[lbo-talk] Interesting interview re. Cuba (in Spanish)

Julio Huato juliohuato at gmail.com
Wed Aug 6 12:35:37 PDT 2008


Very interesting interview of Manuel David Orrio del Rosario conducted by Piotr Ikonowicz from Poland's New Left (http://www.nowalewica.pl/).

In Spanish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVsRSvy-KnU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX3zPaG1neA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQa2W-UP3aM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO3xktLJZxs

A bit of background:

Orrio was one of the agents of Cuba's state security who infiltrated U.S.-funded counter-revolutionary groups in the early 1990s. He was outed when the Cuban government decided to pull the plug on those groups in march 2003.

Interestingly, Orrio, who currently works as a journalist and professor, calls himself a "revolutionary," but not a "communist." In the interview he explains why: Cuba's communist party's statutes are still very much like the old Stalinist parties. Orrio says he has a problem with one bylaw in particular, which allows for the majority of the CC to expel other CC members elected by congress. Orrio explains that, historically, this comes from the 10th Congress of the Soviet communist party. It was -- he says -- a vote of confidence the congress gave Lenin, and that Stalin later used to purge the CC. Orrio says he'd apply for membership "immediately" if that bylaw were removed.

Anyway, the main reason why I find the interview interesting is that it sheds some light over the current political flux in Cuba. Orrio makes reference to the brouhaha caused by Desiderio Navarro's recent letter, which prevented Cuban television from airing a 3-show "homage" to prominent censors of the 1970s. Orrio says Cuba's press is lagging way behind Cuba's social reality.



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