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Institutionalization process

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Fidel Castro at the first congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.

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.[1][2][3] 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.[3] The institutionalization process was also proceeded by a deepening of Cuba-Soviet relations in the early 1970s, which had soured before in the 1960s.[4]

Institutionalization was kickstarted by the first official congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in December 1975. The meeting approved the development of a "System of Economic Management and Planning" (SDPE), which was modeled on soviet economic planning and prioritized profit making. The implementation of the SDPE took ten years.[5] In 1976, a new constitution was also approved. The constitution was modeled off the Soviet system, and introduced the National Assembly of People's Power as the institution of indirect representation in government.[6]

Scholars Emily J. Kirk, ‎Anna Clayfield, ‎Isabel Story, have commented that the "institutionalization" periodization is hazy. While the adoption of a new constitution in 1976 is considered a hallmark of the "institutionalization" phase, there is no universally accepted date range as to when the "institutionalization" phase truly began, and when it truly ended. What is clear is that the "institutionalization" phase was generally concluded to have ended by the Rectification process in 1986.[7]

Background

Government of Cuba

Main article: Revolution first, elections later

After the Triumph of the Revolution, Castro held de facto veto power during the process of establishing a provisional government. This de facto power came from his position as commander-in-chief of the rebel army.[8] Political positions in the first two years after the Cuban Revolution were extremely fluid, and poorly defined in legal terms. It was often loyalty that was the determining factor in being appointed to a government position.[9]

On April 9, 1959, Fidel Castro announced that elections would be delayed for fifteen months, utilizing the legitimizing slogan: "revolution first, elections later".[10] On May Day of 1960, Fidel Castro cancelled all future elections, under the guise that citizens legitimized his rule by defending his government, thus elections were unnecessary.[11] In July 1961, Castro officially merged the 26th of July Movement, the Popular Socialist Party, and a smaller third party, to form one group called the Integrated Revolutionary Organization. In December 1961, Castro declared that he was personally a Marxist–Leninist.[12]

Relations with the Soviet Union

By the mid 1960s, Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union became increasingly strained. Castro refused to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, declaring it a Soviet-US attempt to dominate the Third World.[13] Diverting from Soviet doctrine, Castro suggested that Cuba could evolve straight to pure communism rather than gradually progress through various stages of socialism.[14] In turn, the Soviet-loyalist Aníbal Escalante began organizing a government network of opposition to Castro, though in January 1968, he and his supporters were arrested for allegedly passing state secrets to Moscow.[15] Recognising Cuba's economic dependence on the Soviets, Castro relented to Brezhnev's pressure to be obedient, and in August 1968 he denounced the leaders of the Prague Spring and praised the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.[16][17]

Seeking Soviet help, from 1970 to 1972 Soviet economists re-organized Cuba's economy, founding the Cuban-Soviet Commission of Economic, Scientific and Technical Collaboration, while Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin visited in October 1971.[18] In July 1972, Cuba joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), an economic organization of socialist states, although this further limited Cuba's economy to agricultural production.[19]

History

Early institutionalization

In 1970, the political bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba held a meeting to initiate a series of studies as to how to build state institutions. This process of study was accelerated in 1972, and by the end of the year the Council of Ministers was restructured with a new Executive Committee. In 1973 the judicial system was made subservient to executive decision-making. In 1974, early plans were put in place to form a new municipal government system. This system was tested in the Matanzas province, and eventually became the National Assembly of People's Power.[20]

On October 24, 1974 a constitutional commission was established to draft a new constitution. Drafts of the constitution were passed around workplaces and civil societies. After popular debate and critique, a final draft was passed to the Communist Party for approval.[20]

1976 constitution

The first congress of the Communist Party of Cuba which met in December of 1975, approved the new constitution.

The constitution was ratified on February 24, 1976. According to scholar Carmelo Mesa-Lago, the constitution was 32% based on the Soviet constitution of 1936, and 36% was based on the Cuban constitution of 1940.[3]

Economic policy

Main article: Mercados Libres Campesinos

Self-employment was legalized in 1978.[21] "Mercados Libres Campesinos" were started in 1980 to alleviate economic bottleneck. They were markets where private farmers and home gardeners could sell their surplus produce directly to consumers, instead of to the state.[22] Their creation was authorized by Decree No. 66 of the Council of State.[23]

References

  1. ^ Perna, Vincenzo (2017). Timba: The Sound of the Cuban Crisis. Taylor and Francis. p. 20. ISBN 9781351539081.
  2. ^ The History of Physics in Cuba. Springer Netherlands. 2014. p. 175. ISBN 9789401780414.
  3. ^ a b c Ruffin, Patricia (2016). Capitalism and Socialism in Cuba A Study of Dependency, Development and Underdevelopment. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 165. ISBN 9781349208050.
  4. ^ Bain (2008). Russian-Cuban Relations Since 1992 Continuing Camaraderie in a Post-Soviet World. Lexington Books. p. 30. ISBN 9780739130056.
  5. ^ Louis Horowitz, Irving (1995). Cuban Communism/8th Editi. Transaction Publishers. p. 293. ISBN 9781412820899.
  6. ^ Kapcia, Antoni (2008). Cuba in Revolution A History Since the Fifties. Reaktion Books. p. 1935. ISBN 9781861894489.
  7. ^ Cuba's Forgotten Decade How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution. Lexington Books. 2018. p. 9. ISBN 9781498568746.
  8. ^ Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution and Beyond. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 1991. p. "A Communist Revolution" section. ISBN 979-8-216-10916-7.
  9. ^ Explaining Political Judgement. Cambridge University Press. 22 September 2011. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-139-50319-8.
  10. ^ A Companion to Latin American History. Wiley. 2011. p. 369. ISBN 9781444391640.
  11. ^ Leonard, Thomas (2004). Fidel Castro A Biography. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 9780313058462.
  12. ^ Wright, Thomas (2022). Democracy in Latin America A History Since Independence. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 9781538149355.
  13. ^ Bourne 1986, p. 269.
  14. ^ Quirk 1993, pp. 559–560.
  15. ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 269–270; Quirk 1993, pp. 588–590.
  16. ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 270–271; Quirk 1993, pp. 597–600; Coltman 2003, pp. 216–217.
  17. ^ Castro, Fidel (August 1968). "Castro comments on Czechoslovakia crisis". FBIS. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  18. ^ Bourne 1986, pp. 276–277; Quirk 1993, pp. 682–684.
  19. ^ Bourne 1986, p. 277.
  20. ^ a b Roman, Peter (2003). People's Power Cuba's Experience with Representative Government. Rowman and Littlefield. p. 69-71. ISBN 9780742525658.
  21. ^ Cuba. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2013. ISBN 9798216068884.
  22. ^ Rosenberg, Jonathan (1992). "Cuba's Free-Market Experiment: Los Mercados Libres Campesinos, 1980–1986". Latin American Research Review. 27 (3): 51–53.
  23. ^ López, Jorge (1995). Cuba's Second Economy: From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage. Transaction Publishers. pp. 83–90. ISBN 1560001895.
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