Resumen

SOVILLA, Bruno. Difficulties and contradictions in the construction of socialism in Cuba at the beginning of the revolutionary period. Am. Lat. Hist. Econ [online]. 2019, vol.26, n.3, e983.  Epub 06-Sep-2019. ISSN 2007-3496.  https://doi.org/10.18232/alhe.983.

In this work we attempt to demonstrate that the economic difficulties experienced at the beginning of the revolutionary period were rooted initially in a badly-designed development strategy, and later in the implementation of a management system of the economy that dispensed not only with the market, but with basic principles of economic calculations, at the hearth of central planning. After analyzing official statistics and the debate that took place in Cuba in the mid 1960s regarding which scheme of economic management is most suitable for constructing a socialist system in a developing country, we conclude that throughout that decade, Cuba’s economy was directed on a volunteer basis, and that only the generous support received from other socialist countries kept the revolution alive.

Palabras llave : Cuban revolution; development strategy; sugar; voluntarism.

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