Great Debate (Cuba)

Last updated
Great Debate
1962–1965
Che-airport-14mar65.jpg
Che Guevara stands at the far right, while meeting with his chief ideological opponent Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, who stands in the center, at the Havana airport, 1965. Fidel Castro and Aleida March stand to the left, and Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado stands center right.
Location Cuba
Leader(s) Che Guevara, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez
Chronology
Arrleft.svg Four Year Plan Revolutionary Offensive Arrright.svg

The Great Debate was an era in Cuban history retroactively named by historians, that was defined by public debate about the future of Cuban economic policy that took place from 1962 to 1965. The debate began after Cuba fell into an economic crisis in 1962 after years of internal economic complications, United States sanctions, and the flight of professionals from Cuba. In 1962 Fidel Castro invited Marxist economists around the world to debate two main propositions. One proposition proposed by Che Guevara was that Cuba could bypass any capitalist then "socialist" transition period and immediately become an industrialized "communist" society if "subjective conditions" like public consciousness and vanguard action are perfected. The other proposition held by the Popular Socialist Party was that Cuba required a transitionary period as a mixed economy in which Cuba's sugar economy was maximized for profit before a "communist" society could be established. Eventually Fidel Castro would implement ideas of both and use the moral incentives proposed by Guevara but also focusing on developing the sugar economy rather than industrialization. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The Great Debate would result in somewhat of a compromise in which Fidel Castro used moral incentives rather than material incentives to motivate workers, and industrialization would be ignored in favor of a focus on the sugar economy. These policies would eventually culminate in the Revolutionary Offensive where the economy would be oriented in producing 10 million tons of sugar by 1970. The campaign failed and led to a reorientation of domestic Cuban politics. [4]

Background

Political consolidation

In the months following the Cuban Revolution a pluralistic political alliance assembled to form the first provisional government. After elections failed to materialize, Batistianos were executed in the national sports stadium, and appeals for agrarian reform became popular, more moderate politicians started to become dissillusioned in the government and believed communists were slowly gaining control. By late 1959 the Central Intelligence Agency began training exiled Cubans for an invasion of Cuba. In early 1960 the Cuban government entered into a trade deal with the Soviet Union that exchanged Cuban sugar for Soviet oil. Throughout 1960 the United States would begin to create sanctions on Cuba and the Cuban government would retaliate by nationalizing American owned businesses. By 1961 U.S. trained rebels would attempt the Bay of Pigs Invasion and fail to overthrow the Castro government in Cuba. The original pluralistic platform of the Cuban Revolution had by then been constricted to just socialists sympathetic to the Eastern Bloc. By 1962 the Cuban government was reorganized under one political organization headed by Popular Socialist Party leader Anibal Escalante. [5]

Four Year Plan

Starting in 1961, Guevara spearheaded a Four Year Plan to rapidly industrialize the Cuban economy, and minimize the sugar industry in favor of other agricultural sectors. The plan was designed to be carried out from 1962 to 1965, but was cancelled early in 1964 due to economic setbacks. [6] [7] [8]

Agricultural diversification led to a steep drop in sugar production. [9] Industrialization goals were also not reached because machinery which was typically imported from the United States, was prevented from being imported due to the embargo. Cuba also lacked the necessary educated technicians. [10] Falling sugar profits and expanding social services also contributed to economic failure. As sugar profits fell, and social services increased, Cuba needed greater consumer goods to give to the poor, but could not provide them due to reduced national profits. [9]

In March 1962, Guevara admitted in a speech that the economic plan was a failure, specifically stating it was "an absurd plan, disconnected from reality, with absurd goals and imaginary resources." [11]

Escalante affair

By 1962 Cuba was entering an economic crisis, and recently experienced the Escalante affair in which it was revealed that Anibal Escalante had given most positions of power in the new Integrated Revolutionary Organizations to Popular Socialist Party members. The economic crisis spurred on a reevaluation of the economic models proposed at the time and the previous Escalante affair motivated distrust in the Popular Socialist Party and their Soviet modeled propositions. [12]

Debate

In 1962 leftist economists from all over the world were invited to print their opinions in economic journals in Cuba about how Cuba should develop into a communist society. The two main spokespeople in the debate were Che Guevara who argued for an independent Cuban model to communism, and Carlos Rafael Rodríguez of the Popular Socialist Party who advocated for more of a "soviet" model towards communism which meant a development of capitalism before socialism and later communism. [1] [13]

