c) Cuba: A Sui Generis Case Study (Communist Proxy)

Jason García Portilla
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Jason García Portilla: University of St. Gallen

Chapter Chapter 20 in Ye Shall Know Them by Their Fruits, 2022, pp 309-317 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The anti-clerical elements of the Revolution helped Cuba succeed in various indicators (e.g. education quality and coverage, equality, health). The Cuban regime seized, dismantled, and limited the institutional influence of Roman Catholicism on these areas of public life. However, a strong cultural influence of a highly syncretised Roman Catholicism persists in Cuba even if its institutional influence has been curbed. Also, the Communist regime, by adopting Marxism, “threw the baby out with the bathwater” through persecuting all types of religion, including Protestant liberals. Finally, the Cuban regime conveniently turned to Rome to legitimise itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to silence Protestantism with a corporatist strategy. The socialist legal tradition had an effect opposite to its claims (e.g. lack of freedom, corruption), even if its anti-clerical element was an advantage. Comparing the Cuban experience to other Latin American countries with leftist dictatorships (e.g. Venezuela) helps understand their failure to achieve the Cuban indicators (e.g. education). The crucial factor in this regard is whether or not the power and influence of the Roman Church-State are reduced.

Keywords: Religion in Cuba; Revolution; Anti-clericalism; Roman Catholic Church-State; Protestant Reformation; Church-state relations; Prosperity; Corruption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:conchp:978-3-030-78498-0_20

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78498-0_20

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