Orlando Borrego: 1936-2021
The Revolutionary Communist Group and our campaign in solidarity with socialist Cuba, Rock around the Blockade, sends sincere condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Dr Orlando Borrego, a Cuban revolutionary who was deputy to Ernesto Che Guevara, who died in Cuba on 26 June. Borrego served as a first lieutenant at Guevara’s side in the Rebel Army, as his deputy in the Department of Industrialisation in INRA (National Institute of Agrarian Reform) and as First Vice Minister in the Ministry of Industries from 1961. In 1964 Borrego became Cuba’s first Minister of Sugar. He continued contributing to socialist society in Cuba after Guevara left and in the post-2000 period he offered his knowledge and experiences of socialist transition to the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, tweeted his deep regret at the news, describing Borrego as ‘a full-fledged revolutionary and extraordinary fighter for just causes’.
Comrades in the RCG and RATB knew and learned a lot from Borrego. In 2008, Rock around the Blockade had the privilege to host Orlando Borrego in Britain as the main speaker on an extensive speaking tour we organised. Alongside two other Cubans from younger generations, Jesus Garcia Pastor Brigos, from the Institute of Philosophy and 19 year old Yoselin Ruffin, a young member of the Cuban Communist Party, he spoke to nearly 3,000 people around the country.
After the tour we published an article with Borrego in FRFI, in which he said:
‘Well this was the most exhausting tour! We visited more than eight important cities and towns, London, Glasgow, Nottingham etc in each of which we held two or three meetings, some 15 to 20 altogether, and if we add the TV, radio and newspaper interviews that we gave, it was very intensive. I have never undertaken such an intense tour in any country! This tour has given me great satisfaction, and the effort made has been very productive. The tour was built by a majority of young people, who were working with few resources, full of arguments and knowledge.’
The full interview with Borrego is published below:
FRFI: What were the changes that took place when Fidel Castro declined to stand for election to the post of President of the Council of State?
OB: The first point is that Fidel has not resigned. Due to health problems he considered that it was essential to pass on his responsibilities. This was done in a fundamentally democratic way with an election in the new assembly for the President of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers.
I think this was an intelligent decision, so that he could use his time in a calmer manner to develop his ideas and make reflections that are of fundamental importance for the young, for the country and indeed for Latin America. He can now work with more efficiency than ever in this line, and honour his life-long working commitment to the Cuban people.
FRFI: Tell us about Raul Castro
OB: He is a very modest man and never allowed himself to be an object of publicity. However, we know of his long history as a communist militant since before Moncada [the attack on Moncada barracks in 1953] and he identified with Che Guevara for this reason. At Moncada he showed an outstanding attitude and distinguished himself even as a prisoner by striking down the rifle of one of the Batista guards, so saving a comrade.
Later in the Sierra Maestra he was an exceptional fighter and revealed his capacity after the landing of the Granma and the atrocious conditions that were faced by the revolutionaries. When they re-grouped at Five Palms (Cinco Palmeras) he was the only one who appeared with five rifles, whereas the majority of the others had lost their own. From this we have the famous saying ‘now we can win the war!’ Afterwards he was military chief of a column, on the eastern second front of the country. It is known that as a military chief he practically created a structure of preparatory government there, with schools and so on. He paid great attention to this task. In the armed forces he was very successful. Imperialism couldn’t beat us, and this, combined with his human qualities, guaranteed the future of the state.
One cannot speak of Raul simply in terms of his brother. He has his own definite merits, which the country recognises, and as a result he has now taken up the leadership. It’s clear that everyone thinks he will be successful in the future.
FRFI: Commentators outside Cuba have said that Raul shows a tendency to return to the use of capitalist elements in the economy.
OB: Well such commentators are misrepresenting matters throughout the world. Raul
Castro has demonstrated great initiative and a creative capacity which is very important at this stage. He has initiated very important organisational changes which do not challenge the principles of revolution, but strengthen its supreme object: to construct a socialist state which will enhance the welfare of the people. The organisational and economic changes that he brought about in the armed forces were very successful. Those who say he could return to the market economy don’t know Raul. For Raul, it is absolutely clear that to reach socialism we can’t use capitalist methods.
FRFI: Tell us about the deepening relations between Cuba and Venezuela.
OB: Chavez revealed that he has enthusiastically informed himself of Fidel’s and Che’s thoughts and has become the greatest of friends with Fidel. The Bolivarian revolution has called upon Cuba for support to consolidate the process. This project provides the possibility for wealthier Latin American states, for example Venezuela with its oil and other resources, to help the poorer ones. Cuba has given intense support to this project, in public health, education and its experience in almost all other areas. The collaboration between Cuba and Venezuela is centred on the ALBA project. Cuba has a ministry for Venezuelan relations to deal with the frequent meetings in many areas. Many important projects have been agreed for example in transport, railways, ports and harbours and so on, in the basic industries, in agriculture, all pursuing the dreams of Bolivar and Jose Marti.
US imperialism is trying to destroy this. As the project of reunion of countries, of Bolivar’s dreams, makes progress, imperialism won’t be able to dominate us in the same way as it used to. Now in Venezuela the Congress of the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) is determining its fundamental political programme for the Bolivarian revolution and consolidating its political base. For Cuba the Bolivarian project is a definitive project for the future which, as I have said, was dreamed of by Jose Marti, Che and Fidel and this is what the people deserve.
FRFI: Is it possible to foresee which states will be the next to join ALBA? What are the next important steps for ALBA to take?
