Cuba: Pre-Revolutionary Era
I. Cuba Under Spain
A. Colonial Period (pre-1810)
1. Imperial backwater, mainly a stopover for caravans
2. Sparsely populated, few slaves before 1700
3. British occupation (1763) spurs cultural awakening
4. Haitian Revolution (1790s) created opportunity in sugar, brought experienced who fled Haiti
5. Sugar economy took off, slave population exploded
6. Prosperity, fear of slave rebellion kept Cuba in Spain's hands
B. Nineteenth Century
1. Major slave rebellions in 1810, 1812, 1844
2. Middle and planter class increasingly restless under arbitrary Spanish rule
3. Increasing ties to USA - annexationist schemes on both sides
4. Spaniards monopolized economy
5. Economic downturn in 1860s foments rebellion
C. Ten Year's War
1. Planters in Oriente (far east of Cuba) start rebellion in 1868
2. Ends in stalemate in 1878 - peace brings a few concessions
3. Peace rejected by rebel leader Antonio Maceo because no independence, no abolition
4. Fighting continued intermittently
5. Spain tried to buy loyalty of slaves with abolition in 1880 - this removed last reason for planter's loyalty
6. Warfare decimated Cuban elites - Americans filled the vacuum
7. By 1896, 87% of Cuban exports went to USA
II. Independence and the Spanish-American War
A. Independence movement revived by economic slump in mid 1890s
1. Led by Jose Marti (1853-1895)
a. Cuban exile in New York
b. Famous journalist, tireless organizer
c. killed in battle in 1895 - the national hero
2. Cubans advanced steadily through guerrilla tactics
3. Spanish troops led by Valeriano Weyler
a. used viscous counter-insurgency techniques
b. set up concentration camps and free-fire zones
B. USA gets involved
1. Destruction of US property, Maine explosion, anti-Spanish propaganda led to high public interest
2. Fear of unmanageable revolutionary government prompted US involvement
3. Against Cuba's wishes, USA intervened in short, brutal war (1898)
4. Cubans pushed aside as incompetently led US forces beat demoralized Spaniards
III. The First US Occupation, 1898-1902
A. Cubans excluded from peace talks between Spain and USA
B. US military pacified island - Cubans too poor and tired to resist
C. Massive public works project paid for out of Cuban treasury
D. Constitutional Convention
1. Revolutionary leaders excluded
2. Forced to adopt Platt Amendment before USA would leave
a. gave US right to military base at Guantanamo
b. Right for USA to intervene in Cuba for the "preservation of Cuban independence" and for the "maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty"
