IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 33

The Race Debate and the
Lefts: Consensuses and
Dissonances
Armando Chaguaceda
Political scientist and historian, University of Guanajuato
Cuban. Resident in Mexico

Marlene Azor Hernández
PhD Social Sciences and Humanities, Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico
Cuban. Resident in Mexico

I

t is possible to identify positions
espousing a number of leftist ideas
in Cuba’s current socio-political
scene, within an even broader and
diverse context. This is understood as an
ideological and political universe that
brings
together everything from
libertarian
militancy,
to
social
democracy, to even communists, who
have broadened the monopolizing
pretensions of official rhetoric. Each one
of them has its own views about subject
such as social justice, political
democracy, and models for socioeconomic
development.
Their
perspectives also differ regarding a
growing and ever more visible problem
and debate within Cuban society. It is
increasing visible in both emerging and
official rhetoric: the race issue. The
reality and debate generated are tied to
the emergence of new actors: academics,

artists, and activists who have put the
race problem front and center in their
work. If one were to consult studies or
statistics about the impact of the crisis
brought about by the fall of the socialist
bloc, one would see that blacks and
mulattoes have suffered the worst, and
the situation is even worse if one
considers women and the inhabitants of
Cuba’s impoverished Oriente (eastern)
province, cradle of all of the island’s
political and social revolutions. Given
this reality, one that has turned back
progress and benefits brought about by
the governing policies developed since
the triumph of 1959, historian Alejandro
de la Fuente asserts the following
regarding the period since the end of the
last century: “Originally promoted by
intellectuals, musicians, writers, and
artists…the Afro-Cuban movement has
been able to break the official silence

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