By WILLIAM DEVINE

st January Ist marked the
anniversary of the coming
wer of the Cuban Revolu-
# And by any standard, the
yi ersary date is one of out-
g'n8 historic significance.
rely not its least important
ct is the fact that it culmin-
the first decade of socialism

Z Americas. Although the

ence and impact of the Cub-

Volution is far from limited
me Western Hemisphere, it

Te, and in Latin America

Specifically, that the Cuban
‘Mple has inspired many mil-
§ to spread its ideals.

Cialist Cuba points to the
te for the entire continent.
‘deed
‘lution would be complete

Out an appreciation of its

® outside Cuba. But such

appreciation would require
Space than is available

. And the reader will there-
f agree, it is hoped, with at-

On being focussed on Cuba

> 4 Starting point, then,
' € is Cuba at ibaa? In a
= & Couple of years ago,
Minister Fidel Castro div-
4 le years of Revolutionary
T into three stages. First, he
Were the years of ignor-
» then came the years of
end finally, the years of

little later in his speech he

¢ a fourth stage, between
ae Of agony and triumph.

O03 | es the years of hard work,
is Possibilities of triumph

rae seen. but when its
angina yet been tasted.

Was in this “hard-work”

ieee reports of his
Fiat Jan. 2 (the full text
* available at time of
ng), it seems clear that he
€rs Cuba still to be in this
* ra Own personal obser-
eS n leaving Cuba, after
On & nearly two years there,
Support this outlook. |
mbined with the hard work,
tated as Fidel has acknowl-
ee times, the people
( being called on to make
' el Sacrifices. But both
4 se Work and the sacrifices
“cen as temporary necessi-
necessities that face any
veloped country—if it is
ee f €conomic basis for
Sting and growing bene-
ae future, —
yas economic basis is
ae appears indisputable
veal 7 the most cursory
as € island. Everywhere,
% Projects in agriculture
(Ne main thrust now — are
ee With stress on culti-
Stas port produce such as
a tS, coffee, meat from
alsing — and, of course,

Be eenet when such pro-
Sea to pay off in terms
an jal exports, the for-

is ange thus earned will

as #2 finance subsequent
wvaazZation in earnest. And

5 racustrialization (impres-
rst fee have already been

PEN up hi

¥ ata for Gans =

Same time, big new

Kites times as Fatih last

In 1967) are being plant-

Q
00t vegetables, corn, rice

on to
(hime Solve the food pro-

Cuba
for

‘0

morrow, they give
’ of the hard work
Just a

» NO survey of the Cuban: .

Ime, he asserted that ©

NS see this perspec- -

cept the necessity of. today’s
sacrifices, such as the rationing
of food and clothing. Cubans
have opted to husband resources
now to guarantee permanent
supplies in the future.

And thus, as reported, the
cheers from the people when
Fidel announced the rationing of
sugar on Jan. 2. Sugar is still
Cuba’s number one export crop
and money earner. Undoubtedly
the aim of the rationing is to
have more sugar on hand for
export. And Cubans realize the
importance of this to their dev-
elopment plans.

So it’s not hard to understand
the cheers that met Fidel’s sugar
rationing announcement. Nor the
determination to put everything

into guaranteeing a 10-million-

The revolution
plus ten

ton sugar crop in 1970. Again,
hard work and sacrifice now to
assure the benefits of the
future. — pas iy

There’s that word “future”
again, and an impression may
have gathered that it’s mostly
look-ahead in Cuba, with no big
accomplishments under the belt.
Such an impression would be
dead wrong. And it would be
dead wrongest in such vital
areas of life as education and
public health.

The achievements in these
areas have been well and often
chronicled. Both health facilities
and education are now fully
available and free to all Cubans.
As is a growing list of services,
including public telephones, en-
trance to sports events, funerals,
etc. In addition, hundreds of
thousands of Cubans now pay no
rent, and by 1970, it is planned
that no Cuban will.