Rodriguez advocated for material incentives given to individuals based on how well they created profit for an enterprise. [13] Enterprises themselves will be "self-managed" like in the Soviet Union, rather than all managed by a central planner. [14]

Guevara's view was that the Soviet system had developed following the historical contingency of the New Economic Policy, rather than objective Marxist principles. [15] : 36  Guevara advocated for moral incentives as the main motivator to increase workers' production. [15] : 37  The main ideal that compromised the consciousness that would develop socialism was the praise of the New Man, a citizen that was only motivated by human solidarity and self-sacrifice. [16] According to Guevara's view, the state should undermine the law of value and encourage voluntarism to develop a sense of social duty among the people. [15] : 37 

All profits created by enterprises were to be given to the state budget, and the state budget would cover losses. Institutions that developed socialist consciousness were regarded as the most important element in maintaining a path to socialism rather than materially incentivized increases in production. Implementation of the profit-motive was regarded as a path towards capitalism and was one of the flaws of the Eastern bloc economies. [17] The economy would also rely on mass mobilizations and centralized planning as a method for developing the economy. [14]

The Great Debate came to an end when Guevara left Cuba in 1965. [15] : 37  Initially, his view lost support. [15] : 37  In 1968, however, Fidel Castro announced the reforms of the Revolutionary Offensive which drew on Guevara's ideas. [15] : 37 

Aftermath

In 1966 the Cuban economy was reorganized on moral lines. Cuban propaganda stressed voluntarism and ideological motivations to increase productions. Material incentives were not given to workers who were more productive than others. [12] Cuban intellectuals were expected to participate actively in creating a positive national ethos and ignore any desire to create "art for art's sake". [5]

Cuba became more politically independent from the Soviet Union and instead focused it's foreign policy on third-world affairs. Guerilla groups in third-world anti-imperialist struggles would receive funding from the Cuban government. [5]

In 1968 all non-agricultural private businesses were nationalized, central planning was done more on an ad-hoc basis and the entire Cuban economy was directed at producing a 10 million ton sugar harvest. These developments were generally inspired by the resolutions brought about by the Great Debate years earlier. [18] The focus on sugar would eventually render all other facets of the Cuban economy underdeveloped and would be the ultimate legacy of the offensive. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidel Castro</span> Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008 (1926–2016)

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban Revolution</span> 1955–58 armed rebellion against the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro

The Cuban Revolution was the military and political overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, which had reigned as the government of Cuba between 1952 and 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, which saw Batista topple the nascent Cuban democracy and consolidate power. Among those opposing the coup was Fidel Castro, then a novice attorney who attempted to contest the coup through Cuba's judiciary. Once these efforts proved fruitless, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks on 26 July 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bettelheim</span> French Marxian economist and historian

Charles Bettelheim was a French Marxian economist and historian, founder of the Center for the Study of Modes of Industrialization at the EHESS, economic advisor to the governments of several developing countries during the period of decolonization. He was very influential in France's New Left, and considered one of "the most visible Marxists in the capitalist world", in France as well as in Spain, Italy, Latin America, and India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba–Soviet Union relations</span> Bilateral relations

After the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet markets and military aid and was an ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In 1972 Cuba joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), an economic organization of states designed to create co-operation among the communist planned economies, which was dominated by its largest economy, the Soviet Union. Moscow kept in regular contact with Havana and shared varying close relations until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Cuba then entered an era of serious economic hardship, the Special Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foco</span> Theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare

A guerrilla foco is a small cadre of revolutionaries operating in a nation's countryside. This guerrilla organization was popularized by Che Guevara in his book Guerrilla Warfare, which was based on his experiences in the Cuban Revolution. Guevara would go on to argue that a foco was politically necessary for the success of a socialist revolution. Originally Guevara theorized that a foco was only useful in overthrowing personalistic military dictatorships and not liberal democratic capitalism where a peaceful overthrow was believed possible. Years later Guevara would revise his thesis and argue all nations in Latin America, including liberal democracies, could be overthrown by a guerrilla foco. Eventually the foco thesis would be that political conditions would not even need to be ripe for revolutions to be successful, since the sheer existence of a guerrilla foco would create ripe conditions by itself. Guevara's theory of foco, known as foquismo, was self-described as the application of Marxism-Leninism to Latin American conditions, and would later be further popularized by author Régis Debray. The proposed necessity of a guerrilla foco proved influential in Latin America, but was also heavily criticized by other socialists.

The Cuban Revolution was the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's regime by the 26th of July Movement and the establishment of a new Cuban government led by Fidel Castro in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Che Guevara</span> Argentine revolutionary (1928–1967)

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.

