Seven Oaks Magazine.

Isaac Saney is a long-time Cuba solidarity activist, Associate Director of the Transition year program at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and the author of Cuba: A Revolution in Motion, a detailed look at the Cuban Revolution since the beginning of the economic crisis that confronted Cuba with the collapse of the Soviet bloc, known as the ‘Special Period’. Dr. Saney recently spoke by telephone with Seven Oaks’ Derrick O’Keefe, discussing new US threats against the Cuban Revolution, an old Canadian threat, as well as the challenges facing Cuba and Latin America today.

Derrick O’Keefe: Your book, A Revolution in Motion, is critical and very thorough in its analysis, but is obviously written from the standpoint of one who identifies with the overall objectives of the revolutionary process in Cuba. How did you come to a political position that identifies with the history and aims of the Cuban Revolution?

Isaac Saney: Well, since my days as a student at university and after, I’ve been involved in progressive causes, the struggle for social justice. And so I’ve supported the Cuban people’s right to determine their own cultural and economic systems on their own terms, without interference from any external source. The right of peoples and nations to self-determination is a right enshrined in the United Nations charter, or in any interpretation of the norms of international law. In terms of the Cuban Revolution, I really came to support it when I had to ask the question: How could the Revolution survive the economic crisis that engulfed it, with the collapse of the Soviet bloc and with the strengthening of U.S. economic measures against Cuba? Also, there was of course the Cuban social system, with its health care and education, which are tops at least amongst Third World countries. And, also, Cuba’s support for national liberation movements in the world, especially in Africa, their support for the struggle against apartheid. So, in a sense, that’s how I came to my position, in struggling for social justice, for a better world, and seeing Cuba as an example for that.

D.O.: Threats and aggressions against Cuba’s sovereignty have been a consistent policy of countless U.S. administrations, Republican and Democrat. This past month, a committee chaired by Colin Powell released a new 500-page report, detailing a comprehensive plan for regime change in Cuba. What are some of the new threats and how seriously should we take the talk of an invasion?

I.S.: In terms of specific attacks, there are cuts to remittances that can be sent to Cuba. As you know, remittances are funds that Cubans living outside the island, in the United States, send to their families back on the island…Also, the United States intends to fly C-130 transport planes, military aircraft, over Cuban airspace in order to broadcast television and radio signals into Cuba. The public mission of these aircraft is to broadcast Radio and TV Marti. Many people believe the covert mission, the unstated mission, will be to directly violate Cuban airspace on various occasions in order to violate Cuban sovereignty and to provoke a response from Cuba…There will also be an acceleration and increase in funding to anti-government groups in Cuba. The vast majority of these groups are created and directly controlled by the United States.

D.O.: It’s an election year in the U.S., so Cuba is an issue. But there’s also the election here in Canada. We saw, in late February, the Canadian government take a very active policy in supporting a regime change in Haiti, with the forced ouster of President Aristide and now the occupation of that Caribbean country. What is Canada’s policy towards –and relationship with –Cuba?

I.S.: Well, in terms of this being an election year in the U.S., this is not just an election issue. It’s in the context of the ongoing destabilization of Venezuela and what happened in Haiti. Which was, basically, US-led and sponsored –Canada and France participated –death squad regime of thugs, which replaced the legitimate government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. We have, just recently, Canada sending another 30 troops from Gagetown to Haiti.

When it comes to Canada’s policy towards Cuba, it’s very interesting. One, there’s lots of tourists who go from Canada to Cuba, in fact Canadians are the largest group of tourists to Cuba. There’s also a number of Canadian economic investment in Cuba, like Sheritt. When we look at the history of Canada and Cuba, it’s very interesting. After the triumph of the Revolution, only two countries in the Americas did not break relations with Cuba in the years after the Revolution –one was Mexico and the other was Canada. Now there’s evidence that the reason why the Canadians kept the embassy open and diplomatic relations was at the behest of the United States. When one looks at US policy towards Cuba, particularly in the 1990s, they adopted two things. The first was the attempt to overthrow the Cuban Revolution, that’s track one. The second was to undermine the Revolution from within, by recruiting people either ideologically or politically. That’s track two. And Canada has played a role in this.

For instance, look at the numerous exchange programs at various universities and institutions set up between Canada and Cuba. With the economic crisis, the Cubans had to make changes to their economy and so forth, and therefore they didn’t have the managerial skills or what have you. And there were training programs that many officials from Cuba, and other people and functionaries, would come up and get trained at places like Carlton University, Dalhousie University, you name it, and then they’d go back. And I believe, actually, that they intended to inculcate these guys with anti-socialist, capitalist values and that they would go back and in such a way undermine the Cuban Revolution…There was a series of articles that complained that the Cubans who came up here were for the most part “immune” from being affected by capitalist ways of thinking, that somehow “ideological shudders” would come down. So some of these programs were discontinued for the lack of impact on Cuba itself. So, I think Canada, in that sense, has been part of an effort to create a fifth column within Cuba that would undermine the Revolution from within.

Q: In terms of Cuba’s relations to the rest of Latin America, clearly Venezuela, and the process unfolding there, is critical. Hugo Chavez very openly identifies with Cuba and Fidel Castro, and there are many historical and economic connections. Do you think it’s fair comment that the fate of Cuba is ultimately linked with the fate of the Bolivarian process in Venezuela?

Well, that a very important question. The Bolivarian process, the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, they are undergoing a very intense struggle at this moment, in terms of protecting the health care, education and programs that have benefited the vast majority of poor and marginalized people, that’s a very important process. The other thing that Chavez is challenging is US imperial control of that region…Cuba has tried to act for unity in the struggle against neo-liberalism in Latin America. So Cuba has, I think, 10 000 medical personnel, and teachers and others, working in Venezuela in a variety of fields. And Cuba clearly sees that its destiny is tied up with Latin America, and the success of anti-imperialist movements and movements for social transformation.

Q: In terms of your solidarity work with Cuba, what do you think the solidarity movement in Canada and North America should be focusing on?

In terms of what solidarity movements should focus on, one, against U.S. military intervention…Beyond that, we have to challenge the massive disinformation campaign against Cuba. Cuba is portrayed as an incredibly oppressive police state, where people have no rights at all. We have to challenge that disinformation campaign. I think that it’s important that we engage people, whether it’s through public forums or our own publications and so forth…Right now, the task of the solidarity movement is to prepare in the event of military action against Cuba. It’s a tough battle, it’s a tough task we have ahead of us, but we live in a very dangerous world. Right now, we have not only one imperial power that has achieved global hegemony, but also we see increasing competition and contestation between rising imperial powers and this is a very dangerous time for the world. Things that we took as tried and tested norms of behaviour, tried and tested ways that countries react and so forth, these are no longer on the table. And so we live in a very dangerous time, which requires us to be exceptionally vigilant.