Dr Kevin Alcena and Fidel Castro

FIDELISM: PART I

            In life there are moments of history, some of which are propelled by perpetual events.  It is clear in this century that history has given birth to a global, ideological and practical phenomenon that has shaped the entire developing world. This phenomenon has beaten all the odds of the imperialistic, social contract to the modern society.  It is clear, Marxism is out, political clientelism is out but Fidelism, hero of modern political culture, is in and has measured with time and has shaped the Republic of Cuba in a perpetual and pragmatic way that has the world at large in a shock of ideological amazement. The mosquito taught the elephant how to dance and at the same time romanced the elephant’s feet.  The mosquito is Cuba and the elephant is the great United States of America.

            The United States’ embargo consequently gave birth to a formidable Cuban economy that had practical implications to the entire undeveloped world. The ideology of Fidelism has been witnessed by our Prime Minister The Hon. Perry Christie in a historical fashion and we hope and wait patiently that the Bahamas learns that a country is as good as its leader and sovereignty is sacred and that imperialism is a temporary impression that man manipulates for his own gain, at the expense of evolving nations. 

We must not allow, in The Bahamas, intimidating tactics and betrayal syndromes of other countries’ foreign policies to determine our global relationship and we must not forget the remarkable achievement that Fidel Castro has given genesis to in the Republic of Cuba. It is clear that the Puertorican model has failed, the Guyana socialist ideology has failed, the political clientelism in the entire Caribbean has failed. The social economic revolution that Latin America was hoping to embrace its citizens with has failed, as I indicated in a previous article, but the heroic Fidelism has not failed. 

Fidelism is an ideology that we must understand why it did not fail; understanding the phenomenal odds against it and the isolation that the world has participated in against the Republic of Cuba. We will never understand, in the present state, of the contribution that Fidel Castro has made with the social and economic development of the Republic of Cuba.  We do know that every country in the region that did not embrace his ideology has some severe social and economic scars.  Democracy, we know through the region, clearly represented the biggest social and economic disparity.  So, in fact, democracy worked throughout the Caribbean region by default. 

Absolute poverty plagued our region. Inclusion of people and values in the Republic of Cuba was priority.  We do know that Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi - all these great men’s political and social ideologies were cut down and never were tested for the masses because of one factor, the imperialistic arm of deceit and betrayal. 

Fidelism challenges and even succeeded where Russia and China have failed in the social contract to its citizens.  They all have, in their own way, abdicated their principle responsibility to their citizens. We see the consequences in China and Russia of their homeless citizens.  We are now recognizing the social disintegration of their previous Marxist and socialist ideologies. This is not the case in the Republic of Cuba. Fidel Castro refuses to betray his people for the sake of the mighty dollar and that is commendable.  He has outlived and outmatched all of the polar ideologies of the twentieth century.

The Bahamas must embrace the relationship and must understand, as indicated earlier, the importance of the social, economic and political contract with its citizens.  We can be vicarious and understand sovereignty and that the respect of sovereignty is first.  We must show that democracy within our society has worked and the ideology that our fore-parents handed down to us with regard to capitalism has also worked.  But if we abdicate our national and our ancestral responsibilities we can face the problems of Haiti and Guyana.  We must also recognize that Fidelism is an evolving philosophy that must be respected, but at the same time be congratulated for the historical and pragmatic contribution that it has on the society.  We must not be caught up in the dogmatism and isolateralism of the United States of America’s propaganda against the Republic of Cuba.

The United States may dislike the ideological position of Fidel Castro, but at the same time they like him.  So, there is nothing that we need to fear in regards to our relationship with the Republic of Cuba except to embrace the moment of history of this great charismatic, global leader, who made Africa proud and Cuba great and the European world suspicious with a sense of awe. 

In conclusion, I commend Cuba for hosting the summit of the Nonaligned Movement of 116 developing nations next week.  Many nations will be represented at this summit, such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. Even though Fidel Castro may not be able to attend the summit, reports state that the worst is over and the Cuban leader is recovering well. We must recognize President Fidel Castro in all of his positive and legendary majesty.

September 14, 2006