Third World socialism is an umbrella term for many movements and governments of the 20th century— all variants of socialism— that have taken place in numerous less-developed countries. There have been many leaders of this practice and political philosophy which remained strong until at least the 1990s, including: Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Buddhadasa, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Juan Domingo Perón, Modibo Keïta, Walter Lini, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Sukarno, Ahmed Sékou Touré and other socialist leaders of the Third World who saw socialism as the answer to a strong and developed nation.

<i>Fidelismo</i> Fidel Castros personal beliefs

Fidelismo, otherwise known as Castroism, consists of the personal beliefs of Fidel Castro, which were often anti-imperialist, Cuban nationalist, supportive of Hispanidad, and later Marxism–Leninist. Castro described two historical figures as being particular influences on his political viewpoints: the Cuban anti-imperialist revolutionary José Martí, and the German sociologist and theorist Karl Marx. The thought of Che Guevara and Jules Régis Debray have also been important influences on Fidel Castro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guevarism</span> Communist political and military theory

Guevarism is a theory of communist revolution and a military strategy of guerrilla warfare associated with Marxist–Leninist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a leading figure of the Cuban Revolution who believed in the idea of Marxism–Leninism and embraced its principles.

The political career of Fidel Castro saw Cuba undergo significant economic, political, and social changes. In the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and an associated group of revolutionaries toppled the ruling government of Fulgencio Batista, forcing Batista out of power on 1 January 1959. Castro, who had already been an important figure in Cuban society, went on to serve as prime minister from 1959 to 1976. He was also the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the communist state, from 1961 to 2011. In 1976, Castro officially became president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers. He retained the title until 2008, when the presidency was transferred to his brother, Raúl Castro, who was vice president. Fidel Castro remained the first secretary of the Communist Party until 2011.

Aníbal Escalante Dellundé was a Cuban communist and political organizer. An early leader within the Popular Socialist Party (PSP), he briefly held national office in Cuba following the Cuban revolution but was purged due, in part, to his "old-line" Marxist orthodoxy. He was later imprisoned over allegations he was plotting with the Soviet Union to orchestrate the overthrow of the Fidel Castro-led Cuban government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution</span> Period of Cuban history (1959–1962)

The consolidation of the Cuban Revolution is a period in Cuban history typically defined as starting in the aftermath of the revolution in 1959 and ending in 1962, after the total political consolidation of Fidel Castro as the maximum leader of Cuba. The period encompasses early domestic reforms, human rights violations, and the ousting of various political groups. This period of political consolidation climaxed with the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, which then cooled much of the international contestation that arose alongside Castro's bolstering of power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Offensive</span> Cuban economic and political campaign

The Revolutionary Offensive was a political campaign in Cuba starting in 1968 to nationalize all remaining private small businesses, which at the time totaled to be about 58,000 small enterprises. The campaign would spur industrialization in Cuba and focus the economy on sugar production, specifically to a deadline for an annual sugar harvest of 10 million tons by 1970. The economic focus on sugar production involved international volunteers and the mobilization of workers from all sectors of the Cuban economy. Economic mobilization also coincided with greater militarization of Cuban political structures and society in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escalante affair</span> Political incident in Cuba

The Escalante affair was a political incident in Cuba after politician Anibal Escalante gave his comrades in the Popular Socialist Party positions of authority over the general members in the newly formed Integrated Revolutionary Organizations, causing Fidel Castro to dismiss him and his compatriots from the IRO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rectification process</span>

The rectification process was a series of economic reforms in Cuba, officially titled the Rectification of Errors and Negative Tendencies. The process began in 1986, and lasted until 1992. The reforms were aimed at eliminating private businesses, trade markets, that had been introduced into the Cuban law and Cuban culture, during the 1970s. The new reforms aimed to nationalize more of the economy and eliminate material incentives for extra labor, instead relying on moral enthusiasm alone. Castro often justified this return to moral incentives by mentioning the moral incentives championed by Che Guevara, and often alluded to Guevarism when promoting reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sovietization of Cuba</span>

The Sovietization of Cuba is a historiographical model proposed by scholars like political scientist Piero Gleijeses, and economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago. The sovietization thesis defines Cuba's political developments, and military actions, in the 1970s, completely in relation to the Soviet Union. The thesis proposes that Cuba's economic dependence on the Soviet Union, encouraged the Cuban government to model itself after the Soviet Union, and for the Cuban military to follow Soviet whims. According to Mesa-Lago, the sovietization of Cuba, reduced Cuba to a state subordinate to the Soviet Union, akin to how Batista's Cuba was subordinate to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institutionalization process</span>

