Cuba and the Future of an Illusion

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 366 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  Cuba and the Future of an Illusion (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

This is a painful column to write. My title, Cuba and the Future of an Illusion, paraphrases the title of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical book The Future of an Illusion. In that work, Freud describes religion as an illusion concerning conditions of external and internal reality. His categorization of religion as an illusion is based on the idea that religion derives from human wishes. Similarly, my wishes for Cuba’s future are based on principles for a free, prosperous, and sovereign nation with a polity moored on the values and ethics of classical liberalism. Today, given the external and internal realities of the Cuban nation, I am no longer confident of the future of my illusion for the Cuban nation.  I specify “nation” as distinguished from “state,” because in political science nation refers to a group of people bound together by a shared culture, values, folkways, religion, and language. A nation is a cultural entity identified by its unique character. In contrast, a state refers to a territory with a sovereign government. A state is a judicial entity identified by its independent rights. When a nation coincides within a state, we use the composite term nation-state for clarity. Cuba is a nation-state.  Unfortunately, and contrary to the notion of some, Cuba is not a failed-state. The Cuban totalitarian state remains a viable entity. The indicators of state fragility are: a weak and ineffective central government that has little practical control over much of its territory, the non-provision of services, rise of factionalized elites, intervention of external political agents and foreign states, suspension of the application of law, and more.  Since 2005, the think tank “Fund for Peace” has published an annual Fragile States Index using social, economic, and political factors to determine the fragility rating for each state in the world. In its 2019 list, the five most fragile states are Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cuba ranks way down in the fragility list at number 118 of 178 states rated. For reference, the United States comes in at number 153.  Cuba may not be a failed state; but it is populated by a failed nation. Parenthetically, I do not recall where I first came across this distinction with regards to Cuba, and thus I am unable to properly credit authorship.  Some time ago, in my column Invertebrate Cuba, I referenced the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset’s description of how the Spain of his time had ceased to be “an active and dynamic reality” and had become a society without ambitions or illusions. He defined nation as “a project suggestive of life in common,” and argued that Spain “invertebrates” itself by the intellectual poverty of its political class and of individuals that have stopped being free-thinking. These de-individualized masses have been dissolved into an amalgam that thinks and acts for them. It is in this sense that Cuba has become a failed nation.  This was not always the case. The heroism of the mambises in Cuba’s wars for independence, of the heroes of the urban resistance of the 1960’s, of the Bay of Pigs invasion, of the uprisings in the Escambray mountains, and of today’s peaceful opposition, speaks eloquently of the angst for freedom of multiple generations of Cuban patriots.  But today, the Cuban nation, intimidated by six decades of totalitarian rule, seems incapable of standing with a small valiant opposition that continues to fight peacefully with minimal resources. It is a nation that fails to join each Sunday when the Ladies in White march peacefully. And, when opposition members are repressed by Cuban security forces, it is a failed nation that shows social behavior lacking in civic virtue and looks the other way.  Some day the Cuban nation will form a new government for the Cuban state. Yet, the success of a free republic hinges on the civic virtues of its nation. My illusion for Cuba remains one of a nation-state of tolerance, kindness, respect, humility, gratitude, honor, industry, courage, fidelity, and more. But somedays it feels more like a delusion.  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

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