Castro

• Conditions that led to the emergence of authoritarian states: economic, social, impact of war and political
• Domination of USA over Cuba through the 'Platt Amendment' of 1901-1934, giving control over Cuban foreign policy, the right to station troops, and intervene to preserve independence
• Batista's excesses in repression, torture, and persecution allowed Castro to rise to power
• Economic impact on Cuba:

  • Reliance on sugar monoculture exposed the economy to price fluctuations
  • USA's domination in the sugar trade brought in 80% of Cuba's foreign earnings
  • Unemployment was 17% in 1956-57
  • Inflation threatened living standards, rising to 40% a year for foodstuffs
• Social inequality in Cuba:

  • 20% of the population lived in Havana but received the majority of investment and salaries
  • Rural areas lacked basic services like running water and electricity
  • Ownership was concentrated in the upper class
  • High illiteracy rates and lack of access to education and healthcare
• Industrialization program:

  • Bought machinery from Soviet Union
  • Increased its debt
  • Returned to intensive sugar production to reduce debt
  • Trapped in trade relations of subsidized sugar in exchange for goods
• Revolutionary Offensive Policy:

  • Emphasized work as a social duty rather than for personal gain
  • Expropriation of privately owned enterprises managed by the state
• Consequences of Revolutionary Offensive Policy:

  • Did not achieve productivity
  • Increased administrative chaos with growing number of government agencies
  • Harvest reached 8.5 million tons during The Year of Ten Million 1970
  • Agricultural machines over-used
  • Agriculture production of other crops suffered; forestry and fishing seen losses
  • Exhausted Cubans and made them skeptical
  • Political blow for Castro, had to accept dependency on Soviet Union
• The Reactivation Campaign 1986 Policy:

  • Advocated a return to voluntarism
  • Aimed to rectify errors and negative tendencies linked to relaxation of communist principles after 1970
  • Farmers' markets banned
  • Bonuses and extra pay abolished
  • Self-employment discouraged
  • Farm cooperatives emphasized, independent farmers' land dropped to 2%
• Consequences of The Reactivation Campaign 1986:

  • Decreased productivity
  • Reduced supplies and increased prices of milk, oil, textiles, and sugar
  • Black markets appeared
  • Transport and electricity rates affected, decreasing living standards
• The Special Period 1991:

  • Dissolution of Soviet Union led to economic disaster
  • State-owned farms began to be run as worker-managed cooperatives
  • Cuba opened to international business in tourism, mining, and energy
  • Foreigners invited to develop certain areas of the economy
  • Farmers' and handicraft markets reappeared, some level of self-employment and private businesses allowed
  • State aimed at saving money by reducing subsidies and increasing taxes
• 1976 Constitution:

  • Fidel Castro held multiple positions of power
  • National Assembly created, but met infrequently
  • 1992 revision allowed direct elections for deputies to the National Assembly
  • Freedom of religion became a constitutional right
  • Emergency powers enabled Castro to suspend the constitution
• Education Policy:

  • Literacy campaigns in 1961
  • Military barracks turned into educational complexes
  • Training program for teachers
  • Illiteracy dropped to 4% by 1962
• Health Policy:

  • Enlisted physicians and medical students to provide services in underserved areas
  • Rural Medical Service aimed to revitalize health services for those in need
  • Multi-specialty polyclinics established in the 1970s
  • Infant mortality rate dropped, life expectancy rose
• Women's Rights:

  • Equal rights for women to access all types of jobs
  • Training at technical and professional levels
  • Family Code in the 1970s aimed at sharing household duties
  • Cuban Women's Federation aimed at helping women integrate into the revolution
• Minorities Policy:

  • Desegregation policies passed by Castro
  • Outlawed all forms of discrimination
  • Economic and social reforms had a positive impact on Afro-Cubans
  • Limited representation of Afro-Cubans in higher levels of the Communist Party