The steadily-increasing “free”
list is not only designed to pro-
vide immediate benefits, it is
also aimed at freeing the minds
of the people from what Fidel
has described as the “mystique”
of money. And that in turn is

related to another great task |

that the Cuban Revolution has
undertaken: the development of
the new communist man.

In fact, Cubans see this as key:

to the whole process of their
economic development. Last July
26, Fidel stressed that Cuba does
not see the development of com-
munist consciousness as being

based on the production of rich- .

es; but rather, that the produc-
tion of riches should be based on
the development of communist
consciousness.

To spur this process, a nation-
wide “revolutionary offensive”
was initiated last March. Its
take-off point was the nationali-
zation of all remaining small,
private businesses in order to rid

the country of the last vestiges -

of capitalist practices. The pri-

vate businesses were seen not

only as outlets for black market-
ing and as hangouts for counter:
revolutionary. elements; the
were also seen as fostering cap-
italist ideas of individualism and
self-seeking.

Coupled, and seen as insep-
arably linked to the ideological
side of the “revolutionary offen-
sive,” is the offensive in produc-
tion. The period since the
“revolutionary offensive’s” in-
ception, (although the process
had been going on before) has
seen a vast outpouring of volun-
tary labor to the main agricul-
tural sector of the economy,

while those left behind in the-

factories have doubled up to
maintain production. In many
industrial enterprises, “guerril-
la” periods of non-stop work for
a week or more have become
common. Tens of thousands of
workers have renounced over-
time pay. In all fields of endea-
vor, stress is on moral rather
than material incentives.

Some observers of the Cuban
scene have suggested that an at-
tempt may be made to go too
far too quickly. Cubans reject
this. Time, of course, will tell
for sure. Just as, with all the
positive signs despite current
difficulties, Cuba’s economic
plans have yet to reach defini-
tive frution, the same might be
said of the ideological struggle.
But let there be no mistake
about those positive signs being
there. They most definitely are.

And surely the best proof of
the vitality and viability of the
Cuban Revolution is the fact
that it is still around 10 years
later. Proof made all the more
incontestable by the fact that it
has continued—and continues—
to exist in the very backyard of
U.S. imperialism, from which
quarter the Cuban Revolution
has suffered steady aggression
and threats of aggression, in-
cluding economic blockade.

So, how to summarize social-

matter of fact, help comes from
a seemingly surprising source—
the Toronto Globe and Mail. It
ran an editorial last Jan. 1 titled
“Cuba, 10 Years After.” And
while, not surprisingly, it con-
tained some criticisms and pos-
sibly shaky speculation, it also
had these things to say:

“It is a moment,” states the
Globe, “for reassessment of a
remarkable revolution,” adding
that “only the most diehard op-
ponent of Premier Castra would
deny the achievements of these
10 years.” Quite.

Commenting on the propagan-
da cry of “forced labor,” the
Globe points out that “Every
visitor to Cuba returns ponder-
ing upon the high spirits of the
people, a state not easily con-
sonant with forced labor.”
Again, quite.

Then the Globe asks “Where
should Canada stand,” noting

that, “As often before, Canada

has until now stood back from
a dispute—and still managed to
make a modest profit out of it
. . . For the first six months of
1968, Canada’s exports (to Cuba)
rose to $25.5 million—while Can-
ada imported $2.2 million worth
of Cuban goods.

“To be merely fair,” continues
the Globe, “Canada should do
much more than it does to bal-
ance this trade.” This time,
precisely. \

But anyway, the Globe goes
on, “why not offer Cuba techni-
cal aid?” And in this connection, |
the paper raises a number of op-
tions whose particular merits we
won't judge here. But there is

definitely merit in the Globe’s _

concluding point—that “a bridge
of this sort to Cuba.could teach ©
Canada, as much as Latin Amer-
ican states, a lot about an exper-
iment in development which has
had its unusual successes.”
Altogether true. And what
we'd learn most of all is that
Cuba represents the promise, not
the threat, to the future.

roe: Sade