Castro’s economic policies successes and failures

Agrarian Reform Law (1959) Goals:

Set out to make land more equitable, make agriculture more efficient, and make Cuba less
dependent on sugar.

Agrarian Reform Law:

Restricted land that could be owned, extra land was expropriated, foreign land was
nationalized.

Success or Failure:
The Agrarian Reform Law made Castro and the PSP more popular.
250,000 Cubans left the island which led to a lack of specialized personnel and technicians.
Many Cubans lacked incentive.
The Reform caused the relationship between the US and Cuba to deteriorate which set the
stage for the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

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Revolutionary Offensive (1968) Goals:

Set out to move Cuba closer to a communist state and remove the last vestiges of capitalism.

Revolutionary Offensive
Castro expropriated all remaining privately owned enterprises.

Success or Failure:
The Revolutionary Offensive was not a success as it did not increase productivity.
There was administrative chaos in Cuba.
There was an increase of absenteeism and vagrancy.

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The Year of the Ten Million (1970) Goals:

The goal was to break the record and achieve a ten-million-ton sugar output. The objective of
The Year of the Ten Million was to earn money from the harvest to pay off debts and diversify
the Cuban economy. Castro called it a ‘liberation campaign’, meaning a liberation from debts
and monoculture.

The Year of the Ten Million

Castro called for militarization of labor to cut cane. Castro was show cutting cane himself in
propaganda posters. Castro closed bars and theaters and even cancelled Christmas and New
Years in an effort to achieve the goal.
Success or Failure:
Cuba reached a record harvest of 8.5 million tons of sugar but Cuba did not achieve its goal of
10 million tons. Cuba’s agricultural machines were overused during the Year of the Ten Million.
The production of crops other than sugar greatly suffered as a result of the campaign. The
failure to reach the goal had a negative effect on the Cuban psyche. Members of the Cuban
armed forces were angry they were forced to cut cane and work in the mills.

The Rectification Campaign (1986) Goals:

The goal was to ‘rectify errors and negative tendencies’ that resulted from the relaxation of
communist principles after 1970.

The Rectification Campaign

Castro banned farmer’s markets and bonuses/extra pay were abolished.

Success or Failure
The Rectification Campaign led to a decrease in productivity and an increase in absenteeism.
Since productivity decreased, the price of transportation, electricity and goods rose and a black
market developed.

The Special Period (1991) Goals:

The dissolution of the USSR negatively impacted Cuba. Soviet technicians left Cuba and left
projects abandoned. Resources and products that Cuba depended on the USSR for were hard
to come by and so rationing began. Since Soviet oil had dried up, in an effort to save energy,
Cubans had limited working hours, planned black-outs, and restricted public transportation.

The Special Period

State-owned farms were run as worker-managed cooperatives to increase productivity.
International business and tourism was encouraged. In 1993, it became legal for Cubans to buy
and sell US dollars which helped the Cuban economy. Private businesses were allowed to
operate in Cuba.

Success or Failure
The Special Period led to economic recovery. It also made tourism an important part of the
Cuban economy.
Michael Sicoli,
Awesome job on Agrarian Reform Law, the Revolutionary Offense, the Year of the Ten
Million, the Rectification Campaign, and the Special Period. And you included Thomas Castro!
AMAZING JOB, THANK YOU MIKE! 100

Angelina,
Nice job on the Agrarian Reform Law, the Revolutionary Offensive, the Year Ten Million,
the Rectification Campaign, and the Special Period. I just would have liked to see an
incorporation of Thomas Leonard. GREAT JOB 100

Bridget,
Nice job on the Agrarian Reform Law, Revolutionary Offensive, the Year of the Ten
Million, I see Thomas Leonard in there, the Rectification Campaign, and the Special Period.
THANK YOU! 100

Grace,
Amazing job on Agrarian Reform Law, Revolutionary Offensive, the Year of the Ten
Million, the Rectification Campaign, and the Special Period. You could have added a discussion
of Thomas Leonard. Nice job! 100