9/13/2023 0 Comments Rest in power fidel![]() Most important, however, was that his sudden and unexpected communication to the public, from the top, of major policy decisions like this one, prevented the autonomous political development and organization among the supporters of the revolution themselves, two indispensable elements of an authentically democratic revolution from below.įor those opposed to or critical of his decisions, Fidel resorted to an extensive and ever present apparatus of control and repression. To be sure, Fidel Castro’s method was effective in surprising and throwing domestic and foreign enemies off balance, at least in the short term. Once the law was promulgated, however, they fiercely opposed it since it sharply limited landholding size, established the compensation of the confiscated land based on the undervalued estimates that the owners had declared for tax purposes, and made it payable with 20-year bonds (which, in the end, were never issued.) (3) That is why even the big landlords and sugar mill owners “supported” the notion of agrarian reform and donated significant amounts of money and agricultural equipment to the new government with the clear hope of influencing its content. Even though talk about a new agrarian law had abounded since the revolutionary victory, nobody, including the mass media of all political colorations, had any idea of what it would entail and how radical it would be. Perhaps the best example of this was the Agrarian Reform law of May 1959. imperialism, which in turn contributed to the legitimacy and support for the revolutionary government.įidel Castro adroitly manipulated this real and authentic support in his favor, particularly in the first years of the revolution, when he and his inner group would make fundamental decisions regarding the road the revolution would take without giving any previous clue as to what they had in mind.įidel’s modus operandi involved proclaiming totally unanticipated policies never previously mentioned, much less open to any kind of discussion beyond his inner circle, and then organizing great mobilizations to show support for what he and his close associates had already decided. Last but not least was the early radicalization of large sectors of the population, and the resurgence of mass anti-imperialism, dormant since World War II, brought back to life by the threats and aggressions of U.S. Third, the departure of the upper classes and major sections of the middle classes, and a substantial population growth until the late ’70s created room for considerable social mobility notwithstanding the very mediocre rates of economic growth during the entire revolutionary period. This helped to consolidate an austere but secure standard of living assuring the minimal material needs of the great majority of the population, although - like every economy based on the Soviet model - it was chronically affected by serious shortages of consumer goods and a permanent housing crisis. Second, the regime established, with massive Soviet subsidies, an extensive and generous welfare state, particularly evident in the areas of health and in a system of education that went from universal elementary education and literacy to secondary and university education for a significant proportion of the population. The top revolutionary leadership surely enjoyed a much higher standard of living than the majority of the population, but based on their privileged access to all kinds of consumer goods (including travel abroad as part of official delegations) and not on their theft of public monies or in any kind of racketeering (drugs or gambling) inside Cuba. This support was based on four principal factors: First, the regime was perceived by most Cubans as being honest, an important departure from the popular view of practically all previous Cuban governments. Fidel’s regime enjoyed a great deal of popular support until the early nineties, when the collapse of the Soviet bloc produced a severe economic crisis in the island that alienated a substantial part of the population, especially the youth. ![]() ![]() THE FACT THAT the new Cuban revolutionary government was undemocratic did not mean that it was not popular, particularly during its first 30 years.
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