HAVANA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- "Marxism has not been surpassed" by any other existing socioeconomic theory, according to renowned Cuban philosopher Isabel Monal.

In the lead up to MARX 200, an international conference that will gather experts in London on May 5 to mark the 200th anniversary of German thinker Karl Marx, the Cuban intellectual spoke with Xinhua about the relevance of Marxism to today's world.

She admits the fall of the eastern European communist bloc had "a terrible blow" to the theory and practice of Marxism.

In the meantime, it showed that Marxism is not written in stone. Rather it is a work in progress, "in permanent evolution with rectifications, enrichment and the appropriation of new knowledge" gleaned from studies and recent historical experiences, she said.

Cuba, for example, has contributed by creating "a new system, a new type of democracy, which is not perfect, but it is new and opens a path for development," said Monal, 83.

Cuba's current reform program is evidence of Marxism's evolutionary process, "an evolution of the previous society -- not a denial of what we have done so far, but a development leap," said the scholar, who holds degrees from the University of Havana and Harvard, among others.

What's more, the Caribbean island represents "the only case of change in Latin America where the popular masses took power," said Monal.

Elsewhere in the region, such as Venezuela, the left reclaimed positions of leadership, "but never touched the economic power, which continued to function in the same way," she noted.

Transforming the underlying neo-liberal system is a major challenge facing countries in the Americas, she said.

"Today one of the problems in Latin America is the presence of imperialism in alliance with national oligarchic groups," said the scholar.

In some regional countries, such as Brazil, Marxism has zero presence in political life, though an "enviably" strong presence in academic life, according to Monal, who served as a UNESCO official in Paris from 1980 to 1991, as a specialist in the Higher Education program.

Monal, now the director of the magazine "Marx Now," a biannual publication put out by the Philosophy Institute of the University of Havana, describes Marx as "the greatest thinker, the man who has most influenced world history to date."

At MARX 200, organized by the Marx Memorial Library, Monal will take part in at least two panel discussions, including Marx and human development, and Marx and the present.