E. Cuba brought firmly into US economic influence
1. Large numbers of US investors took over major economic activities
2. Cubans largely excluded from new development
3. US protected property rights of most Spaniards
IV. The Platt Republic
A. Status as protectorate insured weak governments
1. Corrupt Estrada government stole 1906 election, producing a rebellion
2. US called on to intervene
a. Occupation leader Charles Magoon divided patronage among elite
b. this pacified elite
c. But it also organized corruption for benefit of elite
3. Blatant meddling by USA revived nationalism
B. Machado Dictatorship, 1925-1933
1. Antonio Machado, ran for president on anti-corruption platform
2. Started well - public works and efforts to protect small farmers
3. Growing signs of tyranny - political assassinations first sign
4. Won in 1928 by banning party of main rival
5. Kept close ties and good relations with USA until 1930
6. Economic crisis began to weaken Machado's grip - strikes, protests, etc.
7. Massacre of demonstrators in 1933 snapped US relationship, Army turned on him
V. Revolution of 1933 and Fulgencio Batista
A. Student/sergeants junta gave power to Ramon Grau San Martin; Platt abrogated.
1. Grau proceeded with a flurry of social legislations (FDR type legislation)
2. Suspended loan payments to US banks, US government would not recognize him
3. Did too little for radicals, too much for conservatives
4. Grau forced to resign, replaced with Batista puppet
B. Batista I, 1934-1944
1. Sergeant who had lead role in rebellion against Machado
2. Ruled first through a puppet president, elected in 1940
3. Mild reformer, courted left
4. Presided over fairly liberal constitution
C. Grau and Autentico Party elected in 1944; Prio in 1948 - unparalleled corruption
D. Batista II, 1952-1959
1. Took power through coup in 1952
2. Earlier reformism gone - heavy handed dictatorial rule
Cuban Economics and Social Structure, Pre-1959
I. Early History of Sugar
A. Sugar in Cuba starts in 1790s
1. Haitian Revolution wrecks sugar there and supplies Cuba with expertise
2. USA gains independence, providing a new market
B. Initially part of a mixed economy
1. Started by converting unused cattle land
2. Many began planting coffee and tobacco when royal monopolies ended
3. Others supplied food and goods to sugar haciendas
4. By early 19th century, a big increase in number of farm owners
C. Economic shifts set up move to latifundio (large land holdings)
1. Primarily because of overhead costs
2. In early 19th century, other Caribbean islands began to compete
3. Introduction of beet sugar in Europe increases competition
4. End of slave trade in 1821 cut off cheap labor supply
5. High Spanish tariffs reduced Cuban competitiveness
6. Mills had high overhead in feeding slaves.
7. All of this made it very hard for small farmers to survive and compete
D. Technological changes brought special demands
1. New steam mills required heavy investment
2. Steam mills made it possible to expand, but only with railroads
3. Small farmers without capital can't compete
4. Still, number of mills grows - 1000 mills in 1827, 2000 in 1860
E. Increasingly, most cane grown by colonos (small farmers) and independent renters who sold to big mills
III. Development of Latifundio (large concentrations of land in the hands of few people)
A. Increasingly, small landholders and small mills could not compete
B. With technology, only the biggest mills could compete
C. End of the colonos
1. Financial crisis of 1885-1890 ruined many mills
2. Survivors increased in size
3. Newly cheap railroads brought intense competition for cane
4. Big mills needed to guarantee cheapest possible cane at zafra (harvest)
5. Mills bough out small farmers
6. Colonos unable to compete against influx of foreign capital after 1898 war
7. Now most cane would be cut by tenants and day laborers
D. Only 200 mills left after 1898
E. Americans move in, buy up mills and land (20% of Cuban land by 1927)
F. Colonos converted into debt peonage - seasonal work (four months a year)
G. Extreme poverty of can cutters meant commercial sector could not grow
III. World War I and the Dance of the Millions
A. Allies became completely dependent on Cuban sugar, priced doubled
B. Many new mills and towns sprang up in response
C. Many mills and planters borrowed to expand
D. Salaries went up, colonos staged comeback
E. Booms led to increasing industrialization
F. 1916, sugar cost 4.5 cents/lb. by 1920, 22.5 cents/lb
G. End of the dance
1. Post war depression dropped price to 3.75 cents/lb by end of 1921
2. Large numbers of over-extended mills collapsed
3. Biggest bank collapsed
4. US raised tariffs to protect US farmers, increasing the damage
5. Defaults lead to increased US ownership - The City Bank of New York (now Citibank) takes over 60 mills alone
IV. Decline of the Sugar Industry
A. Stagnation in 1920s makes clear the weakness of monoculture economy
B. Sugar beet farmers force restrictions in access to US markets
C. Price declined, consumption stagnated
D. By 1931, less than a penny a pound - mills close, unemployment skyrockets
