Fascinating blow by blow on the Cuban workers' parliaments: How the Workers' Parliaments Saved the Cuban Revolution

[Marcus IM]

Fascinating blow by blow on the Cuban workers’ parliaments:
How the Workers’ Parliaments Saved the Cuban Revolution
Reviving Socialism after the Collapse of the Soviet Union

The end of the USSR removed Cuba’s principal trading partner overnight, depriving the country of the main market for its sugar harvest, which had been purchased at a fair price, well in excess of the artificially low world price. The U.S. government saw this as an opportunity to deal the finishing blow to the Cuban Republic and return the island to the neocolonial status in which it had been held before the 1959 revolution. The U.S. blockade was strengthened. Given the sudden drop in the standard of living, with resulting drastic food shortages, real hunger, and cuts in power and other basic services, there was every possibility that this would indeed be the end of the Revolution.

Pedro Ross was General Secretary of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC). A lifelong trade union militant, he managed to use the trade unions to convince the workers that their best interests lay in defending the Revolution and that, bad as things were, they would be worse if the system collapsed. At the same time, he convinced the government that they had to keep the organized working class loyal to the Revolution. His negotiations directly with Fidel Castro obtained what was probably the best deal possible for the workers in the circumstances.

Mass meetings took place in 80,000 workplaces, neighborhood committees, farmers’ organisations, and the Federation of Cuban Women. These acted as a two-way conduit, informing the workers and farmers of the reality of the situation while, at the same time, allowing for votes on different options, all unpalatable, but some more acceptable than others. By giving ordinary people a direct say and a stake in the solution of the crisis, the Workers’ Parliaments brought back a commitment to the social gains of the Revolution and enabled Cuban society to slowly emerge from the “Special Period.”

continues ... https://monthlyreview.org/press/fascinating-blow-by-blow-accounts-pedro-ross-reviewed-for-new-west-indian-guide/