That's an interesting question. Of course if you examine any
revolution in any country you will find variations on general themes.
There has consistently been a debate over the exact nature of the
Cuban Revolution and whether it fit the "communist" model.
In brief, I'd like to point out a few differences in the Cuban
Revolution and the model revolution put forth by the communist
Manifesto.
First, of course is the fact that the cofmmunist manifesto calls for
the idea of a worker led revolution, i.e., workers in factories and
the like rising up against the owners of the means of production.
Cuba, like all of Latin America during the time, was not
industrialized, it was primary an agriculture based economy, with a
population predominantly of a small number of large landowners and a
large number of peasants. There are reports that up to 2/3 of all the
land was owned by foreigners (U.S. interests).
People who argue against the Cuban revloution as a model "communist"
revolution start from these basic facts. You can see a comparison
between the Russian and Cuban revolutions from this source.
The Cuban Revolution - A Critical Perspective
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/bright/dolgoff/cubanrevolution/chapter3.html
Another difference in the Cuban Revolution versus the 'model'
revolution as outlined in the communist manifesto was the fact that
prior to the revolution there was a good deal of collaboration between
the Communist Party and the Batista government. It almost goes without
saying that according to the communist manifesto there's not suppose
to be collaboration between the proletariat and bourgeoise.
The World Socialist describes the collaboration as follows:
"Contrary to this experience and the methods of Lenin and the
Bolsheviks, the Cuban Communist Party – in line with most of the
Communist Parties of Latin America today – stood for an alliance with
the so-called ‘progressive national bourgeoisie’ as the means of
completing the ‘anti-imperialist patriotic and democratic
revolution’."
http://www.worldsocialist-cwi.org/publications/Cuba/cuapp1.html
On the other hand, there are also ways to look at Cuban History during
the 20th century and see many common elements of proletariat led
revolutions. The article by Mike Gonzalez
Class forces in the Cuban Revolution
http://www.marxists.de/statecap/cuba/robinb.htm
Finally, here's a great source for original documents and news
articles covering the activities leading up to the change in
Government. You can see, for example, how the U.S. Department of State
viewed the "communist" elements of the revolution.
The Cuban Revolution
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/cuban-revolution.htm
In the end, you have to look at all the different facts and assemble
them in a model of revolution that you think best explains the
situation.
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