1. By: Gillian Almanza, Desari Chavez and Nick Favela
Chapter Two: The “Push For Communism”
And The “Retreat To Socialism”
1959 TO 1985
By: Gillian Almanza, Desari Chavez and Nick Favela

2. Toward A Utopian Future: The Latter 1960’s “Push for Communism”
“Castro portrayed communism as the highest and most ideal stage of development, a stage that followed feudalism, capitalism, and socialism”.
In 1965, Castro established the Communist Party as the sole (being the only one of the kind) political party.
His vision was influenced by Che Guevara. He drew most of his ideas after Che ideas Che lost out in an open debate about development strategy for Cuba during

3. Government Initiatives
With the transition to communism it became a matter of history.
The “push for communism” entailed additional agrarian restructuring
The government deprived workers on the newly formed state farms of private plots previously allotted them and it made the remaining farmers to incorporate their properties into the state sector.
Provide ownership was transformed for remaining independent farmers: farmers were to help out on the state by selling their produce to the state at low prices to go along with the state plans.
The government encouraged the farmers to organize Mutual Aid Brigades (tended collectively to harvesting and other tasks, and to form credit and service cooperatives.
Castro nationalized remaining small business.
Elimination of most of private ownerships – increases for the poorest paid workers and a guaranteed employment policy – this led to equalize earnings.

4. Government Initiatives
The initiatives led Cuba to come to have the most egalitarian distribution of wealth in Latin America.
The government expanded free social services. All education, medical care, Social Security, daycare, and much housing were provided free of charge with access to them more equitable and need-based than ever before.
Drawing on idealistic societal visions advance by Marx, as well as by Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti, Castro urge the breakdown of barriers between manual and non- manual labor.
By 1970, 40 to 57% of the labor force worked part time in agriculture, mainly in sugar related activity.
Newly created state organizations facilitated the push for communism.
ANAP, the private farmers' organization formed shortly after Castro came to power assisted in the agrarian transformation.

5. Why the “Push for Communism”?
· Ideology was a advance and party believers in the philosophy were given voice because the ideas were consistent with the government's economic and political priorities at the time.
From the state's point of view by constructing the activities of small farmers economy-wide export production can be maximized if at the expense of individual from production and profit.
Critics noted that productively on holdings nationalize before 1963 was lower than one on remaining private property and that most state farms operated at a loss.
The second agrarian reform formerly increase state control over what was produced and as a consequence, more land and labor could be channeled to address the state's balance of payments needs to promote the government's new emphasis on export led growth and increased government appropriation of farm surplus.

6. Why the “Push for Communism”?
Around the time of the second agrarian reform the government shifted from the inwardly to the outwardly oriented growth strategy. The Soviets who became the island's main source of imports and exports after the United States terminated all trade refuse to tolerate the growing trade imbalance, but they also agreed to step up their purchases of Cuban sugar and prearrange prices. Cuba's new international alliances in essence compelled Castro to reemphasize sugar.
Castro had a repugnance for the unproductive petty Bourgeoisie but he was also hostile to the sector because it attracted people away from productive jobs. The sector had attracted workers because of the money to be made. Most importantly the nationalization of the sector freed labor for the sugar sector to permit record yields.
The government had pragmatic as well as the moral reasons for the urban cane cutting mobilizations. The government had difficulty recruiting permanent records for a backbreaking sugar work. Voluntary labor in principle minimize wage cost at a time when ever more workers were needed for stepped up sugar targets. Urban earnings were then much higher then find earnings as reflected in industrial/agricultural wage differentials and people would not willingly take income losses.
Castro's first years of rules: average earnings dropped about 12% between 1966 and 1971 following an increase of 3% between 1962 and 1966.

7. Impact of the “Push for Communism”
From the standpoint of sugar production, the reform paid off
The policies failed because they were ideologically driven and economically irrational in their conception
Problems arose
“Big sugar push”
Domestic conditions made matters worse
“Budgetary system”

8. Push For Communism Castro identified these as problems with Cuba Land
Industrialization
Education
Unemployment
Health
Housing
SOLUTION: Communism

9. Push for Communism Attempted to improve economy by: Price Controls
Tax and rent reductions
Increased Minimum Wage
Guaranteed Employment
Instituted Social Services

10. Push for Communism
•Castro agreed to an alliance with the Soviet Union in which Cuba would trade sugar for cheap oil, thus alienating the U.S from Cuba
Communism portrayed as most ideal state of development.

11. Forms of quiet resistance became widespread
Foot - dragging, absenteeism, black - market activity
Adversely affecting productivity in the state economy
Severe the problem of absenteeism
“To each according to need.”
Internalizing the utopian communist value system
The strategy of the late 1960s

12. The 1970s and the Early 1980s “Retreat to Socialism”
Castro survived the crisis of 1970
Attributable to his handling of the situation
Shared the blame with the populace
The political and economic crisis

13. Policy Reforms The government emphasized economic diversification
Industrialization
Sugar was not neglected
The organization of labor was democratized
Worker assemblies were held regularly again
The Cuban Labor Confederation
The government shifted its strategy
“Economic contribution.”
Workers participated in the allocative process
The government emphasized gender equality
The 1976 legal formalization of women’s rights

14. Policy Reforms Shopping - bag plan 1974 Maternity Law
Organs of Popular Power
1980 new pay scale
“Retreat to Socialism”
1980s Market Reform

15. Women encouraged to enter the workforce.
•Women’s participation in the labor force rose in the mid-1980s then having the largest female labor force participation rate in Latin America

16. Castro opened up trade to the West
Soviet machines and Industrialization were inferior.
By early 1980s, Cuba made significant strides in production including: capital goods, agriculture, medicines, electronics, computers and steels