The institutionalization process, sometimes more formally referred to as the "process of institutionalization", or the "institutionalization of the Cuban Revolution", was a series of political reforms, typically identified by historians as to have taken place between 1976 and 1985, although sometimes identified as having begun in 1970. This process was proceeded by a period of government that was directly managed by Fidel Castro without much input from other officials, which had been status-quo since the conclusion of the Cuban Revolution. The institutionalization process was also proceeded by a deepening of Cuba-Soviet relations in the early 1970s, which had soured before in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ideas</span> 2002–2006 mass political campaign in Cuba

The Battle of Ideas was a mass political campaign in Cuba that began after the return of Elián González to Cuba in 2000. The Battle of Ideas was preceded by popular disillusionment in the economy after the crisis of the Special Period, and a growing embrace of capitalism via dollarization. The Cuban government intended to revitalize the population's enthusiasm for socialism. The effort for ideological revitalization began after Elián González's return, because it was seen as a breakthrough diplomatic success, after years of crisis and internal decline. The Battle of Ideas attempted to emphasize human development, deemphasize economic growth, and return to the ideological spirit of the 1960s. This meant a focus on education, healthcare, centralized economic planning, and the mass mobilization of the population. Cuba also began forging closer diplomatic ties with Pink tide governments, often providing medical services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Year Plan (Cuba)</span>

The Four Year Plan was a plan developed by Che Guevara and embraced by various Cuban officials in the economic planning commission JUCEPLAN. The plan was intended to be a classic soviet five year plan, but was reduced to four years, so it would conclude at the same date as other Eastern Bloc five year plans. The plan was to be carried out from 1962 to 1965, but was abandoned prematurely in 1964.

References

  1. 1 2 Kapcia, Antoni (2022). Historical Dictionary of Cuba. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. pp. 261–262. ISBN   9781442264557.
  2. ↑ Cuba's Forgotten Decade How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution. Lexington Books. 2018. p. 10. ISBN   9781498568746.
  3. ↑ Underlid, Even (2021). Cuba Was Different Views of the Cuban Communist Party on the Collapse of Soviet and Eastern European Socialism. Brill. p. 229. ISBN   9789004442900.
  4. ↑ The Cuba Reader History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. 2019. ISBN   9781478004561.
  5. 1 2 3 Kapcia, Antoni (2008). Cuba in Revolution A History Since the Fifties. Reaktion Books. ISBN   9781861894489.
  6. ↑ Jefferies, Ian (1993). Socialist Economies and the Transition to the Market A Guide. Taylor and Francis. p. 208. ISBN   9781134903603.
  7. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (2013). Cuba A History. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9780718192921.
  8. ↑ Dominguez, Jorge (2009). Cuba Order and Revolution. Harvard University Press. p. 383-384. ISBN   9780674034280.
  9. 1 2 Fernando Ayerbe, Luis (2018). The Cuban Revolution. Editora Unesp. ISBN   9788595462656.
  10. ↑ Lege Harris, Richard (2000). Death of a Revolutionary Che Guevara's Last Mission. Norton. p. 69. ISBN   9780393320329.
  11. ↑ Farber, Samuel (2016). The Politics of Che Guevara Theory and Practice. Haymarket Books. p. 20-25. ISBN   9781608466597.
  12. 1 2 3 Kapcia, Antoni (2014). Leadership in the Cuban Revolution The Unseen Story. Zed Books. ISBN   9781780325286.
  13. 1 2 Alpert, Michael; Hahnel, Robin (1981). Socialism Today and Tomorrow. South End Press. pp. 194–196. ISBN   9780896080775.
  14. 1 2 Soviet Influence on Cuban Culture, 1961–1987 When the Soviets Came to Stay. Lexington Books. 2019. pp. 12–13. ISBN   9781498580120.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cederlöf, Gustav (2023). The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba. Critical environments: nature, science, and politics. Oakland, California: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-39313-4.
  16. ↑ Artaraz, Kepa (2009). Cuba and Western Intellectuals Since 1959. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 23. ISBN   9780230618299.
  17. ↑ Gordy, Katherine (2015). Living Ideology in Cuba Socialism in Principle and Practice. University of Michigan Press. pp. 90–92. ISBN   9780472052615.
  18. ↑ Peet, Richard; Hartwick, Elaine (2009). Theories of Development, Second Edition Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives. Guilford Publications. p. 189.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.