T H E ECONOMI C WE E K L Y A N N U A L

February 4, 1961
History Will Absolve Me
Promise and Record of Fidel Castro
Andrew Gunder Frank
Fidel. Castro's promise to his people was sweeping, encompassing agriculture, industry, employment.
housing, education and health.
Has he kept his word?
This factual study of his record shows huge achievements in education. considerable increase in
agricultural production and improvements in housing and elsewhere in the economy.
Even where he has no more than held the line. Castro's achievement has not been inconsiderable. The
revolution has not brought on an economic collapse.
The Cuban economy has emerged from the inevitable turmoil unscathed and, at points, strengthened.
" T H E problems concerni ng the
land. the pr obl em of i ndust r i -
al i zat i on, the. pr obl em of housi ng.
the pr obl em of unempl oyment , the
pr obl em of educat i on and the p r o
blem of the health of the people :
these are the six probl ems we
woul d take i mmedi at e steps t o re
solve. CONDE MN ME, I DON' T
CAKE : HI STORY WI L L ABSOLVE
ME. " So spoke Eidel Castro as he
announced his revol ut i on.
"Perhaps this exposi t i on appears
col d and theoretical i f one does-not
know the shocki ng and t ragi c con-
di t i ons of the count ry wi t h regard
to these six problems . . .
" 85% of the small farmers of
Cuba pay rent and l i ve under the
constant threat of being dispossessed
of the l and they cul t i vat e. Mor e
than hal f the best l and cul t i vat ed
belongs t o foreigners. In Oriente.
the largest provi nce, the lands of
the Uni t ed Emi t Company and the
West I ndi an Company j oi n the
nor t h coast to the southern one.
There are t wo hundr ed thousand
peasant fami l i es who do not have a
single acre of l and to cul t i vat e to
pr ovi de food for t hei r st arvi ng
chi l dr en. On the other hand, nearl y
three hundr ed thousand caballerieas
( 10 mi l l i on acres) of product i ve
land owned by power f ul interests
remai n uncul t i vat ed. Cuba is pr i -
mar i l y an agr i cul t ur al count r y. Hei
popul at i on is l argel y r ur al .
" Wi t h the exception of a few
food, l umber and textile industries
Cuba continues to be a producer id
raw mat eri al s. We export sugar to
i mpor t candy: we export hides to
i mport shoes: we export i r on to i m-
port plows. Everybody agrees thai
the need to i ndust ri al i ze the country
is urgent, that we need steel in
dustries paper and chemical i n-
dust ri es; that we must i mpr ove cat-
tle and gr ai n product s, the technique
of processing our food i ndust r y . .
that we need merchant ships. Bui
the capitalists insist that the workers
remai n under the Cl audi an yoke;
the State folds its arms and i ndust r i
al i zat i on can wai t for the Greek
calends.
"Just as serious is the housing
pr obl em. There are t wo hundred
thousand huts and hovels in Cuba:
four hundred thousand fami -
lies in the count r y and in cities
l i ve cramped i n barracks and tene-
ments wi t hout even the mi ni mum
sani t ary requi rement s; two mi l l i on
t wo hundred thousand of urban
popul at i on pay rents whi ch absorb
between one fi ft h and one t hi r d of
t hei r i ncome; and t wo mi l l i o n eight
hundred thousand of our r ur al and
suburban popul at i on lack el ect ri ci t y.
( Cuban popul at i on : 6 mi l l i on. )
The ut i l i t i es monopol y i s no bet t er;
they extend l i ne as far as it is pro-
fitable and beyond that poi nt , they
don' t care if the people have to l i ve
in darkness f or the rest of t hei r
lives.
" Our educational system is per-
fect l y compat i bl e wi t h the rest of
our nat i onal si t uat i on. Where the
guajiro is not the owner of his l and,
what need is there for agr i cul t ur al
schools? Where there are no indus-
tries, what need is there for technical
or i ndust r i al schools? Ever yt hi ng
falls wi t hi n the same absurd l ogi c:
there is neither one t hi ng nor the
other. In any European country
there are more than 200 technical
and i ndust r i al arts schools; in Cuba
there are onl y six such schools, and
the boys graduate wi t hout havi ng
anywher e to use t hei r ski l l s. The l i t t l e
1 19
r ur al schools are attended onl y by
hal f the school-age chi l dr en bare-
foot, half-naked, and undernouri sh-
ed and frequent l y the teacher
must buy necessary materials f r om
his own sal ary. Is this the way to
make a nat i on gr eat ?"
