National Agenda : Cuba's Army Becoming More Important Than Party : The military commands the economy as Communists lose credibility. But Fidel Castro seems safe for now.

By KENNETH FREED

Dec. 6, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

HAVANA —

The Cuban army, always one of the most efficient and powerful instruments of Fidel Castro’s regime, has overtaken and in many cases replaced the Communist Party as Cuba’s most important institution.

“The army’s new role can be seen everywhere,” said a Latin American military expert, confirming reports from diplomatic and other sources here. “It’s the driving force in reorganizing the economy, in increasing food production and distribution. It even runs the best tourist agency in Cuba. Where you used to have to be a member of the (Communist) party to get anywhere here, now you should be in uniform.”

“The army is the essential pillar in Castro’s support,” a diplomat said. “Everywhere you look, it is the army that is getting things done. You no longer hear of the party as the instrument of either reform or leadership.”

Either as a result of the developments, or as its cause, the growing importance of the army, which is commanded by Fidel’s brother Raul, is being matched by a serious weakening of the party, sources said.

“The Communist leadership is suffering from hardened arteries and ideas,” according to a diplomat whose country has friendly relations with the Castro regime.

“The party is seen as stupid at best and venal at worst,” he said. “It is discredited and blamed for the country’s (economic) woes by nearly all Cubans. It has no influence except a negative one.”

As a show of military strength and as a sign of its rejection of party policies that spurred 32,000 Cubans to flee the country during the summer’s “boat people” exodus, the army leadership replaced more than half of the Communist Party leaders in the countryside with its own people.

Whatever the cause, the development of the army into Cuba’s most powerful instrument affects the immediate power equation but, according to most experts, leaves uncertain the future of Castro and his system.

“There is no doubt that the top military leaders are as dogmatic as Castro and support him in power,” a Latin American ambassador said, “although they are clearly fed up with the way things have gone and see some need for changes.

“That doesn’t mean,” the diplomat added, “that they will accept any real reforms. They just want more efficiency and they want the power. Don’t forget that the army commander is Raul, and he’s as committed to the revolution as his brother.” At 63, the military commander is four years younger.

On the other hand, some diplomats said the 180,000-member army by its nature is more professional and more pragmatic than the party and that “down the ladder a step or two” from Raul Castro and the senior officers “are a level of lieutenant colonels and troop commanders that want change.”

“These officers may not be capitalists,” another European expert said, “but they are no longer committed Communists. They take pride in their profession and in the institution. They don’t want to see it destroyed by revolution or total economic collapse.”

Paradoxically, even as the military moves toward primacy in Cuban society, the visible presence of uniformed soldiers on the street has diminished. The soldiers do not do police work or take part in the increasing repression of dissidents.

In fact, the strength of the military was shown by a promise it reportedly extracted from Castro and other hard-liners during the summer that its troops would not be used to put down the anti-government riots that broke out in July and August.

“That same group of lieutenant colonels (who want reforms) are determined not to use force” against the population, one diplomat said.

“Castro realized that the army (largely made up of draftees) probably would refuse to shoot ordinary demonstrators, and any effort to make them do so could lead to a rebellion that at best would humiliate him and at worst would drive him from power,” said a European military expert.

During the outbreak of antiregime rioting in Havana last summer, police and special security units were deployed, but not the army. A small number of demonstrators were killed or wounded by gunfire.

The most prominent new role taken by the military is in food production and distribution, one of the weakest areas of government policy and increasingly the focus of popular discontent. According to agricultural experts, more than 50% of all food production available now comes from military farms, viewed by foreign and Cuban sources as the only efficient supplier of goods in the economy.

Following a dictum put down in July by Raul Castro that “beans are more important than cannons,” army leaders organized the Oct. 1 opening of private farmers markets closed by Fidel Castro eight years ago.

Even compared to what was available to the public just seven months ago in government-controlled stores or on the black market, there is considerably more produce and meat on sale now, although supplies do not come close to meeting demand.

“People are still spending most of their time and money just trying to feed their families,” said a Cuban movie maker. “It is still a day-to-day struggle, but . . . at least there is a little more, if you can raise the money. If that is due to the army, then bless the army.”

Much of this food is being grown on army bases by a special group of draftees called the Army Labor Youth. Instead of hauling troops or artillery, army trucks tote tomatoes corn to markets. And because troops are doing the supplying, much of the theft--some analysts estimate 75% of all food was stolen before reaching market--has been eliminated.

The military presence is evident in nearly all aspects of the economy. Military engineers have taken over hotel construction for the expanding tourist sector, and officers have taken charge of retail stores, including outlets that sell goods to tourists with dollars.

Probably the most efficient tourist agency in Cuba is Gaviota, an army-run group that operates tourist buses, expensive hotels, fishing marinas and an inn near the U.S. Marine base at Guantanamo Bay where visitors are served expensive Scotch and binoculars to watch the U.S. troops on patrol.

A foreign expert whose government is strongly opposed to Castro remarked that “the army is trying to be Cuba’s most modern institution. . . . They’re trying to become efficient.”

Added a friendlier diplomat: “They are using free-market policies, including bonuses and productivity incentives to get things done. It still falls far short of free enterprise, and it doesn’t yet signal a switch to capitalism, but compared to what was going on, it is a hopeful change.”

The Cuban Army’s Sweep

Cuba’s army runs some decidedly non-military enterprises. They include:

* Union de Empresas Constructoras--A construction company that builds hotels and beach resorts as well as industrial facilities and such utilities as pipelines.

- TRD Caribe--Department stores devoted exclusively to foreigners. Its name stands for Tienda Recaudacion en Divisas, or “stores to collect foreign currency.”

* Gaviota--The army’s tourist company operates bus tours, airlines, hotels, spas, marinas, hunting preserves and related tourism activities.

* Agriculture--More than 50% of agricultural production is controlled by the army, largely through the Youth Labor Army.