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Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961 (Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización)

Brigadistas, young women teaching people to read and write, 250,000 volunteers to every part of the country

Nationalization of all Education (1961)

Put all schools, including private and parochial schools under state control

Focus on access to the public, free education

Expanding rural accessibility of education

Accessibility leads to higher skilled Cubans, improved literacy rates and many having access to higher education

Agrarian Reform Laws

Established private land previously owned by white landowners and corporations  into government land

Redistributed the land to farmworkers and cooperatives

Improved rural access to infrastructure such as schools and education and stability

Increased school enrollment and focus on education instead of working on land

As of 2021, 16% of government expenditure is used on education, representing 9.4% of Cuba’s GDP

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1960 Nationalization of all rental properties

Castro and the Cuban government took over ownership of all rental properties in Cuba

They technically compensated landowners, but they did so through giving them state bonds redeemable in 20 years that had incredibly little value especially in comparison with the homes the state took

1960 Abolition of mortgages and housing market

Selling property on the open housing market was banned

Existing mortgages were canceled and future mortgages were banned

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Nationalization of rental properties

This was meant to abolish the tenant-landowner relationship and make it easier for tenants to buy homes

Castro would make tenants pay a significantly reduced rent for 10-20 years before the government gave them full ownership of their home

Strength: Helped make it much easier for renting families to buy homes (over 85% of Cubans own the house that they live in) and made it much easier for poorer families to rent. This essentially eliminated homelessness in Cuba.

Weaknesses: Harmed landowners monetarily.

Banning of Mortgages and Homes as assets

This was also meant to abolish Cuban's debt and make owning a home easier

This did successfully cut a lot of debt that Cuban's had, but it actually made buying a home harder as without a mortgage it was very difficult to save up the money required to purchase a home

Abolishing homes as property did help more Cubans buy homes, but it eliminated their ability to profit off of their household, as it was now illegal to sell a property on the open market or use a house for business purposes

Strengths: Cut significant debt among Cubans and helped some gain full ownership of properties they had a mortgage on

Weaknesses: Made it harder for some first time owners to buy a house and eliminated people's ability to profit off of home ownership. Harmed economy

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"Words to the Intellectuals" Speech (1961): In this speech, Castro articulated the principle: "Within the Revolution, everything; against the Revolution, nothing." This solidified state control over artistic and intellectual expression in Cuba.

Nationalization and Promotion of Arts: The government established institutions like the National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte) to provide free education in various art forms. This initiative aimed to democratize art education and cultivate a new generation of artists committed to revolutionary principles.

Censorship and Control: Castro exercised strict control over artistic content, suppressing works deemed counter-revolutionary. Notable incidents include the banning of the documentary "P.M." in 1961 and the arrest of poet Heberto Padilla in 1971, signaling a crackdown on dissenting artistic voices.

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Art was used to promote revolutionary ideals, with artists producing works that celebrated socialist values and Cuban identity. This fostered a sense of unity and national pride. However, artists critical of the government faced censorship, imprisonment, or exile. This environment stifled creative freedom and led to the suppression of artistic expression. The emphasis on art serving the revolution limited exposure to diverse global artistic movements, potentially hindering the evolution of Cuban art.

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Strengths:

State support made art education and resources widely available, which allowed access across socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, the promotion of art that reflected Cuban themes strengthened national identity and pride.

Weaknesses:

Strict censorship over artistic content suppressed freedom of expression and marginalized dissenting voices. This requirement for art to align with revolutionary ideals led to a lack of diversity in artistic expression.

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Quote from Castro that eventually became a kind of slogan that demanded adherence from all artists, writers, and cultural workers.

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Example of the kind of art work from this time

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CFC. “CubaBrief: Sixty Years Ago Today Castro Declared to Artists and Intellectuals “within the Revolution, Everything; outside of It, Nothing,” and the Dictatorship Continues to Jail Free Thinkers Today.” Cuba Center, 30 June 2021, cubacenter.org/cuba-brief-archives/2021/06/30/cubabrief-sixty-years-ago-today-castro-declared-to-artists-and-intellectuals-within-the-revolution-everything-outside-of-it-nothing-and-the-dictatorship-continues-to-jail-free-thinkers-today/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

https://brooklynrail.org/contributor/Billie-Anania. “Art of the Cuban Revolution | the Brooklyn Rail.” Brooklynrail.org, The Brooklyn Rail, 30 July 2024, brooklynrail.org/2022/02/artseen/Art-of-the-Cuban-Revolution/.

mtorresyunda@ufl.edu. ““ART IS a WEAPON of the REVOLUTION.”” Cuban Studies, 14 Apr. 2024, cubanstudies.history.ufl.edu/special-period-in-a-time-of-peace/art-is-a-weapon-of-the-revolution/.