"Onl y death can liberate one f r om
so much misery. In this however
t
early death the state is most hel pf ul .
90% of r ur al chi l dren are consumed
by parasites whi ch filter t hrough
t hei r bare feet f r om the earth. So-
ciety is moved to compassion upon
heari ng of the ki dnappi ng or mur der
of one chi l d, but they are cr i mi nal l y
i ndi fferent to the mass mur der of so
many thousands of chi l dren who die
every year f r om lack of facilities,
agoni zi ng wi t h pai n. When the
head of a f ami l y works onl y four
months a year, wi t h what can he
purchase cl ot hi ng and medi ci ne for
his chi l dr en? They wi l l grow up
wi t h rickets, wi t h not a single good
tooth in t hei r mouths by the time
they reach t h i r t y : they wi l l have
heard ten mi l l i on speeches and wi l l
f i nal l y die of misery and deception. '
These were the conditions of Cuba
before the devol ut i on, as described
in Castro' s own words. f ur t her on
in the same document. Eidel promi -
sed in br i ef the reforms the I nvol u-
t i on was intended to make. Let us
look at these promises and. where
possible, record next to them the
act i on the Revol ut i on has already
taken in its first two ( act ual l y less)
years.
AGRICULTURE.
Promise
" Af t er set t l i ng the one hundred
thousand small farmers as owners on
land whi ch they previ ousl y rented a
Febr uar y 4, 1961
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY ANNUAL
r evol ut i onar y government woul d pr o-
ceed i mmedi at el y t o settle t he l and
pr obl em. Fi r st , as the Const i t ut i on
orders we woul d establish the maxi-
mum amount of land to be hel d by
each t ype of agr i cul t ur al ent erpri se
and woul d acqui r e t he excess acres
by : expropriation, recovery of the
l ands stol en f r om the state, i mpr ove-
ment of swampl ands, pl ant i ng l arge
nurseri es and reservi ng zones f or
reforestation. Secondl y, we woul d
distribute the remaining land to pea-
sant f ami l i es wi t h pr i or i t y gi ven t o
the l ar ger ones and woul d promote
agricultural cooperatives wi t h a si n-
gl e t echni cal , prof essi onal di r ect i on
i n f ar mi ng and cattl e r ai si ng. Fi nal -
l y We woul d pr ovi de resources,
equi pment , prot ect i on and useful
gui dance to the peasants.
Action
The Land Ref or m Law of May
1959 establ i shed a l i mi t of 1,000
acres ( mor e t han i n Puert o Ri co) of
l and f or any owner (except 3,000
acres on l i vestock f ar ms) , deed expro-
pr i at ed the r emai nder , pr omi si ng t o
pay wi t h t he t went y year bonds. The
l and was r edi st r i but ed to those who
f ar m i t gi vi ng si xt y-si x acres f ree
and a purchase opt i on up to 160
acres i n some places and establ i sh-
i ng cooperati ves el sewhere. Si x
hundr ed sugar coops and 1,000 other
coops have been establ i shed, many of
t he l at t er on pr evi ousl y unused l and.
The extent of devel opment of new
l and by I NRA i s i ndi cat ed i n Tabl e I .
Al l coops wi l l gr ow di versi f i ed crops.
Ear ni ngs f or or di nar y agr i cul t ur al
wor k are about $3.00 a day. Ac-
count ant s recei ve $100 a mont h and
coop admi ni st r at i on $183 a mont h.
Coop pr of i t s, when they begi n t o
occur, wi l l be di st r i but ed among
members. I n sugar coops, f or the
f i r st f i ve years, 8 0 % of earni ngs are
to be used to fi nance housi ng and
amor t i zat i on.
Agr i cul t ur al credi t and techni cal
advi ce have been wi del y extended i n-
the i sol ated mount ai n areas whi ch
pr evi ousl y were wi t hout i t . I ndi vi -
dual peasants can f reel y bor r ow up
t o 8 0 % of the esti mated market
val ue of t hei r f ut ur e cr op.
Poul t r y and dai r y f ar ms are ris-
i ng al l over the i sl and, al l wi t h
moder n equi pment .
" Peopl e' s St ores" have been estab-
l i shed i n the r ur al areas, and they
have si gni f i cant l y l owered pri ces of
f ood i n the count rysi de.
