Historian Aries Cañellas: "Cuba's Current Situation Is More Dire Than Post-1898 War"

The Cuban historian Aries Cañellas has boldly stated that today's circumstances in Cuba are "far worse" than those following the War of Independence in 1898. This comparison is drawn during an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, where Cañellas discusses the historical distortion by the Castro regime.

"We can't even say that a war has occurred, yet we face the same poor sanitation, the same inadequate road conditions, and the same educational problems," Cañellas emphasized, highlighting that the current crisis lacks even the justification of a war.

The Collapse of Infrastructure

A significant factor exacerbating this comparison is the destruction of infrastructure. According to Cañellas, in 1898, there was a material foundation that was revived in just four years: "The infrastructure that was operational in 1898 was completely dismantled. It's worse now, far worse than in '98."

To showcase this regression, Cañellas referenced economist Elías Amor, who warned that Cuba's sugar production has regressed to 1898 levels. The 2022-2023 sugar harvest yielded a mere 350,000 tons, the lowest since that year, and projections for 2024-2025 fell below 150,000 tons, marking the worst output in over a century according to EFE.

Absence of Economic Leadership

Cañellas also points out the lack of an economic class capable of spearheading reconstruction as a factor making the current situation structurally worse. "If in 1898, within four years, the country became functional, and by 1902 it was operational, it was because there existed an economic class with wealth, properties, and investments ready to reinvest in the country," he explained.

It was this affluent class that negotiated the Commercial Reciprocity Treaty with the United States even before the Platt Amendment was signed, to revitalize the island's commercial infrastructure. "Now we can't do that, Tania. We don't even have that," Cañellas lamented.

The Role of the Diaspora

The historian acknowledges that the Cuban diaspora in Miami and worldwide could play a similar role, but warns that reconstruction won't be immediate: "The diaspora in Miami and elsewhere can indeed contribute, but not overnight. It won't be the next day, because the incoming government must first establish the necessary legal framework."

Cañellas stresses that there currently is no legal framework to allow for such a process, and a transitional government will need to build it from scratch before diaspora investment can take place.

Historical Distortion by the Regime

In parallel, Cañellas criticizes the regime's systematic manipulation of history to maintain power. "The most scandalous aspect is how they've tailored national history to serve their interests and how they've completely subverted it to stay in power," he stated.

One of the most revealing tactics was the recoding of political language. According to Cañellas, the regime operated on the premise that the Revolution of January 1, 1959, was "the highest aspiration of all Cubans," automatically excluding any opponent from Cuban identity and labeling them as "worms" or "stateless."

This logic allowed members of the Movimiento 26 de Julio and the Revolutionary Directorate, once called "revolutionaries," to be labeled "bandits and mercenaries" just two months after the triumph: "Guerrilla became bandit," the historian summarized.

The manipulation extended visually as well: post-1959 Cuban textbooks lacked images of the pre-revolutionary republic, omitting Havana's prosperity and depicting only poverty to justify the regime's discourse. "It was neither the republic described by communism nor a land where everyone was wealthy. The Republic had its lights and shadows," Cañellas concluded.