Friday, January 02, 2009

50 years of the Cuban revolution

I can't help but comment at least briefly on the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban revolution. A number of academic journals, including mine, will have entire special issues on the topic, which will be examined from every conceivable angle. The revolution's effects--both domestically and internationally--are truly staggering given how small the island is.

But taking a look at the Cuban state's official account of Raúl Castro's speech, with its references to Fidel's greatness and how "today the Revolution is stronger than ever, and it has never ceded one millimeter in its principles," I could only think about how terribly long 50 years is to be ruled by one person who never cedes one millimeter.

2 comments:

Benjamin N. Gedan 12:43 AM  

It seems pretty terrible indeed.

As I blogged on Thursday, I'm not quite sure why Castro's ability to preserve his "revolution" for 50 years merits such awe. Sure he faced long odds, given the constant efforts by the U.S. to isolate and topple his regime. But his record is no different than that of most brutal dictatorships: failures in nearly all areas of governance except one: self-preservation.

Justin Delacour 12:44 PM  

But taking a look at the Cuban state's official account of Raúl Castro's speech, with its references to Fidel's greatness and how "today the Revolution is stronger than ever, and it has never ceded one millimeter in its principles," I could only think about how terribly long 50 years is to be ruled by one person who never cedes one millimeter.

But to say that the Cuban Revolution has "never ceded one millimeter" is quite different than say that its political leadership has never ceded one millimeter.

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