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Surveillance, beatings, arbitrary detention (the imprisonment of a person without legal authority or due process), and public acts of repudiation (A term Cuban authorities use to refer to acts of violence and or humiliation towards critics of the government).

The Cuban constitution nullifies freedom’s of speech and protest when they are “contrary to the goals of the state”, which uses vague language to justify oppression of the press and protesters.

The criminal code the law called (desacato), against enemy propaganda and contempt from authority, is widely used by prosecutors against the media.

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Decree 35 (Aug 2021): The new law is aimed at content or messages that Havana deems to be false news, offensive or that may incite acts “that upset public order." Under it, anyone who tries to “subvert the constitutional order” will be considered a cyberterrorist. A special channel also has been set up for citizens to inform on anyone who breaks the law.

“This decree is a way of silencing any critical voices in Cuba, which may have existed after 62 years of communist rule,” Normando Hernandez, of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press, told VOA. The Miami-based organization supports opposition media on the island.

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Works Cited

Grein, John. “Recent Reforms in Cuban Housing Policy.” Law School International Immersion Program Papers, no. 7, 2015, chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=international_immersion_program_papers.

Hamberg, Jill. “Cuba Opens to Private Housing but Preserves Housing Rights.” Poverty & the Environment |, vol. 19, pp. 1–2012, www.friendsofrpe.org/files/19-1.hamberg.pdf. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Kelly, William T. “Revolución Es Reconstruir: Housing, Everyday Life, and Revolution in Cuba, 1959-1988.” Rutgers.edu, 2021, rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/66830/, https://doi.org/10.7282/t3-ecmf-s581. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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"Nilda Bouzo, right, speaks with her husband Ives Lopez next to a sign that reads in Spanish " Exchange Apartment Two for One" in their home balcony in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 3. "

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Strict maximum of 25 children per primary-school class, many of which have as few as 20. Secondary schools are striving towards only 15 pupils per class

Education at every level is free, including school meals and uniforms

Schools also serve as a daycare system for parents who are to busy to take care of their kids, opening at 6:30 AM and being open for 12+ hours

Cuba uses "Mobile teachers," deployed to homes if children are unable to come to school because of sickness or disability.

Micro-universities which offer part-time and distance learning have been introduced in provinces, as competition for the country's 15 universities has become so competitive.

Vast majority of Cuba's 150,000 teachers have studied for a minimum of five years, half to master's level; in 2023, 100% of teachers have necessary qualifications for all levels of education

In 2019, in the early grades (grade 3), 75.0% of children achieved at a minimum proficiency level in mathematics, and 69.7% of children achieved at least a minimum proficiency level in reading

In 2019, 99.7% of children completed primary education, 94.1% of children completed lower secondary education, and 65.3% of children completed upper secondary education.

Information and communications technology (ICT) skills are low within the country, with all statistics relating to basic ICT skills being between 5.8% and 33.7% (skills including attach file, connect to internet, copy paste, create file, duplicate file, mathematica formula, programming language, install software, and transfer file)

In 2019, only a 5% gender gap in upper secondary completion rate and 1.1% difference gender parity index, representing minimal gender disparities in education

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Child having his weight measured during pediatric appointment at Polyclinic (1960) (Bulletin of World Health Organization)

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Cuba has established a broad public health apparatus that provides free healthcare for Cuban residents in rural and urban areas.

MINSAP (Ministry of Public Health) was founded in 1961 to form a state-run healthcare system

Polyclinics were established in the mid-1960s as a way to consolidate multiple healthcare requirements for outpatient care under one system

GPs, Nurses, Pediatricians, OBGYNs, Social Workers, Dentistry

Polyclinics also did public outreach and carried out mass vaccination campaigns to help curb the spread of malaria dengue virus and others

Malaria was eradicated in 1967

“In 1962, 80 percent of all Cuban children under fifteen were vaccinated against polio in eleven days.”

