1. ECONOMIC POLICIES AND THEIR IMPACT -Castro aimed to make Cuba independent and industrialized. However, the Cuban economy was to remain linked to the decisions and policies of other nations. The US embargo, the economic dependence on the Soviets and the impact of the subsequent collapse of the USSR on Cuba helped shape Castro’s different economic policies. THE INFLUENCE OF CHE GUEVARA He occupied the positions of President of the National Bank of Cuba and, later, Minister of Industries.

2. -With the revolution in power, Guevara believed it was time to leave capitalism behind and adopt communism. He favored a centrally planned economy (see i.f. page 75), with an emphasis on moral incentives and self-sacrifice. -He meant people should work for the ideals and values of the revolution rather than for personal gains. -Moral incentives included: socialist emulation (see i.f. page 75), party membership and state recognition. -All workers were to receive equal pay, overtime would not be paid, workers were expected to cover it voluntarily as their personal contribution to the revolution.

3. -In 1962, Cuba changed the national currency and anyone with their savings in banks that did not belong to the state lost them overnight. -The rents (had been reduced by 50% in 1959) were abolished, this meant people living in a property they did not own virtually became owners overnight. -In 1963, a second Agrarian Law reduced the amount of land that could be owned, to prevent the existence of “rich peasants”. After 1963, the state owned 70% of the land, the rest being small farms were expropriated in 1968. -Among the obstacles, there was the lack of specialized personnel and technicians, many of them left the country before and during the revolution.

4. -The assessment of problems and implementation of solutions was limited. -Moral incentives was not efficient in raising productivity. Farmers were forced to sell their product to the state at very low prices. They lost motivation to produce more than what they needed to survive. As a result, sugar production was low and government plans to diversify away from the cultivation of sugar did not compensate. -The government continued to buy machinery form the USSR and Eastern European nations and to increase its debt. Cuba was again trapped in trade relations of subsidized sugar in exchange for goods, and in 1964, it had to return to intensive sugar production to reduce debt.

5. THE REVOLUTIONARY OFFENSIVE (1968) - This campaign aimed to move Cuba towards a communist state and remove the last vestiges of capitalism from the island. - Under the Revolutionary Offensive, Castro ordered the expropriation of all remaining privately owned enterprises, such as family stores, restaurants, handicraft stores, service shops, street vendors. All of these were to be owned and managed by the state. - Farmers’ markets were eliminated, and self-employment was banned. http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cuba/articulos/la-ofensiva-revolucionaria-de-1968-44-anos-despues-275328

6. -The Offensive did not achieve an increase in productivity, but instead produced administrative chaos. Also, the return to the policy of moral incentives was met high levels of absenteeism and vagrancy. THE YEAR OF THE TEN MILLION (1970) -Castro announced he intended Cuba to break its previous sugar production record and reach a 10 million ton output in 1970. -The campaign aimed to obtain enough money to pay off Cuban debts to the USSR, and by selling surplus, make investments to achieve economic diversification. In Castro’s words, it was a “liberation campaign”. http://faculty.mdc.edu/tpedraza/MMF-Ten%20Million%20Ton%20Harvest.htm

8. Guevara y Mikoyan © Cuban Heritage Collection (UM). El tratado de intercambio comercial (1960) firmado entre Castro y Mikoyan. (page 106)

9. -The campaign became a crusade that mobilized the entire population and became a political test for Castro. -In order to achieve the target, and aware that voluntarism and solidarity had not guaranteed results in the past, Castro appealed for the militarization. Students, law breakers, conscripts, emigrants waiting their turn to leave the island, all worked cutting cane side by side. The armed forces were put in charge of the sugar mills. -Castro was seen cutting cane in street posters to motivate people to work. -To increase productivity, bars and theaters were closed, Christmas and New Year celebrations were cancelled.

10. -The campaign reached 8.5 million tons, Castro was forced to admit that they had been unable to reach the target. The agricultural machines were over-used; other economic areas had seen important losses. -The campaign had exhausted the people and made Cubans skeptical. -Because the campaign had been given so much importance, its failure was a terrible blow for Castro not only at an economic but also at a political level. -Farmers’ markets were reinstated. State-owned companies were given enough autonomy to take some daily decisions without having to go through the state bureaucracy, pay for overtime work was introduced.

11. -Cuba was badly hit by the international situation as the USSR cut the price it paid for Cuban sugar. Unemployment, debt and policies that limited consumption increased discontent. -In 1980, 125,000 abandoned Cuba for the USA (Mariel Exodus). http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/April/On-This-Day--Thousands-Authorized-to-Leave- Cuba-in-Mariel-Boatlift.html THE RECTIFICATION CAMPAIGN (1986) -Castro blamed the more liberal measures adopted in the past for the present economic problems. He advocated a return to the values of solidarity and voluntarism. -Farmers’ markets were banned again; bonuses, extra pay were abolished, self-employments was discouraged. Farm cooperatives were given new emphasis. Labor discipline was enforced and workers lost many union rights.

