CUBA
Cuba's 'Battle of Ideas' seeks to bolster image
A campaign called the Battle of Ideas tries to shape Cuban reality as
well as image.
BY MIKE WILLIAMS
Cox News
HAVANA --
They call it the ''Battle of Ideas,'' but it's far more than a
propaganda war against Cuba's archenemy, the U.S. government.
Over the past decade, what started as a catchy revolutionary slogan has
turned into a campaign to refurbish long-neglected houses, schools,
hospitals and other buildings, as well as a guiding principle for the
transformation of Cuba's educational system and other institutions.
''The Battle of Ideas is more than just ideological,'' said Dr.
Francisco Blardoni, director of the Fructoso Rodríguez Orthopedic
Hospital in Havana, which was expanded as part of the campaign. ``You
must have action and a basis in reality. All of these works are being
done to improve the situation of the Cuban population.''
Propaganda campaigns have always been a staple of life in communist
Cuba. Instead of advertising consumer goods, billboards carry
revolutionary sayings, portraits of fallen heroes and defiant calls to
defend the country against American imperialism.
There is now a high-level minister in charge, with broad powers
extending to every corner of Cuban society, from the reorganization of
universities to the refurbishing of Cuban weather stations.
At the heart of the campaign is Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro,
80, who reportedly was immersed in details of the program before he fell
ill last summer and turned over power to his brother, Raul.
FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS
''Fidel spent more than 7,000 hours planning all of this,'' said Otto
Rivero, a member of the Cuban Council of Ministers charged with
overseeing the campaign. ``The guiding principles are that there are no
problems without solutions, that we must act with speed and that the
priority is the interests of the population over the bureaucratic
contradictions.''
The U.S. government and Cuban exiles in the United States assert that
most Cubans endure stark repression, low wages, poor health care and
almost no chance to buy the few material goods available.
While there is no independent verification of the statistics, Cuba is
clearly attempting to repair its dilapidated infrastructure and deliver
more goods and services.
The campaign comes against a backdrop of never-ending speculation about
Cuba's future. Critics say Castro's successors will face a restive
population tired of decades of material want, especially the island's
millions of young people, for whom the glories of the 1950s revolution
are mostly stale textbook lessons.
Viewed in that context, the Battle of Ideas and its slow progress at
rebuilding the island's crumbling infrastructure could well be Castro's
final effort to help his revolution survive.
''We hear complaints from Miami about Cubans saying they get poor
healthcare,'' Blardoni said. ``If you had come to this hospital three
years ago, you would have found a place badly in need of repair. But we
have made those repairs and are serving our people with the latest and
best technology.''
The roots of the Battle of Ideas go back to the case of Elián González,
the Cuban boy who survived a 1999 raft trip to Florida that claimed the
life of his mother. Elian became the center of a nasty tug-of-war
between Cuba's government and Miami's Cuban exiles. After months of
angry rhetoric, the boy was finally returned to Cuba.
But instead of fading away after Elián returned in 2000, Cuba's
propaganda barrage gradually broadened into the Battle of Ideas. Now,
seven years after Elián's saga, the campaign has been enshrined as part
of Cuban's national identity.
Armed with charts and graphics, Rivero recently briefed foreign
reporters, marching through reams of statistics about the Cuban economy,
educational system, infrastructure challenges and health-care
accomplishments.
MEASURING SUCCESS
Success in the Battle of Ideas, the reporters were told, can be tallied
by thousands of projects that have been accomplished in institutions
across Cuban society. Among these are the restoration of 84 hospitals,
the expansion of 498 small clinics and the installation of 155 high-tech
medical machines.
Dozens of run-down schools have been rebuilt, and 34,877 new social
workers trained to aid the population. All levels of education have been
reorganized with a focus on information technology, and university
classrooms have been moved into Havana's suburbs and cities around the
island.
Every child gets computer instruction from age 6, along with English
classes beginning in the third grade.
The Battle of Ideas even extends to the effort to train the next
generation of Cuban Olympic champions, along with the opening of youth
video clubs, in which more than 20,000 young people have created short
movies and video presentations.
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