As a resul t, f ood i mpor t s have
al ready decl i ned. For t he f i r st t i me
Cuba has begun t o expor t rat her
t han t o i mpor t tomatoes. Cuba wi t h
si x mi l l i on peopl e accounted f or
over 3 0 % of 200 mi l l i on Lat i n Ame-
r i cans' f ood i mpor t s f r om t he Uni t ed
States.
Ref orest at i on has repl aced the cut-
t i ngs of the last t went y years wi t h
sapl i ngs. The Isle of Pi nes i s be-
i ng wi del y pl ant ed wi t h t he Eucal y-
pt us f or a new l umber i ndust r y.
EDUCATI ON
Promise
" The r evol ut i onar y government
woul d undert ake the inlegral reform
of the educational system . . . . Do
Total Crops 466,000
Sources: A. Nunez Jimenez, Un, Ano de
Liberation Agraria, Havana. May 17,
I960, p. 41.
* Doubles pre-revolutionary acreage. Sour-
ce: Ministry of Agriculture unpublished
data.
not f or get the wor ds of the Apost ol
( Cuban l i ber at or , Jose Mar t i , di ed
i n war of 1895) ' A seri ous er r or i s
bei ng made i n Lat i n Amer i ca: where
the i nhabi t ant s depend al most excl u-
si vel y on the pr oduct s of the soi l f or
t hei r l i vel i hood, the educat i on stress,
cont r adi ct or i l y, i s on ur ban rat her
than f ar m l i f e. The happi est peo-
pl e are the ones whose chi l dr en are
wel l -educated and i nst ruct ed i n phi -
l osophy: whose senti ments are
di rect ed i nt o nobl e channel s.' A
wel l -educated peopl e wi l l al ways be
st rong and f r ee. "
Action
The Revol ut i on has desi gnated
1961 as i ts " Year of Educat i on. " Yet
i n 1959 i t al r eady had done the j ob
i ndi cat ed bel ow. Next year i t i s
pl anned t o el i mi nat e i l l i t er acy
( 3 0 %) t hr ough a "Those who know-
teach, those who don' t l ear n" cam-
pai gn. Al so secondary, t echni cal ,
and adul t educat i on are now receiv-
i ng maj or at t ent i on.
To get the teachers f or thi s mam-
mot h ef f ort , thousands of hi gh-
school graduates are r ecei vi ng si x
mont hs' i nt ensi ve t r ai ni ng courses,
unempl oyed teachers have gotten
j obs, and speci al i ti es ( Engl i sh,
musi c mammal t r ai ni ng) teachers
are recrui t ed i nt o general t eachi ng.
Tabl es I I , I I I and I V i ndi cat e the
substanti al progress i n educat i on.
I NDUSTRI ALI ZATI ON
Promise
" A r evol ut i onar y government wi t h
the backi ng of the peopl e and the
respect of the nat i on, woul d
proceed immediately to industrialize
the country, mobi l i zi ng al l i nact i ve
capi t al . . ."
150
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY ANNUAL
Action
Many new smal l factories and i n-
dust r i al shops have been established.
In Ori ent e Provi nce alone 1,200
workers have been empl oyed in new
I NRA fi nanced smal l shoe factories.
Tabl e V shows I NRA investment i n
new i ndust r y.
Arrangement s are bei ng made to
increase steel pr oduct i on r api dl y,
A cont ract has been signed wi t h
Czechoslovakia for eight new fac-
tories, i ncl udi ng one for the produc-
t i on of stoves and refri gerat ors, to be
installed i n 1960-61.
A recent news release announces
an agreement wi t h the Soviet Uni on
to i nst al l one hundr ed new factories,
t hi r t y of t hem i n 1961, (Source:
Detriot Free Press, Dec 27. 1960.)
Tables VI and V I I show the i n-
crease i n consumpt i on of el ect ri ci t y
and other articles.
HOUSING
Promise
" A revol ut i onary government
woul d solve the housi ng pr obl em by
cutting all rents in half . . . . by
t eari ng down hovels and repl aci ng
them wi t h modern mul t i pl e- dwel l i ng
bui l di ngs ; and by financing housing
al l over the i sl and on a scale hereto-
fore unheard of ; wi t h the cr i t er i on
that, j ust as each r ur al f a mi l y should
possess its own t ract of l and, each
ci t y f ami l y should own its home or
apartment. ' "
Total $18,983
Source: A. Nunez Jimenez, Un Ano de
Liberation Agraria, Havana, May 17,
1960, p. 65,
Table VI : El ect ri ci t y Consumpt i on
Jan.-Dec. Jan.-July
(In million kWh)
1935 1.0
1956 1.1
1957 1.3 .720
1958 1.4 .800
1959 1.6 .880
1960 .998
Source : Cuba, Economica y Financera,
Sept. 1959, Aug.-Oct., 1960, p.4.
