National security in Cuba. Neo-corporativist interests, in a changing and political confrontation scenarios

Abstract

Along with the economic crisis known as “the special period” and the end of the ideological bipolarity, the Cuban government centered its objectives on economic recovery, an activity that was mainly managed by the military with a neocorporatist logic. Our hypothesis is that, in a context of political transition (Fidel Castro’s death and Raúl Castro’s retirement), the behavior of Gaesa, the economic arm of the Cuban Armed Forces, combines principles bequeathed by populist militarism and neocorporatist practices. Through this, the ruling elite molds Cuban national security with the justifying end of defending the country, while it prioritizes particular interests over the general interest. This situation generates consequently an amplification of repression on the basis of legal recourses such as the Law-Decrees 370/2018 and 349/2018. In this way, we show that national security is trapped in a set of sui generis tensions, where citizen’s rights are limited by restrictive and exceptional policies typical of populist militarism, an example of the traditional Cuban security doctrine that is amplified through the political and economic power of Gaesa.