Increasing access to basic healthcare, especially for people living in rural and more impoverished areas of Cuba. Widely expanded polyclinic and hospital networks to Eastern Cuba (Oriente) which is the most rural/least developed region in Cuba.

Castro nationalized “mutualist” clinics, which were essentially private healthcare practices not run under MINSAP and were not part of the greater program of Polyclinics, eventually private practice in Cuba fully dissolved and became unified as part of the national system

Strengths:

MINSAP has vastly broadened healthcare access for residents living in rural areas and for Black Cubans who previously did not receive equitable healthcare

Vaccination programs have been very efficient and successful

Centralization/Decentralization policy allows for there to be top-down and local control of health policy.

Weaknesses:

No private healthcare sector

Facilities often lack basic supplies, equipment, technology, etc

Physicians and health professionals receive poor compensation for their contributions

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Strengths:

Near 100% literacy rate

Free and universal access to education, even those in disadvantaged communities

Skilled workers

Higher percent of government expenditure and GDP used on education than the US (US is 15.5% and 5% in 2019)

Gender disparity in education extremely low, rivaling the US for gender equality (hard to tell though, since both countries gender parity index hover at ~1%, but US does not have statistics on gender gap in upper secondary completion rate)

Qualified teachers at every level of education

Cuba is still making strides on improving their education system, with higher levels of proficiency for subjects and increased internet access over the last few years.

Weaknesses:

Proficiency levels for mathematics and education are slightly worse than the US

Completion rate for education is slightly worse than the US, with the US have between 90-100% for all levels of education (in 2019)

Still adapting to modern day standards, having outdated technology and limited internet and computer accessibility, leading to low internet literacy. Seen in statistics for percentage of schools with access to basic services, where internet access reaches only 70% for even the highest level of education.

Many jobs that require higher education actually make less money than some jobs due to being controlled by the government

Ex: a taxi driver makes more than a doctor

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“Latin Lessons: What Can We Learn from the World’s Most Ambitious.” The Independent, 7 Nov. 2010, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/latin-lessons-what-can-we-learn-from-the-world-rsquo-s-most-ambitious-literacy-campaign-2124433.html.

Rey, Kian Seara. “Rosa Hernández Acosta on the Cuban Literacy Campaign.” JSTOR Daily, 6 Feb. 2021, daily.jstor.org/rosa-hernandez-acosta-on-the-cuban-literacy-campaign/.

Unesco.org, 2021, sdg4-data.uis.unesco.org/.

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Nov. 1983 Media consists of a global news agency, international broadcasting facilities, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, front groups, “friendship” institutes, sport and cultural activities, ad hoc devices, including international meetings, sham tribunals, cultural displays, speaking tours, literary contests, and other miscellaneous organizations. This is directed by Castro and his old guerilla comrades. Castro’s propaganda has been able to project a favorable image of Cuba that Third World leaders see as a model for other developing countries. These were all dedicated to promote the Cuban line and denigrate the United States.

The Castro regime constructed a $25 million Palace of Conventions in Havana to host international gatherings designed to focus on world opinion on specific issues or promote Cuban prestige.

Radio Havana’s reporting on Peru’s Maoist Sendero Luminso guerilla group angered the Peruvian Government. Cuban interpretations of Belize’s history have caused local criticism of Havana’s anti-US and antireligous bias.

Castro himself would sometimes visit the editorial offices of the party’s daily newspaper, Granma, late at night to review the next day’s edition or direct the exact placement of a story. Castro also would sometimes drop into the headquarters of Cuba’s international news agency, Prensa Latina, to make a statement that he wants disseminated abroad as a response to quick-breaking events. Granma would publish its daily paper in English, Spanish, and French for distribution abroad. He always tried to gain the maximum political benefit in the way news is presented.

