the welter of plans, programs, twists, turns, and inconsistencies in the revolutionary scenario, is there a foundation of beliefs, behavior, and institutions that might be deemed the Cuban political style? (Style is used here in its dictionary sense of a "characteristic mode of presentation, construction, or execution…") If so, how does an appreciation of this style contribute to an understanding of programs and strategies as diverse as those undertaken by the revolutionaries over the past twelve years? We thus seek stylistic continuities which will aid in ordering the rhetorical and programmatic complexities with which all students of the Cuban Revolution must eventually come to grips.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.