Hardships of Cuba After Castro's Leadership

Castro’s ideology was not necessarily conductive of being completely communist or socialist. Instead Castro’s ideology began development in his famous “History Will Absolve Me” speech where he called for free elections and a restoration of the 1940 constitution. (Luxenberg 55) Castro’s ideology can best be understood through Castro's Sierra Maestra Manifesto (1957) in which Castro established a social contract with the Cuban people.

The manifesto called for the freedom for all political, civil, and military prisoners; absolute guarantee of freedom of information, press, and rights guaranteed by the Constitution; designation of provisional mayors, suppression of embezzlement, and the increased efficiency of all state agencies; establishment of the civil service as a career; democratization of labor politics; a campaign against illiteracy, and civic education emphasizing the duties and rights of each citizen to Cuba; distribution of barren lands and conversion of tenant farmers, sharecroppers, squatters, and lessee planters into owners; stable currency; and acceleration of industrialization and the creation of new jobs. (Roberg 783)

However, despite efforts by Castro to uphold such promises, a complete following of such an ideology could not be completed due to the U. S embargo upon Cuba and the 'Special Period in Peacetime' in 1990. Beginning August 1990, the Soviet Union ceased providing Cuba with aid and required Cuba to pay world market prices for any future crude oil, leading Cuba’s economy to deteriorate. Although the Cuban government attempted to keep in place the principle elements of its social policy, the government no longer had the resources to keep up with such high demand.

Despite making efforts in healthcare and once having the highest healthcare statistic in Latin America, as well as the implementation of the Family Doctor Program -of which ensured one physician and nurse per 100 to 200 Cuban families- the US embargo limited Cuban ability to maintain this statistic. The U. S. embargo severely impacted Cuban access to medications, instruments, diagnostic tools, and vaccines, because 'approximately 50% of all newly patented drugs are developed or sold by US owned companies or their subsidiaries. ” (Roberg 787) The lack of financial resources in Cuba caused a shortage of the raw materials needed to manufacture medicines, severely limiting the number of medicines available to the public. The embargo also limited Cuba's access to water treatment chemicals and spare parts for its water supply system, resulting in an increase in waterborne diseases.

Not only was the medical system negatively impacted by the US embargo and the “special period”, other areas like transportation, resources, and racial/social tensions experienced great setbacks. The extent of the public transportation system itself has declined despite the growing population: the numbers of buses have dropped from one bus per 2, 000 inhabitants to one bus per 7, 000 inhabitants. (Roberg 788) In Cuba, electricity is not reliable, water is very controlled, and there is a lack of natural gas. Although Cuba made efforts to counter such effects, because the purchasing power of the peso drastically decreased, the quality of the services has decreased. Matters were made worse with the legalization of the US dollar in 1993. (Roberg 790)

After its legalization in Cuba, Cuban society became divided between those paid in US dollars and those paid in pesos. The resulting income inequality negatively impacted Cuba. Due to the fact that the achievement of racial equality in Cuba was largely dependent upon government performance, the lack of resources to deal with racial issues led Cubans to revert back to pre-revolutionary stereotypes. Although most of Castro’s policies were not able to be realized due to factors out of Castro’s control, that is not the case for Cuban civil and political liberties. As Castro's regime uses repressive measures to deter its opposition, Cubans are systematically denied freedom of expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of the law, under the pretext of protecting state security. (Roberg 793) Thus, it can be said that Castro rule does not follow the aims of the ideology he established at the beginning of his rule. However, an exception can be given in the treatment of women, as the revolution and Castro’s policies largely centered on improving their conditions and rights. Laws such as the maternity law, family code, social security act, labor code, and many more gave women greater benefits. The Castro regime ensured equal rights, salary, and opportunities for women in work; social security; the right to an abortion; and equality of access to education and health. (Gonzalez 140-141)

Although women still suffered inequalities in their lives due to their gender, Castro’s policies, through the assistance of the Federation of Cuban Women, gave way to massive improvement in the status of women. In this sense, Castro fulfilled a part of his ideology. Unfortunately, minorities and religious groups still suffered in the Castro dictatorship. This can be seen through UMAPs, of which were labor camps that confined homosexuals and other minorities were sent for “re-education. ” (De Ferrari 88)

Even if these people weren’t confined within the UMAPs, the CDR consistently monitored all of the residents to the extent that citizens had to be careful not to say or do anything that was “anti-revolutionary. ” Religion was also considered an anti-revolutionary action. The Castro government continued to restrict religion, and his disapproval of most denominations led to these religious groups experiencing harassment. It was not until 1992 that Castro loosened restrictions upon religion, changing from atheist to secular.