All Cuban propaganda is controlled and directed by the DOR which is responsible for formulating annual “theme plans” for the Cuban media. Additional plans are made up on an ad hoc basis. Past few years the “theme plans” have consisted of:

Emphasis on the values of socialism

Denigration of US foreign policy (the amount of stress on this theme fluctuates depending on the state of Cuban-US relations)

Glorificaiton of the institution of “Polar Popular,” Cuba’s system of local, provincal, and national government administration

Alleged religious freedom in Cuba

Praise for Soviet efforts to maintain world peace

Defense of Soviet policies at all levels

Propaganda Agencies:

1. Executive Secretariat of the African, Asian, and Latin American Peoples Solidarity Organization (AALAPSO) founded in early 1966. This organization claims to be an independent international organization, but its staffing and activities over the years leave no doubt that the Secretariat is actually an agency of the Cuban Government who uses it as a outlet for propaganda aimed at strengthening Cuba’s links to revolutionary movements abroad and perpetuating the Che Guevara guerilla cult. AALAPSO is headquartered in Havana and is headed by Cuban Communist Party Central Committee member Melba Hernandez.

2. Imprenta National de Cuba is a publishing house created to spearhead the new government’s propaganda efforts in the field of literature. Over the past 24 years, the publishing house has produced 17,000 titles and over 500 million copies of various kinds of books and pamphlets. One of the plants opened with equipment from East Germany in 1977 in Guantanamo. Another plant opened in Palma Soriano in early 1983.

3. The Latin America Federation of Journalists (FELAP), was formed as a result of vigorous Cuban lobbying with leftist journalists of the region to counter the influence of the independent Interamerican Press Association. FELAP has close links with many Soviet groups.

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There are many protests and demonstrations against the media’s oppression and the right to protest, which are in turn met with more oppression. Many individuals were jailed and held by the government without notifying the families or anyone of their location. These people were then taken to trail without a defense attorney present.

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The policies of oppression of the press and the right to protest have had major impacts on the lives of Cuban’s daily, however this treatment of the population has had an unintended effect of encouraging more Cubans to speak out against the government rather than stopping them from doing so. However, Castro’s policies of controlling the only sources of internet and broadcasting have kept Cubans out of the loop and uninformed on international affairs due to the difficulty of accessing the internet with only around 25% of people having access to it.

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Police detaining a demonstrator during a protest in Havana on July 11. It shows the laws against contempt for authority being exercised by the government

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Antonio Perez Herrero is a Political Bureau alternative member who functions as party secretary for ideology and oversees day-to-day operations of the media empire, ensuring that it accurately reflects Castro’s thinking. He was a guerilla who quickly rose through the ranks after the revolution and became vice minister and chief political officer for the entire miltiary establishment.

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“Cuba: Castro’s Propaganda Apparatus and Foreign Policy.” Cia.gov, CIA, 15 Dec. 1983, www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84S00897R000200050008-4.pdf.

“Cuba: Fidel Castro’s Record of Repression.” Human Rights Watch, 26 Nov. 2016, www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/26/cuba-fidel-castros-record-repression.

“CUBA’S REPRESSIVE MACHINERY.” Www.hrw.org, www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-03.htm.

“Cuba’s Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years after the Revolution.” Refworld, 1 June 1999, www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/hrw/1999/en/71478.

Keeley, Graham. “Cyber Law Gives Cuba New Way to Silence Critics, Analysts Say.” Voice of America, Voice of America (VOA News), 27 Aug. 2021, www.voanews.com/a/press-freedom_cyber-law-gives-cuba-new-way-silence-critics-analysts-say/6210050.html.

Londoño, Ernesto, and Daniel Politi. ““Terror”: Crackdown after Protests in Cuba Sends a Chilling Message.” The New York Times, 28 July 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/world/americas/cuba-protests-crackdown-arrests.html.

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Photo from the Cuban Communist Party Congress in 2021

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According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976 Article 44:

“Women and men enjoy equal economic, political, cultural, social, and familial rights. The State guarantees that women will be offered the same opportunities and possibilities as men to achieve their full participation in the development of the country.”

The constitution gives women equal opportunities as men, but in practice, Cuban women spend almost three times as much time on household chores than men. They are also expected to care for children and elders, even while working a job. And only 39% of Cuban women are in the workforce, meaning that many are dependent on men as a source of income.

Additionally, despite making up 56% of the seats in parliament, Cuban women only make up 7% of the Cuban Communist Party, which holds the real lawmaking power.

In conclusion, the policies give equal rights and opportunities on paper, but fall short of these goals in practice.

Sources:

Rose, Keiko. Keiko Rose the University of Chicago Law School IIP Cuba Trip. University of Chicago Law School, 2015, chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=international_immersion_program_papers.

