Corruption in the Cuban government - Soviet-Empire.com U.S.S.R.

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Soviet cogitations: 34
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 15 Aug 2011, 08:16
Pioneer

20 Aug 2011, 23:24

I recently talked to a Cuban immagrant who spoke of rampant corrruption in Fidels regime. He filed for an immigration license and made the payment to the govermant 8 times before he could leave. He spoke of how the health care was good but more often then not was run on bribes. What are your thoughts on corruption in the Cuban government? How could this corruption be defeated? Or is it inevitable in the Cuban model of Socialism?

DjLenin

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Soviet cogitations: 90
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 30 Sep 2010, 22:24
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Pioneer

21 Aug 2011, 14:33

I'd have to check the background to see how much corruption there genuinely is in the Cuban system, not that that would be easy to come by, but assuming there is some levels of corruption, I would assume, like most other areas with corruption involved, it is the fault of capitalism as a whole. Cuba has not successfully destroyed the capitalist and materialistic mindset yet,...to tackle this, more education on Marxist politics as a whole is needed...but that is easier said than done when you are dealing with a sizeable population...

Red Rebel

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Soviet cogitations: 10769
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 21 Dec 2004, 23:53
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Philosophized

29 Aug 2011, 19:37

Cuba has been making attempts to tackle corruption over the past decade.

4 May 2001 - Ministry for Auditing and Control's created
28 October 2005 - Address by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, to the second national art instructors graduation ceremony held in Ciudad Deportiva
17 November 2005 - Speech delivered by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of his admission to University of Havana, in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana
7 December 2005 - Castro broadens youth-led anti-corruption drive

The following is a summary of Fidel's two speeches (which are long) by PSL:

PSL wrote:
Fidel addressed two main themes in the speeches.

The first was the debilitating effect of dollar remittances regarding subsidized benefits. Some examples of this are the country providing very inexpensive electrical power to the population that comes at great cost to the economy. There is also a certain sector of the population that receives the monies and does not feel compelled to work. This is because so many of their basic necessities of life are available for a tiny fraction of those imported dollars received.

The second theme was Fidel’s warning of actions against those who steal from the state to enrich themselves. Shortly after these speeches, a six-week campaign was conducted by 28,000 young social workers. They took over complete control of the gasoline distribution system. The Cuban social workers are a relatively new development in the country to help resolve the social problems of the population that needed special attention. These include attending to the seniors who live alone, to young people who are not engaged in work or study, and more.

On the first day of that campaign, the social workers took over the gasoline stations, replacing all the workers involved in the industry. They accompanied the tanker truck drivers on their delivery routes, they pumped the gas at all the stations, and they carefully measured the gasoline sold and the income received.

At the end of the six weeks, it was determined that over half of the gasoline distributed was being pilfered. A restructuring of the gasoline system then was carried out by the state.

This and other campaigns have made the social workers very popular. And the people began to demand the intervention of the youth in other problems, especially to root out the inequalities and corruption that they demand be ended.

There is another major corruption case today that is being investigated. That is the allegation that some directors of Cuban airlines were redirecting planes to conduct their own business.

Corruption has been a problem since the Special Period i.e. a byproduct of capitalism. One of the most promising campaigns has been to use the youth as a weapon against corruption.

"By what standard of morality can the violence used by a slave to break his chains be considered the same as the violence of a slave master?" - Walter Rodney