12. -The results were poor. Productivity fell, absenteeism increased. Reduced supplies of milk, oil, textiles and sugar led to an increase in their prices. Black markets appeared offering goods that were difficult to obtain or added to the rationed list. Transport and electricity rates also increased. THE SPECIAL PERIOD (1991) -The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 caused Soviet technicians left Cuba as hundreds of projects were abandoned. Subsidized goods, oil, access to international loans and everything the USSR had provided to Cuba were finished. -Cubans faced new levels of rationing as basic goods disappeared from the markets. With Soviet oil gone, the need to save energy limited the working hours, imposed long black-outs and restricted public transportation. (see source D page 80)

13. -New policies were implemented: * Cuba was opened to international business. * Areas such as tourism, mining and energy were developed. Tourism developed positively. * In 1993 it was made legal to buy and sell dollars to attract this currency from the relatives of Cuban overseas. * Farmers’ and handcraft markets appeared and some levels of self-employment and private business was allowed. * The state reduced some subsidies and taxes were increased.

14. SOCIAL POLICIES STATUS OF WOMEN -Women were given the right to vote as early as 1934. The 1940 constitution also granted them equality before the law: no discrimination and equal pay. -Even though women were allowed to vote, study, work and even sue for divorce, pre-revolutionary Cuba remained traditionalist. Only a few jobs were considered appropriate for women such as teaching and nursing, and women still faced discrimination. Middle and upper classes preferred women to stay at home looking after their families.

15. -To achieve modernization and to produce record harvest, women had to be part of the workforce. This implied having to fight against two main problems: discrimination against women at work and finding how to make women’s role in the workforce and the household compatible. -Women were offered training at technical and professional levels. They entered fields that had been exclusively for men, such as construction, biotechnology and IT. In the rural areas, the Agrarian Reform opened the opportunity for women to work in driving and repairing tractors areas. -Daycare centers became available so that women could become part of the workforce.

16. -There was pressure on women to be efficient workers, participate in political life, volunteer to serve the revolution and fulfill their responsibilities as wives, mothers and housewives. -Men refused to share household responsibilities or live with potentially economically independent women. This caused a conflict, as a result many women gave up work and entire families left Cuba. -In the 70s, a new “Family Code” was put in place which stipulated equality of both sexes at home and at work. The presence of women, however, remained low, a fact that Castro admitted.

17. FEDERACION DE MUJERES CUBANAS (FMC) -It was created in 1960 by Vilma Espin with the aim of integrating women into the revolution.

18. -Women were trained in different fields. The FMC also organized campaigns against illiteracy, and created successful health programs. The “Sanitary Brigades” went to the rural areas to deliver vaccination campaigns. Women also did social work. -The FMC worked with the Ministry of Education designing the new textbooks to be used in which women were portrayed as committed workers and soldiers. (see source c page 85) -Women were taught History, Geography and the new laws of revolutionary Cuba. Housewives could complete their schooling.

19. EDUCATION -Before the revolution, education was not available to all due to the geographical location or the economic status, becoming Cuba one of the most illiterate countries in the region. THE LITERACY CMPAIGN -Castro had promised to improve education. During the years in Sierra Maestra the Rebel Army taught children and adults to read and write. -Under the slogan “If you don’t know, learn; if you know, teach”, 1961 was declared the “Year of the Education”, but there was two problems: the lack of schools and the lack of teachers.

20. -Military barracks were turned into educational complexes, and new schools were built in the rural areas. Between 1959 and 1962 more schools were built than in the previous 58 years of Cuban history. -A training program for 270,000 teachers was implemented, and these teachers were sent across the country to teach people in their homes. -The literate citizens joined as volunteers in their free time. They were dressed in green-olive uniforms and went to the countryside to teach peasants. These brigadistas lived with rural families during the campaign. -Illiteracy dropped to 4%. These campaigns were successful.

21. EDUCATION IN COMMUNIST CUBA -The shift to communism affected the education. All private schools were nationalized, boarding schools opened and scholarships for gifted and committed students were established. -The government selected the participants, and decided what areas students should specialize. -Teachers who did not support the revolution lost their jobs, new ones came to replace them and they soon realized students acted as spies. -On the other hand, teachers who supported the regime were rewarded with training programs in the USSR and Eastern Europe, were communist values were reinforced. -New textbooks were adopted and teaching focused on the revolution. Libraries were purged of what was considered inappropriate.