Wadley, Nicole. “The Truth about Gender Equality in Cuba.” Georgetown Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University Berkley Center, 1 Oct. 2015, berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/the-truth-about-gender-equality-in-cuba.

UN Women. “Country Fact Sheet | UN Women Data Hub.” Data.unwomen.org, UN Women, Feb. 2024, data.unwomen.org/country/cuba.

cubanews. “Cuban Communist Party Congress Starts in Havana - Cuban News Agency.” Cubanews.acn.cu, 16 Apr. 2021, www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/13322-cuban-communist-party-congress-starts-in-havana. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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Emergency response medical brigades sent overseas;

Cuban Medical Internationalism:

50,000 Cuban medical professionals are working overseas in 67 different countries

Form of medical diplomacy

Starting in 1960 after a huge earthquake hit Chile, since then Cuba has been sending medical brigades all over South America, as well as parts of Europe and the Middle East

Castro on the USA rejecting help from Cuba after Hurricane Katrina: “It hurts to think that maybe some of those desperate people, trapped by the water and at death’s door, could have been saved”

The USA has harshly criticized this program and accused it of being not as altruistic as it seems, alleges human trafficking and equates the system of sending health professionals abroad to slavery

By 2014, Cuban Professionals had performed 1.2 billion procedures overseas, helped in 2.2 million births, performed 8 million surgeries

Strengths:

Improves relations with contracted countries

Giving competent medical care to people without easy access

Professionals have experience working in sub-optimal conditions and without a lot of materials/technology

Weaknesses:

Criticized for having ulterior motives

Outside countries are being encouraged to shut-down contracts with Cuba for medical aid by President Trump

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1. Policies

New Penal Code, November 1979

Social Defense Code, 1964

2. Impact

Social Defense Code, 1979 --> was changed to define health by WHO standards: Health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". This change resulted in abortions becoming more widely available.

New Penal Code, November 1979 --> established laws related to abortion rights, including the strict requirement for the woman’s consent and safety, before, during, and after the procedure. Women under 18 were also permitted to get abortions with parental consent.

3. Evaluation

Strengths: granted women the right to safe and legal abortions, and increased contraceptive education

Weaknesses: didn’t change the social view of abortions → many Cubans were still very conservative

4. Sources

Hollerbach, Paula E. “Recent Trends in Fertility, Abortion and Contraception in Cuba.” International Family Planning Perspectives, vol. 6, no. 3, Sept. 1980, p. 97, https://doi.org/10.2307/2947598. Accessed 23 Dec. 2019.

Nietvelt, Natasja. “Gendered Struggles in Post-Colonial Contexts: Women’s Reproductive Rights in Post-Revolutionary Cuba | IHEID.” Graduateinstitute.ch, 2024, www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/gendered-struggles-post-colonial-contexts-womens-reproductive-rights-post#ancre1.

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The Cuban Constitution's Chapter VII Article 50

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The Cuban Constitution's Chapter VII Article 50

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Chapter VII Article 50 guarantee to healthcare:

Everybody has the right to health protection and care. The State guarantees this right;

• by providing free medical and hospital care by means of the installations of the rural medical service network, polyclinics, hospitals and preventive and specialist treatment centers;

• by providing free dental care

• by promoting the health publicity campaigns, health education, regular medical examinations, general vaccinations and other measures to prevent the outbreak of disease. All of the population cooperates in these activities and plans through the social and mass organizations.

Constitution of Cuba, Chapter VII, Article 50.

Strengths:

Castro's focus on healthcare has resulted in Cuba having the highest ratio of physicians per capita in the world (6.6/1000 at the end of Castro's rule in 2008). Cuba has been able to use its high number of physicians to send aid to other countries in South America, Europe, and the Middle East starting in 1960. Cuba has a very low infant mortality rate (fallen from 37.3 to 4.3 per 1000 live births since 1959, lower than the US's 5.8 per 1000).

Weaknesses:

Despite this, the best jobs on the island remain tour-guide and taxi driver positions that have access to tips from tourists in Convertible Cuban Pesos (CUCs).

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1. Policy

“UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women” 1992-1999

2. Impact

Protected women's rights in all contexts (social, healthcare, economic, etc). Acknowledged women's roles in the workforce (“Women make up 66.6 percent of all technical and professional staff at the middle and higher levels and 72 percent of the workforce in the education sector, 67 percent in health, 43 percent in science, and 21 percent in the sugar industry.”)

