Cuba Exhales after Venezuelan Vote

Cuba Exhales after Venezuelan Vote
October 9, 2012
Fernando Ravsberg

HAVANA TIMES — Most Cubans are breathing easier this week. The victory
of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela will ensure them a stable supply of oil in
exchange for the work of tens of thousands of aid workers from the
island who are employed in his health and education programs.

The Cuban greeting to Chavez was written personally by President Raul
Castro, noting that: "Your decisive victory ensures the continuity of
the struggle for the genuine integration of 'Our America.' We reiterate
our unwavering solidarity and support."

But not everyone is happy. Dissidents and exiles see it as a curse that
allows the perpetuation of socialism in Cuba. They know that the US
economic embargo will never have the impact they seek as long as Havana
receives that support.

For the average Cuban, the equation is much simpler. The reelection of
Chavez as president of Venezuela means six more years without blackouts,
an adversity that everyone remembers from the 1990s, when energy
shortages lasted up to eight hours a day.

The 100,000 barrels

When they began announcing the results of the Venezuelan elections, one
young Cuban said: "A friend from California called to congratulate me.
Laughing, she said she was glad because I could keep sleeping with air
conditioning."

During the days before the election, many of my acquaintances —
distrustful of the typical triumphalism of the national media — asked me
what I thought would be the Venezuelan election results and the real
capacity of Cuba to face a Chavez defeat.

It's no secret that the country has no capacity for self-sufficiency in
oil. It needs the 100,000 barrels a day that come from Venezuela, which
is equivalent to the amount of foreign exchange that Cuba couldn't pay
without the work of its aid workers.

It also means a sigh of relief for those same Cuban professionals who go
back and forth working in Venezuela earning a share of their salary in
foreign currency. This allows them to bring back to the island
appliances that they could never have purchased on their normal wages.

A bad memory

Chavez's victory again dispels the bad memories of the 1990s, when the
blackouts were so long that people jokingly refer to "alumbrones" (brief
periods when the lights were actually on). Those were exceedingly
difficult years for most Cubans given everything they entailed.

Masses were even held in the Havana Cathedral for the health of Hugo
Chavez, who was afflicted with cancer and treated by Cuban doctors.

The lack of electricity meant no air conditioning or even a fan to cool
the hot tropical nights. People camped out on rooftops and sleepless
mothers spent their evenings fanning their children to cool them down
and to keep the mosquitoes away.

Nor was it possible to enjoy a shower, because in most homes and
buildings water was pumped using electric motors. What people had for
drinking was served at room temperature, and food rotted in
refrigerators that couldn't keep things cold.

Currently the situation would be even worse, because back in those days,
cooking was done using natural gas, kerosene and firewood; but since the
"Energy Revolution," a lot of the appliances that used those old energy
sources were changed for ones that use electricity.

A common strategy

Cuba is trying to diversify its international relations, but still no
country or group of countries can replace Caracas. In selling its
services abroad, Venezuela absorbs 40,000 Cuban aid workers, while all
of Africa contracts only 5,000.

But the Venezuela of Chavez is not solely interested in Cuba in the
economic field. The Venezuelan government also has a political
commitment to regional integration projects in Latin America, which
includes Havana and excludes its main enemy: the United States.

Petroleum policies of Caracas that are supportive of the continent have
allowed it to create a community of leftist ALBA states — among which
Cuba moves like a fish in water — and to also push for broader and more
diverse formations such as UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations)
and CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).

In fact, relations with Venezuela give Havana a greater presence on the
continent thanks to programs such as the "Operacion Milagro" eye surgery
program and the "Yo si puedo" literacy method, funded by Venezuela while
implemented by Cuban aid workers.

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