E. Massive capital outflow - 56% of sugar industry owned by USA, 20% by Cubans
F. Temporary WWII/Korea boom flattened by Filipino competition
V. Situation in 1959
A. Sugar had stagnated for over 30 years
B. Very concentrated - 22 companies had 20% of farmland
C. Much land kept idle in case boom hit
D. Reciprocal trade agreements gave access to US markets but made it impossible to compete with US imports
E. Analysis of Central Bank in 1956 showed that impossible yields needed just to tread water
F. Sugar economy so weak that US investors had begun to pull out
VI. Sugar guaranteed structural unemployment and underemployment
A. Most workers only needed during harvest
B. Thus without work eight months of year
C. 1/3 of Cubans lacked year-round employment in mid-1950s
D. Highly uneven rural-urban split: Cities were First World, rural areas Third
E. Real advances concentrated in Havana
F. Some statistics: Havana vs. Cuba
1. Illiteracy - 9.2 vs. 33.2
2. 64% of income in Havana, only 25% of population
3. 80% of hospital beds and 60% of doctors in Havana
4. 1000 calorie deficit in rural Cuba
The Revolution of Fidel Castro
I. Origins of the Revolution
A. Castro revolution deeply rooted in Cuban revolutionary tradition
1. Castro frequently quoted Jose Marti
2. Like previous attempts at revolution, emphasized economic and political independence, honest government, social reform
3. But those revolutions had failed - disillusioned with reformist efforts of past
B. Revolutionary war
1. Able to win support of peasants in Sierra Maestra (in Oriente)
2. New York Times article in 2/1957 gave him credibility, proved he was alive
3. Strikes and terrorism met with heavy oppression by Batista
4. Army conducted vicious, incompetent war
5. Castro becomes focus of discontent, Batista loses middle classes
6. Batista flees on Dec 31, 1958
II. Creating the Revolution, Conflict with United States
A. Revolution initially welcomed by most Cubans
B. But over first 18 months, USA and Cuban middle class thoroughly alienated
1. Represion of democracy and press
2. Public trials of Batista soldiers and police - over 400 executed
3. Suppression of autonomy of University of Havana
C. Economic swing leftward
1. Castro believed social reform impossible without economic reform
2. This would mean land reform and income redistribution
3. Urban Reform - reduced rents for most people
4. Land Refform
a. Law of Agrarian Reform, May 1959
b. set limit on size of farm; 85% were too big
c. land would be seized, paid for with long term bonds based on tax value
d. Land redistributed in small plots
e. rural purchasing power went up 20%
D. Cuba and USA begin to fall out over radicalization, de-democratization
1. Castro believed revolution was in many ways about independence from USA
a. sought political and economic independence for Cuba
b. Cubans had a love-hate relationship with the USA
i. wanted American wealth, technology
ii. disliked heavy-handed influence of US government, businesses
iii. disliked the way Cuba was a place for Americans to gamble, hire prostitutes, etc.
2. Crisis in relationship came in May, 1960 over oil
a. Cuba had obtained cheap Soviet oil
b. US-owned refineries refused to accept the oil
c. Castro seized the refineries
d. Eisenhower retaliates by refusing to let Cubans sell sugar to USA
e. Castro responds by expropriating more US-owned businesses
f. Eisenhower responds with a more wide-spread embargo on Cuba
g. Castro responds by expropriating major US industries - Sears, mining, Coke
3. Bay of Pigs
a. Summer, 1960, CIA begins training Cuban exiles for invasion
b. Jan 31, 1961, Eisenhower severs relations
c. April 15, 61, JFK authorizes invasion
d. Disaster - Castro knew the area, Cubans did not
e. JFK refuses to send US forces to help
4. Missile Crisis
a. Oct. 1962, US spy planes spot Soviet missiles in Cuba
b. Oct. 22, JFK imposes blockade on Cuba, demands removal
c. Tense standoff - Soviets agree to remove missiles in exchange for two promises
i. USA will remove missiles from Turkey
ii. USA promises never to invade Cuba
III. The Revolution in Power
A. Economic changes brought unforeseen problems in 1960s
1. Redistribution of wealth brought on inflation, shortages
2. Attempts to diversify economy were expensive, largely abandoned
3. Efforts hampered by inability to plan - experts all went into exile
4. Huge sums spent on investment, but much wasted through inefficiency - again, many experts had fled
B. Return to Sugar and the 10-million ton harvest
1. Not enough money or experience to industrialize
2. Govt. hoped that increased agricultural output could fund industrialization
3. New goal - 10 million tons sugar harvest by 1970
4. All out effort - many other aspects of economy ignored
5. Failed because of poor planning, age of mills, not enough cutters
6. Led to increasing socialization; pulled money from other places
IV. Creating a Socialist Society
A. Government
1. Failure of 10 million ton harvest dimmed some of Castro's prestige
2. Led to efforts to depersonalize government, create more regular bureaucracy