OB: It’s clear that some countries are definitely identified with ALBA: Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Ecuador is to a certain extent incorporated and President Correa wants to reinforce this collaboration. Argentina which is clearly not socialist, yet involved in progressive measures, has strong relations with Venezuela. Latin Americans are an optimistic people who have realised that the neo-liberal line and US policies are not correct and never will be. It is an economic system and form of government that leads to suffering and problems in Latin America. To the extent to which the people become more aware of this and they construct social organisations, they will be able to accelerate their entry into ALBA.
In my opinion the future offers great promise with the incorporation of more states, such as in the Caribbean, into ALBA which will receive great benefits of membership, especially through the creation of Petrocaribe [Venezuela sells cheap oil to Caribbean signatories]. Now as never before Latin America has a promising future, and we see more opportunities to solve its social and political problems.
FRFI: Can we turn to the question of the Battle of Ideas and its relation to the concept of the ‘new man’?
OB: The Battle of Ideas is a concrete expression of comrade Fidel. We’ve worked with it for many years, and it has great significance in that for a revolution to be socialist it needs a motor for permanent renewal of ideas, not to let them age with dogmas or allow them to become stale or out of date.
From the point of view of the economy it has a very important role. We can’t speak of political or cultural projects if there are no material resources to make them happen. The Battle of Ideas has extensively treated the question of linking revolution and resources, providing social solutions to the problems of the country. Its significance is that it’s impossible to think of socialism if we can’t also think of the new person in that society, as was observed by Che.
Perhaps the most important contribution in this respect is Che’s thought. In every moment of every important battle his understanding of economics involved a battle of ideas. It signifies a new awakening, a new motor, pushing forward the Cuban revolution. Discussion of the ‘new man’ is a serious matter in revolutionary Cuba, introducing novelty into the Cuban revolution that prevents paralysis or stagnation. In this respect we can talk of the introduction of computers and a beautiful result of the Battle of Ideas: taking computers to the mountains so that primary school children there can become informed of these developments.
The Battle of Ideas has been extended through international collaboration, I have often heard Chavez speaking of it, and Venezuela and other countries are developing ideas jointly to develop the revolution.
FRFI: One of the proposals in the draft programme of the PSUV concerns the planned economy. It says that the object is to neutralise the operation of the law of value within the economy. Can you tell us more about this and link it to Che’s influence on the Bolivarian revolution?
OB: I can speak about this since I have been involved in the discussion about the model or models that might be adopted by the Bolivarian economy. Socialism as a system is very young, 90 or perhaps 100 years, counting the experience of the Soviet Union of course. In attempts to perfect such a system there have been many arguments about the experiments to date, in Russia and up until today, including us in Cuba.
I was asked to support ‘Mission Che’ in Venezuela, because of my experience, and was asked last year to discuss this question in the Bolivarian Assembly. The Bolivarian revolution and Chavez are very concerned with the mechanism of the market, the laws of capital, which were misinterpreted and misused in the socialist states of Europe, and which can damage the economy of the Bolivarian republic.
Of course we rejected market criteria when asked. When consulted I always agreed with Che’s ideas, not because it was him but because they were always grounded in a scientific approach, an historical approach, and are decisive today in the world in helping to find the most efficient path towards socialism. Che was furious at the way the Soviet Union was moving towards a corruption of its socialist economic system and predicted in 1966 that the USSR and eastern Europe were returning to capitalism. This totally negative experience is fully understood by Chavez, he knows he cannot copy such models, use auto financing methods [as in the USSR], or simply copy other countries’ experiences, including those of Cuba.
In my book The way to Socialism [Rumbo al Socialismo Caracas 2006] – which I dedicated to Chavez on his presidential election victory of 2006 – I examine how Venezuela can deal with these problems and what Che thought about these things. The Bolivarian revolution has every possibility of taking advantage of the experience of all those countries that have fought for socialism. Nevertheless the case of Cuba is one where the state has remained firmly committed to defending socialism throughout its existence and Venezuela can use this experience in its own development.
FRFI: What is your evaluation of the speaking tour, and do you have a message for members of Rock around the Blockade?
OB: Well this was the most exhausting tour! We visited more than eight important cities and towns, London, Glasgow, Nottingham etc in each of which we held two or three meetings, some 15 to 20 altogether, and if we add the TV, radio and newspaper interviews that we gave, it was very intensive. I have never undertaken such an intense tour in any country!
This tour has given me great satisfaction, and the effort made has been very productive. The tour was built by a majority of young people, who were working with few resources, full of arguments and knowledge.
I always say that in such a tour as this where we are able to exchange ideas, to assess changes and developments in the world, aiming for a happier and more equal world, if we can clarify the ideas of only 10% of those we met, it will be a big achievement, and in this case I think we have achieved 100%.
I must congratulate the organisers of this tour for their hard work, the extraordinary programme they arranged. Almost all the meetings we had were full, some to overflowing with people unable to get in. I should also like to thank the Venezuelan and Cuban embassies for their support.
The tour had important results. As Cubans we thank you very much for the support received for Cuba, for supporting the Cuban 5, heroes unjustly imprisoned in the United States. I urge our comrades here in Britain – those of Rock around the Blockade – to continue their fight for unity, to become more effective. I hope that you can continue your activities with other comrades and from other countries.
The young people I toured with were very educated, very conscious, very revolutionary. If we can multiply these forces we will have completed the tasks we set ourselves.
The full report of the speaking tour can be accessed here:
https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/round-up/1457-speaking-tour-cuba-socialism-into-the-21st-century-frfi-202-apr-may-2008.
