Figure 1.--Here we see a photiograph taken in Havana during 1he Special Period in the Time of Peace (1992-98). This is not how Cuba was suposed tomlook like after three decades of socialism. We are niot sure why the boys are running after the motorcyle truck, probably bcause itas yhe onlt thing movi becauseb of the shortageof gasoline. Click on the iamgev tn see waht a Havana taxi looked like in 1994.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had dire consequences for Cuba (1991). The new Russian Government ended the massive Soviet subsidies that were keeping the Cuban economy afloat. This was essentially a depression, immediately felt in Cuba living standards, most severely in food and fuel. And of course the same dynamic that brought the Soviet Union down affected Communist Cuba. The raw materials and other inputs into Cuban enterprises were worth more than the manufactured goods and food products that came out of them. Cuba experienced a shattering social and fiscal crisis, known as the Período especial en tiempos de paz (Special Period in the Time of Peace), essentially a depression. 【Binns, p. 53.】 Justb whow this term was adopted we do not know. Perhaps the Cubans did not like admitting that a depressiob could take place in a socialist paradice. While the primary cause was the dissolution of Comecon and the implosion of the Soviet Union. The fall of Communism throughout the Soviet Eastern European Empire also was significant as those countries were also supporting the Cuban Economy. This was all a huge shock to the Cuban economy. Too much emphasis can be placed on the fall of the Soviet Union. Fundamentally the inefficiencies of socialism were the problem. The Soviet aid simply masked this basic problem. Other Latin American countries make out reasonably without massive Soviet payments. The situation was most difficult in the early to mid-1990s before Cubans could make any adjustment. Cubans were suddenly faced with severe privations. Food shortages became much more severe. Ration levels of state-subsidized prices were reduced and were not always available. There were severe energy shortages most visibly seen in the sharp reduction in the avaieability of transport for both goods and people. Also electricity became intermittent with frequent blackouts. There was a huge shrinking in an economy dependent on Soviet and Eastern Bloc imports. 【Garth】 One huge adjustment was the loss of Soviet fertilizer. Tropical agriculture is less productive than farming in temperate areas and high yields requires application of fertilizer. Cuba had to revert to organic agriculture. Massive reduction in transport requiring gasoline impacted every aspect of Cuban life, including industry, agriculture, health, and diet. People had to make do without many goods and services once considered as necessities and widely available before the Revolution. It was only when Hugo Chávez was elected president in Venezuela. Chavez was an admirer of Fidel and began shipping low priced oil to Cuba. It was only when Chavez began to replace Soviet aid that the Depression or Special Period ended (1998). The domestic market reforms helped, but it was Venezuelan oil that provided Cuban Communism a meaningful lifeline. Vladamir Putin's election in Russia provided some additional support with renewed Russian aid 2000)--although far below Soviet levels.

Sources

Bain, Mervyn J. "Cuba-Soviet relations in the Gorbachev Era," Journal of Latin American Studies Vol. 37, No. 4 (November 2005.)

Garth, Hanna. "'There is no food': Coping with food scarcity in Cuba today," Society for Cultural Anthropology (March 23, 2017).

Created: 11:30 PM 4/27/2024
Last updated: 11:30 PM 4/27/2024