Expert Opinions on Cuba
Richard Feinberg, Brookings Institute
To start off this week’s blog post, I first wanted to take note on a recent event that will affect the modernization/integration of Cuba into the modern world. In the past few weeks, the European Union has collectively decided to normalize relations with the Cuban Communist Party. Along with this, the EU has additionally announced that it will aid $10 million in effort to support Cuba’s growth. This sudden decision signifies a movement away from previous international rejection of cuba and a global movement towards inclusion. In addition, this event also resurfaces an integral question on the relation between core and periphery states: What role do developed countries have in aiding the growth of developing countries? Also, how much does foreign aid/capital actually help sustainable development?
Richard Feinberg, part of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institute of International Affairs, comments on how Cuba’s sudden exposure to international powers and their capital, may actually alter their current trajectory of growth. In my previous blog entry, I noted on how Cuba’s current imports of foreign capital impede democracy by deepening socioeconomic stratification. Feinberg, on the other hand, focuses on how certain social behaviours are affected by Cuba’s fragmented economy and how, in return, these social changes, decrease chance of democracy.
The wealth flowing into cuba, Feinberg notes, may have its benefits, however, it also has its disadvantages. As he majority of the new wealth centers around tourism in Cuba, citizens are tapping into private industries, for example Airbnb, opening up the real estate and private market in Cuba (Which is extremely unprecedented, due to the fact Cuba is still a communist state). Although this movement towards the privatization of certain markets signifies a sense of strength and hope for Cuba’s economic development, the price people are paying for this may not be worth it, notes Feinberg. Cuban citizens are not only selling their own home and risking their families well being to get a foot in the door in the private tourism market, the concentration of wealth in the tourism market, leaves the hegemonic public sector with barely enough money to support their citizens, those whom rely upon the it for their survival.
Another social phenomena produced by the rapid introduction of foreign capital is a two-way brain drain. Before the elimination of the embargo and the normalization of relations with big-powers states, the elite in Cuba sought wealth through the dominance of the Communist Party. Now, however, the restoration of diplomatic ties has opened the elite in Cuba back to the world’s capital and opportunities - producing a two-way brain drain. The first, is conventional brain drain, in which the elite and intelligent, leave their homeland in search of more opportunities abroad - creating a serious emmigration problem. The second, and more unique type of the brain drain, which Feinberg describes, is the movement from the elite and intelligent in Cuba away from the public sector and into the private sector. They are now seeking wealth outside the party, rather from within - leaving important positions in the government empty.
If the goal is to help transition Cuba into democracy, why shouldn’t we just let the Communist Party collapse right now? Why does the fact people are leaving integral positions in the public sector to go abroad or into the private market bad? Why does it matter if funds are leaving the party? The answer to all of these questions goes back to the fact that the citizens of Cuba absolutely rely on the government for survival. These social changes are leaving Cuba even more disconnected and broken than it was before. This vulnerability does not leave the door open for democracy, it, on the other hand, negates its chance - by reducing the value of pluralism even further, and strengthening a rigid hierarchy.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/01/12-economy-society-changes-in-cuba-feinberg
http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2016/03/11/cuba-y-la-union-europea-firman-acuerdo-economico-y-politico/#0
