Is Cuba Turning Capitalist?
The fall of the USSR and the death of Fidel Castro has prompted some to believe that Cuba is turning to capitalism.
The collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe and Central Asia during the rough and unstable years of 1989–1991 also resulted in the absolute collapse of national economies in the region. Unfortunately, it also signaled the end of major trading partners for countries like Cuba and other socialist allies around the world. Unlike their Eastern European counterparts, Cuba stayed firmly committed to the ideas of Fidel Castro, José Martí, as well as the ideological principles of Marxism-Leninism following the absolute failure of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in the former USSR.
As a result of the dissolution of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), Cuba entered into what Fidel referred to as the Special Period, an era in modern Cuban history characterized by economic crisis due to the severe drop in foreign imports and exports.
The Cuban government had subsequently emphasized the importance of self-employment and the creation of worker cooperatives to help mitigate the issues caused by the economy effectively being thrown into forced self-sufficiency. The end of the Special Period came about when Hugo Chávez was elected President of Venezuela…
