Cuba Flashcards
What sequence of events lead to the US trade embargo of Cuba?
US refineries refuse to process Soviet crude oil - Castro nationalises oil refineries - trade embargo imposed
When does Castro pronounce himself a Marxist - Leninist?
Nov 1961
How do sugar yields change in the first years of the Cuban revolution? With what consequence?
6.7m tonnes in 1961 - 3.8m tonnes in 1963
When is the Communist party established as the sole political party of Cuba?
1965
When is the Cuban ‘revolutionary offensive’? Give a detail…
1968 - 55,000 small businesses into public sector
What does Castro acknowledge at the Communist Convention of 1975?
Latin America was not on the brink of socialist transformation
Which governments did Cuba establish ties with in its move away from guerrilla strategy
Allende in Chile, Alvarado in Peru, Peron in Argentina
Complete the Castro quote: ‘Cuba cannot export revolution…’
‘Cuba cannot export revolution, nor can the US prevent it’
How does trade between the west and Cuba change in 1970s?
In mid-late 1970s the west comes to account for 41% of the Islands trade
What was characteristic of the Cuba troops sent to Angola
Mostly black or mulatto - emphasis on racial solidarity
When and what is the Platt Ammendment?
Cuba cannot sign treaties without US permission - 1901-1934
How does Bolivia differ from Cuba, in a way Guevara doesn’t recognise?
1952 agrarian reform
How is the revolutionary movement in Uruguay different from Cuba
Tupamaros - emphasis urban revolution over rural
When is the Sandinista group founded and when does it take power
Founded 1961, elected to power in 1979
How does Castro describe the sugar harvest of 1970?
‘A point of honour for this revolution, a yardstick by which to judge the capability of the Revolution’
Why is a micro faction expelled from the Cuban communist party and when?
1968 - expelled for agreeing with ‘pseudo revolutionaries’ (USSR) that Cuban foreign policy was ‘adventurist’ and ‘unrealistic’
What 6 factors does Perez - Stable say made Cuba susceptible to radical revolution
Mediated sovereignty - Sugar Centred development - uneven modernisation - crisis of political authority - weakness of economic classes - strength of popular sectors
When does Cuban rapprochement with USSR begin?
1968
Give six countries in which Cuba supported armed revolution in Latin America?
Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia
What does Castro say in his ‘Second Declaration of Havana’ and when?
‘It is the duty of every revolutionary to make revolution’ - 1962
When is Allende elected in Chile?
1970
When did Che Guevara die?
October 1967 - Bolivia
Name the key economists under Castro, what posts do they fill? What do they call for?
Felipe Bazos - National Bank Prsident
Regino - Economy minister
Call for agrarian reform, sugar industry modernisation, ISI and investment of domestic and state capital
How much do wealthy Cubans contribute to revolution?
5 - 10 million pesos
Complete quote from Castro ‘workers are the…’
‘Workers are the principal creators of wealth, not the capitalist in his comfortable Wall Street office… the revolution is yours and for you?’
When and how does Castro announce he will not be holding elections?
May 1960, announces it to a million Cubans who respond that the people had already voted and they had voted for Fidel
Explain the idea of the ‘hombre nuevo’
The new man motivated by collective advancement rather than personal gain - work becomes the route to this (ie 10m tonne harvest)
How high is Cuba’s per capita income before revolution?
How does this compare to rest of Latin America and the US?
$374 - 2nd highest in Latin America, but significantly below US level of $2000 ($1000 in Mississippi)
What reduces m-c security pre- revolution?
Fluctuating export economy, live within N. American cost of living index
What proportion of Labour force in unemployment/underemployment pre revolution?
How many are entering the labour force each year?
60%, 50,000 entering each year
What proportion of farms control what proportion of land pre - rev?
8% of farms control 75% of land
Compare living conditions in the cuban countryside with the cities…
9% of rural farms homes have electricity vs 87% in cities
15% of rural homes have running water vs. 80% in cities
What does Arthur Schleisinger Jr. Say about Havana?
‘One wondered how any cuban - on the basis of this evidence - could regard the united states with anything but hatred’
When is the retrail of batista airforce pilots? What does fidel say?
1959 - ‘revolutionary justice is based not on legal precepts but moral convictions’
What proportion of cuban industry’s productive value was under state control by 1961?
85%
How many leave Cuba per year from 1960 - 62?
65,000
When is the Agrarian Reform Law?
May 1959 - reduces real estate holdings to 1000 acres, except sugar, tin and livestock which are reduced to 3,333 acres
How to compare actions of Grau government to those of Castro?
1933 Grau government faces similar calls for radical change from below but baulks and collapses
How many decrees, laws and edicts are passed in the first 9 months of the revolution?
15000
How do real wages increase after revolutionary reforms?
Increase 15%
Who protests reforms?
Urban landlords, m-c small property owners, US business
How big is CDR membership?
800,000
How many times does the state intervene in industrial disputes in first 18 months of revolution?
200 times, usually on behalf of workers
When is the Bay of Pigs?
1961
When is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
1962
When does the Organisation of American States vote to suspend Cuban membership?
1962 - all except Mexico sever ties in 1964