Note: Includes only Compania Ctihana de
Electricidad. Thi9 did account for
about 90% of total. But the agri-
cultural and industrial develop-
ment of the last two years has re-
sulted in the establishment of
many small temporary diesel pow-
ered electric turbines. Therefore,
the above probably represents a
smaller percentage of total and a
smaller increase than actual.
Febr uar y 4, 1961
Action
Immedi at el y, i n 1959 al l rents
were cut by 50%. In 1960 the Ur ban
Ref or m Law made occupants owners
of t hei r dwel l i ngs subject to amor t i -
zation payments (equal to the new
rents) for a per i od of 5 to 20 years,
dependi ng on the age of the bui l d-
i ng. Payments on al l new publ i c
housi ng range f r om $15 to $35 a
mont h and are not to exceed 5% to
10% of the owner' s i ncome.
Before the Revol ut i on housi ng con-
st ruct i on was pr i vat e and pre-emi n
ently in high-cost to l uxur y class
bui l di ngs.
Table V I I I : Private Construction
(square meters of floor space)
1957 58 million
1958 61 million
1959 20 million
Cost per m
2
$ 55
54
48
Source : Cuba, Economica y Financera
March 1960
8 0 % of al l pr i vat e const ruct i on was
concertrated i n Havana alone. Tabl e
V I I I indicates not onl y the sharp dr op
in 1959 but also the decline in cost,
i e luxuriousness.
Since the Revol ut i on, much publ i c
low cost housing has been i ni t i at ed
and bui l t . Most is concrete, the
remai nder br i ck. Projects are 2 to
1 bedroom one-fami l y houses wi t h al l
ut i l i t i es and some apart ment houses.
Projects i ncl ude schools and other
communi t y service bui l di ngs. (See
table I X) . '
Table IX : Publ i c Homi ng 1960
INAV (Nat. Inst, of Savings anil Housing)
10.000 units
INRA Viviendas Campesi
(Nat. Inst, of Agrarian Reform-Peasant
Housing) 10,000 units
Obras Publicas (Public Works)
not known may be the name
Other agencies
not known
Source: Public Relations Releases
The Nat i onal Lot t ery has been
t ransferred t o I NAV and t ransformed
i nt o a savings bond i nst i t ut i on al l of
whose net receipts are used to finance
publ i c housi ng. Those who do not
wi n at the weekly dr awi ng may hol d
t hei r bond-tickets three to six years
t o receive 5 0 % t o 110% of t hei r pur-
chase pri ce, plus 3% annual l y there-
after. Each week about :
151
152
Prices have moved vari ousl y as
i ndi cat ed in table N
Thi s, then is a par t i al record of
the Revol ut i on. Statisties are scarce.
The Cent ral Pl anni ng Commi ssi on
is onl y just establishing a Cent ral
Statistical Bureau and Batista' s Gov-
ernment was never anxious to col-
lact or publ i sh too many statistics.
Moreover, at the t i me of my study
less t han two years, that is onl y one
calendar year, had passed since the
January I . 1959 i nst al l at i on of the
Revol ut i onary Government . Accord-
i ngl y, comprehensive data, and par-
t i cul ar l y statistics whi ch permi t com-
pari son of the accomplishments a nd/
or failures of the Revol ut i on
wi t h the times past, are hard
to come by. But even these few
data tell a hi ghl y significant st ory:
The Revol ut i on has not. in its i ni t i al
years, brought on an economic cob
lapse. Far f r om i t . the record ranges
f r om huge achievements i n educat i on.
to increases in agr i cul t ur al produc-
t i on and housi ng, to hol di ng the tine
or i mprovement s elsewhere in the
economy. Rut even hol di ng the l i ne
alone woul d be a remarkabl e and
significant achievement for the Cuban
Revol ut i on: Pr obabl y no other far-
reachi ng r evol ut i on, cer t ai nl y not
the Russian one. has ever managed
to br i ng the economy unscathed,
never mi nd strengthened, t hr ough
the i nevi t abl e t ur moi l of the early
per i od of ( l i t er al l y) re-vo-l ut i on.
The record speaks for itself. r i de l
Castro has kept his promi se. His-
t ory has already absolved hi m.