Passing through the village of Jamaica on the tenth day of our fifty day march, each day reflecting on one year of the Cuban Revolution, the writing on the wall was clear: “Siempre tendremos un baraguá”. The power, intelligence and courage to make a bold decision and stand by it. That is a “baraguá”. And as Cuba always has one, we are here in the right place, at the right time.
We have handed in a petition to the Cuban government to grant us a permit to publish Arco in Cuba.Arco is an independent magazine which was until recently published regularly in Curaçao and Bonaire. The request is to allow us to publish Arco in Cuba uncensored. We are awaiting the government’s baraguá.
Why is this baraguá so important?
Cuba’s economy is slowly grinding to a halt. Rapid economic growth is a must. The adoption of solidarism in Cuba can trigger that. We need the permit to be able to explain how. Double digit economic growth cannot be triggered instantaneously. There is no magic wand. But we assert with confidence that the application of Solidarist principles and instruments will make a marked difference in a short period of time. In five year’s time the smile would be returning to the people’s wallet. And in ten year’s time the transformation would be almost magical.
How? Simple.
Mind you, below we only mention the effect of the E.S.O.P. instrument. But, E.S.O.P. is by no means the only Solidarist instrument!
1) The Cuban Central Bank can use its power to create money (i.e. to extend credit) to finance the takeover from the Cuban State of thousands of businesses, farms, hotels, factories, restaurants, cafeteria’s and shops by E.S.O.P. companies. This means that the workers and farmers would become the owners (shareholders) of these E.S.O.P. companies.
2) The workers thus empowered would make these E.S.O.P. companies profitable. The profit would be distributed to them as dividend on top of their regular salaries. This second income from capital would sharply increase their spending capacity, i.e. they would consume more. Increased consumption triggers economic growth. A self-strengthening spiral of economic growth would ensue. Cuba, you can do it.