By reading three recent books on Cuban society and its revolution, the author arrives at an excellent evaluation of what the Cuban revolution has and has not accomplished. He expertly uses a class-based and anti-imperialist perspective to illuminate what has occurred since the revolution in Cuba and to arrive at this sound conclusion:
The Cuban revolution remains an important example of a revolution against a form of neo-colonial domination, which occurred at the same time as the wave of national liberation struggles against European colonialism. Cuban solidarity with such struggles has given the state considerable credit, even despite the observed racial imbalance in the Cuban revolutionary leadership. Thus while the Cuban state can be recognised as state capitalist, the country’s right to autonomy, and freedom from aggression from what is still the leading imperial power in the world, needs to be defended, and its courageous resistance to domination recognised.However, I think one factor is missing in his analysis: the influence of the Soviet model that was hastily grasped like a life preserver by the Cuban leadership who understandably feared drowning in the flood of the severe economic, subversive, and military threats pouring from US imperial directors. It is a miracle that this country survived at all. Without Soviet aid and support during a very crucial period it is doubtful that they could have survived as an independent nation.
