Revolution is a Lie

Revolution is a Lie

By: Erreh Svaia

“The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”

 Hannah Arendt

Honestly, I still get shockingly amazed whenever I hear people using Cuba as an example for a fair, equalitarian and advanced country; yes, there are people, many people, who still believe in the Cuban revolution, and still idolize it with blind devotion; it’s quite weird when you consider that is one of the longest running dictatorships in the world, that when Castro seized power, he still hid his communist ideals, and later, when revealed, people who opposed communism, was simply executed, jailed, or ostracized; freedom fighter? Of course not! Fidel, as head of the Communist Party of Cuba is still the longest living dictator in the world, still distributing misery within a country that used to have one of the highest living standards in America, sure, there was inequality, capitalism is still trying to solve that issue, but the Cuban experience is one more that goes to prove that the so called leftish revolutions always end up un tragedy, misery and authoritarianism, call it the French Revolution, with Robespierre and the Terror; the Mexican Revolution, with the "perfect dictatorship"  of the PRI and its 70 years plus rule; the Russian revolution, with Red Terror and the so called dictatorship of the proletariat, that is no more than the dictatorship of an elite, over the proletariat, the suppression of free will, of human rights, and the collapse years later; the Mao revolution in China, with millions of people forced to leave the country side towards the city, propitiating famine and thousands of deaths; the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, sinking one of the world's richest oil countries into the poverty levels of a sub developed African nation, the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, bringing us this days one of the newest familiar dictatorships in the world, thanks to “revolution fighter”, and Castro´s puppet Daniel Ortega.

Face it, after all, it was all a trick, the romantic idealization of the "barbudos", the bearded ones, fighting with a small army, against a giant enemy, a despot tyrant; as they fought for freedom, equality, nationalism and anti-imperialism, Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, Huber Matos and Raul Castro, inspired a whole generation of young rebels to fight against the big government, to fight for freedom, to fight authoritarianism, it was a major shot heard all around the world, too much and too deep for young impressionable minds, I deeply admired “el Che Guevara” as a kid, I read books about him, he was a symbol of fighting for your dreams, unfortunately, when you grow up, you read more and more form different sources, and learn that besides being a good guerrilla fighter, El Che was a cold blooded killer, a mediocre functionary who made big damage to Cuban economy, intolerant towards those who thought different from him; the sad thing with the Cuban revolutionaries, is that they ended up becoming the monster they fought and defeated, perhaps even worse than the slayed monster, or perhaps it was just the exact plan from the beginning, creating a dictatorship to preserve the revolution is not exactly a short path towards democracy, with Castro in power there were thousands of dissidents killed, yes, there was free education (or should we call it indoctrination?) for everyone, but it wasn't free at all, it costed people their freedom, their individuality, and sometimes their life.

Castro, like most phony communist-socialists, managed to create the illusion of a socialist paradise, where everyone is equal, but the farce came down with the USSR; as the Soviet Union sank deeply into obsolescence, Cuba's economic model also came down, funds stopped flowing and the illusion of progress started to disappear, Cuba was left on its own, but you can't deny Fidel's intellect, a true analyst of world’s history, he was a superbly wise player in the Cold War, so he devised a new strategy to keep money flowing, first, it was drug trade, with Cuba becoming a strategic base for South America drug merchants, just as revolutionary guerrillas in south America, also lost Soviet funds, like the Tupac Amaros and Shining Path, others like Colombia's FARC followed Fidel's lead and starting closing ties with drug producers and drug traders, but still it was a complex way to regain geopolitical power, and by doing so, Castro exposed himself to the fate of ex Panama dictator Manuel Noriega, so Fidel, "the moral leader of the anti-imperialist fighters in America", quickly assembled a new game, it was still called socialism, but in reality, it was resurrecting a model that had more to do with fascism, he set up to create a new "union of socialist republics, but this time, the scenario was America, he watched how the USSR model came down when an agreement between the USA and Saudi Arabia sank the oil prizes, and also observed China becoming a global leader by opening its markets to the world, thanks to Den Xiaoping pragmatic policies, he knew that the giant will need lots of energy to grow, so he quickly build a network with a cast of colorful characters in order to provide China, what it needed, Castro and many other left wing leaders may have shown a fierce and combative attitude towards USA´s imperialist in the 60s and 70s, but they didn’t criticized the other big imperialist, the USSR, it was even welcomed all over the continent, so why not welcome the new rising imperialist China? Why not sell their soul to China? That way, exports to the big Asian giant soared, soja from Argentina, oil from Venezuela, meat and oil from Brazil, gas from Bolivia and a wide array of minerals from other countries like Ecuador, even territory on loan to build a water channel to rival the Panama channel in Nicaragua; the plan worked, it was called The Sao Paolo Forum, it was called Socialismo del Siglo XXI, and Fidel's army rode the so called pink wave, and in Fidel's fashion, the leaders of these countries, started looking for ways to perpetuate themselves in power, convincing people to trade democracy and freedom for supposed security and economic progress.

Just as the USSR came down, the so called Socialismo del Siglo XXI came down in America, China made adjustments in their economy, as millions of low class Chinese started moving towards middle class, growth in China was restructured, and the raw materials bonanza simply dried, and along with it, the pink wave in America started losing its color, major economic crisis ended socialist governments in Brazil and Argentina; Venezuela became a painful tragedy that doesn’t seem to end, while countries like Ecuador and Bolivia started putting in serious doubt their current presidents, others like Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, followed even closer Fidel's model, and fashioned what would become the next familiar dictatorship in America.

Yes, it's ironic how Fidel, now 90 years all, managed to create a powerful myth, one that has lasted for so long, one that besides the numerous proofs of its decadence, many still refuse to forget, for so many people, Fidel is still a symbol of the brave small man facing the big power of the Empire, and defeating it, while in truth, Fidel was always a mercenary, selling Cuba´s future first to Russia, to drug lords and then to China, not only dragging down and oppressing his people, but dragging down South America and creating oppression for several generations, thanks Fidel, I hope your example helps younger generations to understand George Orwell´s wise immortal words: “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship.”