Free Cuba Now!


To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms

 

Communist dictatorships in China and Cuba celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations

Chinese Premier Li Peng and Fidel Castro in Havana in 1995

President Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, exchanged congratulatory messages with Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two communist dictatorships.

On September 28, 1960 the Cuban government diplomatically recognized the Peoples Republic of China. Ernesto "Che" Guevara with a Cuban delegation visited Mainland China and met with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other high ranking Chinese officials in November 1960 to discuss conditions in Cuba and in Latin America, and the prospects for communist revolution in the Western Hemisphere.

This was at a time that Havana still had normal diplomatic relations with the United States. Diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States were severed on January 3, 1961.

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and Chairman
Mao Zedong dining in 1960

Between 1960 and 1964 the two regimes collaborated closely together. 

Relations between China and Cuba cooled in 1964 when the Castro regime sided with the Soviet Union in the Sino-Soviet  split, but warmed again in 1989 following the Tiananmen Massacre. The Castro regime was one of the few governments to support the massacre, and the Castro regime had distanced itself from the Soviet Union viewing Perestroika and Glasnost  as existential threats to their rule.

Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union provided Havana with expertise in biological warfare and biotech that had been denied to the Chinese due to the above mentioned split. The Castro regime beginning in the late 1980s began offering that knowledge to their counterparts in Beijing and signed a  formal agreement to produce monoclonal antibodies in 2002.

The two regimes have been working closely together during the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019.  Above is a video presentation given in April 2020 on this relationship and its negative international impact.

At the United Nations Human Rights Council on July 1, 2020 the Castro regime took the lead in backing the new security law in Hong Kong that effectively ends autonomy there. Below is the official statement by one of the many propaganda agencies of the Chinese Communist Party reproduced today in The Sun.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Maria Elvira For Congress

Labor Conditions In Cuba

September 28, 2020
Cuba Insight
A publication of the Cuban Studies Institute

Labor Conditions In Cuba

*Jaime Suchlicki
 

 U.S. investors hoping to do business in Cuba face numerous problems/issues which include the resolution of U.S. properties confiscated by the Cuban government in the early 1960s; an arbitrary legal system controlled by Gen. Raul Castro and the military; widespread corruption; a value system that includes stealing from enterprises and working as little as possible; and an investment law that requires foreign investors to partner with government officials, mostly military.

In addition, foreign investors will have to deal with the Cuban government violations of the most basic human and labor rights.

1.    Foreign companies doing business in Cuba must apply to the government for workers. They cannot hire or fire workers on their own without government approval.
2.    Foreign companies pay the Cuban government in foreign currencies (e.g. euros, Canadian dollars) for their workers. The government pays the workers in Cuban pesos which are worth 1/20 of a U.S. dollar, pocketing 90% of every dollar it receives.
3.    All Cuban workers in the tourist industry or any industry that comes into contact with foreigners are carefully screened and selected by the government. Lighter skin workers and those loyal to the revolution are picked for hotel, resorts, and other tourist destinations.
4.    All labor arbitration must take place in the corrupt and arbitrary government offices where little protection is given to the worker or the foreign investor. There is no independent judicial system in the island and all judges are appointed by and work for the government.
5.    There is only one labor federation in Cuba, the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), organized and controlled by the Cuban government.
6.    All workers must be members of the CTC and pay dues.
7.    “Elections” at the CTC are held periodically. Only candidates approved by the Cuban Communist Party are allowed to run for local or national leadership positions.
8.    There is no collective or individual bargaining in Cuba.
9.    Workers cannot change jobs without government permission.
10.    Most businesses/agricultural and industrial enterprises are owned by the government—most Cubans work for the State.
11.    All salaries and benefits are determined by the State.
12.    Workers are hired, disciplined, and fired by the government.
13.    The Cuban government hires out physicians, artists, musicians, bartenders, etc. to foreign countries and foreign companies abroad. Cubans usually reside for six months to two years in foreign countries and are paid in hard currency. Yet 40% of their salaries are deducted by their employers and sent to the Castro regime. The amount the Cuban government receives from hired workers abroad ($8-10 billion yearly), is the largest income figure in Cuban budget.

 

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* Jaime Suchlicki is Director and founder of the Cuban Studies Institute. He is the author of Cuba: From Columbus to Castro, now in its fifth edition; Mexico: From Montezuma to NAFTA, now in its second edition and the recently published Breve Historia de Cuba.  He is a highly regarded consultant to the public and private sectors.
This is a publication of the Cuban Studies Institute. 

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Maria Elvira For Congress