3. Trade unions revitalized and brought into government
4. Greater dependence on technocrats
5. Finally approved a Constitution in 1976
B. Economy
1. Che Guevara's system of moral as opposed to economic incentives abandoned in early 1970s
2. Pay now would be based on productivity
3. GNP grew 10% from 1971 to 1975
4. But plagued with problems
a. continued dependence on sugar
b. poor management, poor labor discipline, shoddy production
c. diversification in 1980s - but depended on cheap Soviet oil
C. Creating Socialist Man
1. Literacy campaign brought Cuba to First World status; doubled as propaganda campaign
2. Havana de-emphasized - more money spent on provinces
3. Developed best infant mortality rate and doctor-patient ratio in Third World
4. 75.9 life expectancy vs. average 58.2 in Third World
V. Cuba and the World
A. Strong support for guerrilla groups scaled back after 1967 death of Che Guevara
B. Sent troops to aid Angolan government in 1970s (pulled out after 1988 treaty)
C. Soviets were surprised about Angola
D. Cuban equivalent of Peace Corps sent 16,000 out into Third World
E. Today has good relations with most of Latin America, Caribbean
VI. Periodo Especial
A. Soviets cut off Cuba in 1991
B. Cuba loses $11 million/day and guaranteed Soviet-East Bloc markets
C. Greatest loss was oil - transportation became very difficult (Cuba now heavily bicycle dependent)
D. Turns to foreign investment and tourism
E. Dollars legalized - leads to dual dollar and peso economies
1. Those with dollars can get what they need - much competition for tourism jobs
2. Those dependent on subsidized peso economy have very hard time
F. Petty capitalism tolerated
G. Enormous push on biotechnology
H. Decentralization of agriculture
The Cuban Revolution and Food
I. The Poor get More
A. In most societies, food supply controlled by price
B. But what happens if poor have enough money
1. Agrarian reform tripled year-round agrarian employment
2. Sugar workers got off-season jobs on public works projects
3. tenant farmers got own land - no more sharecropping
4. urban wages go up
5. Poorest 40% triple their share of national income by 1962 (6% to 17%0
6. Many social services become free
7. More money means poor can buy more food
C. But supply lags behind
1. Demand for beef goes up 50%
2. Experts leave island, reducing production
3. Embargo cuts of vital supplies, like fertilizer and packaging
a. Soda shortage brought on by lack of caps
4. Ports designed for small, short haul vessels - this made trade with Soviets hard
5. Small farmers now needed less cash, produced less for market
II. Rationing and the Libreta
A. Initially to combat hoarding and speculation - lard was first
B. Libreta system designed to insure basic nutrition
1. Guaranteed basic "food basket" each month
2. Emphasis on nutrition left out some key things, like garlic
3. people with special needs entitled to more
4. Cubans registered at local stores - central office sent food
5. Stretched out by alternate sources
a. worked better for those with infants (who got full ration)
b. planning hard for many who had only done daily purchases before
III. Parallel Market
A. Some items available only off-ration
B. Some on both - of you need more, costs more
C. Prior to 1980, done at same stores as rations
D. Non-rationed food unpredictable - neighbors depended on each other
IV. Growing Your Own
A. Urban Cubans considered this beneath them
B. In 1980s, "non-ornamental" plants could not be seen from street
C. Rural areas
1. Produced much of their own food
2. On collective farms, sold in cafeterias or sold cheap to workers
3. Rural families sold own rations, or register with urban relatives
V. Black Market
A. Trading rations adjusts for one-size-fits-all
B. Small level peddling ("I have a few mangoes...")
C. Butchers notorious for short-weighting, selling the proceeds
D. Stealing from state farms for resale common
VI. Eating Out
A. About 50% of Cuban workforce depends on subsidized workplace cafeterias
B. Restaurant food often snuck out
VII. Private Markets
A. All businesses except small farms were nationalized in 1968
B. Little incentive for farmers to produce more for market
C. Rising consumer expectations in 1970s increased demand
1. Miami radio and TV influenced this
2. As did goods brought back by exiled relatives
D. Markets legalized in 1980
1. Vendors had to be producers - no middlemen
2. prices not controlled by government
3. local markets only - no converging on Havana
4. no sale of export products
5. Cubans liked them primarily for rare foods
E. Problems
1. Very high prices - high demand, collective farms did not compete to lower prices
2. Cornered the market on certain "extra" crops - onions, garlic
3. Not all from new production - much diverted from regular ration market
4. Increased worker-farmer tension, since farmer could double in a day what worker made in a month
5. Created a new class of conspicuous consumers
6. Crackdown in 1982
7. State eventually pursued policy of competition and taxation to control these markets