Historians consider civil society an age-old concept. Since the 16th Century, civil society was understood to be a set of relations that two centuries later history books described as the links between the state and its institutions – social, economic, trade unions, professional, community and cultural – among others in a specific society.

Karl Marx himself defined civil society as set of material relations, adding that the point of view of the old materialism is one of civil society, while the new materialism has a radically different approach, describing it as humane society or socialized humanization.

Scholar and former Minister of Culture Armando Hart Davalos, also quoting Marx, in an article published in the newspaper Granma under the title, 'Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations,' highlighted that both the judicial relations and the forms adopted by the state are dependent on material conditions of life, subsumed by Hegel under the name civil society, whose anatomy has to be found in political economy, in the economic relations of production. Confusing civil society with production relations, results – according to Hart – in something like confusing the bone structure of the body with the body itself. The mistake is a confusion of phenomena with essence. Civil society and the state are political-judicial categories, while production relations are of an economic nature. Its character necessarily deals with the economic and social nature of the state and judicial institutions of a specific society.

Cuban Civil Society is Socialist These NGOs address the nation’s social interests and are connected in an organic way to local priorities. All of these political, professional, mass and democratic, mass organizations – contribute to the development and unity of the nation and are part of the struggle to help solve the problems of society and promoting the spiritual enrichment of the people.

Among the social and mass organizations, there are some of long-standing ones such as the Central Trade Union of Cuba, created in 1939 and made up of 19 national trade unions, and the Federation of University Students, founded in 1922. Other NGOs that exist in Cuba that foster these objectives include the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, with more than eight million members; the Federation of Cuban Women, with more than four million members; the Small Farmers Association; the Writers and Artists Association; the Jose Marti Pioneers Organization; the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution and the National Association of Inventors.

This diversity of the sectors and populations provide Cuban civil society with one of its greatest strengths facing enemy maneuvers to promote fifth columnists with small groups of dissidents.

The false accusations by Washington concerning the non-existence of an independent civil society in Cuba do not stand up to debate. The United Nation’s Economic and Social Council recognizes more than 10 Cuban NGOs which contribute on a regular basis to the activities of several UN working groups. The Cuban government receives support from these NGOs but also receives opinions, proposals and criticism that is not always favorable to plans, measures and actions designed and conceived by governmental entities.

However, these NGOs do not need to resort to confrontation politics to achieve their goals, because at all levels of representation, they are constantly consulted for opinions and their authority is widely respected.

Cuban civil society exists as a complement, and not in opposition to the state that institutionalizes and represents the power of the majority: workers, farmers, intellectuals, artists, researchers, all serving in the areas such as education, public health care, science and services, among others. These harmonious relations do not support the interests of the United States that requires the disintegration of Cuban society in order to be able to achieve its policies.

One question that must be asked is where it is written that the organizations of civil society must oppose and have confrontations with the government of their country? That is really necessary in the case of plutocratic societies, such as in the United States, but not in the case of a popular participatory democracy like in Cuba.

Cuba has in its favor a rich history, and a heroic people that has known how to support the revolution over the past 45 years with a dignity and decisiveness that goes beyond national borders. The total determination to preserve its society and to follow the path chosen in 1959 is what makes Cuban socialist civil society completely different from many social systems, like those of Eastern Europe that were unable to survive. Although not well-liked by some, Cuba is searching with a valiant and tenacious attitude for how to turn itself into the cohesive society dreamed of by its national hero, Jose Marti.



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