3. Evaluation

Strengths: women's rights were protected under Cuban law. This allowed women to be equal to their male counterparts.

Weaknesses: Not a lot of easily available reporting to see the direct impacts of this specific UN policy, although it's clear that Cuban women play a large role in the society.

4. Visual

The image shows literacy brigadistas set out for Cuba’s rural areas in 1961. Over 100,000 volunteers joined effort to teach workers and farmers to read so they could fully participate in the revolution. (“Millions of Women Joined in Advancing Cuba’s Revolution – the Militant.” Themilitant.com, 2024, themilitant.com/2024/09/21/millions-of-women-joined-in-advancing-cubas-revolution/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.)

5. Sources

Government of Cuba. “UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Fourth Periodic Report, Cuba.” Refworld, 1999, www.refworld.org/reference/statepartiesrep/cedaw/1999/en/30901.

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Works Cited

Blumenthal, David. “Fidel Castro’s Health Care Legacy | Commonwealth Fund.” Commonwealthfund.org, commonwealthfund, 2019, www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2016/fidel-castros-health-care-legacy.

Bulletin of World Health Organization. “Cuba’s Primary Health Care Revolution: 30 Years On.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 86, May 2008, pp. 327–329, www.scielosp.org/article/bwho/2008.v86n5/327-329/en/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Fitz, Don. “The Birth of the Cuban Polyclinic.” Monthly Review, June 2018, monthlyreview.org/2018/06/01/the-birth-of-the-cuban-polyclinic/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

O’Hanlon, Claire E, and Melody Harvey. “Doing More with Less: Lessons from Cuba’s Health Care System.” Rand.org, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 6 Oct. 2017, www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2017/10/doing-more-with-less-lessons-from-cubas-health-care.html. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Washington, Val. Chicago Unbound Cuba’ S Healthcare Mandate: A Vision for the Future or Relic of a Socialist Past? Cuba’s Healthcare Mandate: A Vision for the Future or Relic of a Socialist Past?

“World Bank Open Data.” World Bank Open Data, 2025, data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?end=2008&locations=CU&start=1960. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Yaffe, Helen. “Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Paradigm for South–South Cooperation.” The International Journal of Cuban Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, 1 Jan. 2023, https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.15.2.0203.

---. “The World Rediscovers Cuban Medical Internationalism.” LSE Latin America and Caribbean, 8 Apr. 2020, blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2020/04/08/the-world-rediscovers-cuban-medical-internationalism/.

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Nuclear Family - Traditional Gender Roles

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Nuclear Family - Traditional Gender Roles

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1. Policy

Family Code, 1975

2. Impact

Reinforces traditional gender roles. Castro talks about how even though Cuba wanted equality, they must enforce traditional roles "And you

have seen precisely when women are incorporated into the work force, when

women stop performing the traditional and historical activities, is when these

problems begin to show up."

3. Evaluation

Strengths: 1960 --> Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) shows the contrast between equality and reinforcing gender roles: the FMC ended up reinforcing the traditional roles while still providing resources to women so they could work and be more independent, such as daycares (see other post titled: Daycare)

Weaknesses: Difficult to maintain since women made up such a significant portion of the workforce.

4. Visual

The image shows Vilma Espin Guillois and Fidel Castro at the foundation of the Federation of Cuban Women

5. Sources

Unknown author. “English: Vilma Espín Guillois and Fidel Castro during the Formation of the Federation of Cuban Women. Behind, Celia Sánchez Manduley.” Wikimedia Commons, 23 Aug. 1960, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vilma_Espin_Guillois_and_Fidel_Castro_1960.jpg.

Beaulac, Sierra. Women in the Cuban Revolution: Where’s the Change? 3 May 2023, vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1600&context=honors_proj.

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Second Visual for "Nuclear Family - Traditional Gender Roles"

Cuban Women and Children, 1970. Depicts young children outdoors at a daycare that was adjoined to the workroom of a factory where their mothers worked.

Cuban women were guaranteed childcare so they could contribute to the economy by working. Many factories or workplaces had connected childcare facilities, allowing women to visit their children throughout the day.

Source:

Lillydahl, Sandy. “Cuban Woman and Children, 1970.” Umass.edu, 2025, credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/muph056-b001-i026. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.