Special Period
The Special Period, officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace, was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early to mid-1990s. The situation improved towards the end of the decade once Hugo Chávez's Venezuela emerged as Cuba's primary trading partner and diplomatic ally, and especially after the year 2000 once Cuba–Russia relations improved under the presidency of Vladimir Putin.
Privations during the Special Period included extreme reductions of rationed foods at state-subsidized prices, severe energy shortages, and the shrinking of an economy forcibly overdependent on Soviet imports. The period radically transformed Cuban society and the economy, as it necessitated the introduction of organic agriculture, decreased use of automobiles, and overhauled industry, health, and diet countrywide. People were forced to live without many goods and services that had been available since the beginning of the 20th century.
Background
Beginning in 1986, Cuba underwent a series of economic reforms known as the "Rectification process", that aimed at heavily regulating private businesses, and ending free markets in Cuba. The reforms were conducted in reaction against reforms in the Soviet Union, like Perestroika. The Cuban economy faced a decline in production after the implementation of the reforms.Image:Cuba-oil-production.png|right|thumb|350px|Cuban oil production and consumptionThe idea of a "special period" became a concept in Cuban political discourse in the 1980s. It was first used in the context of national defense planning to describe a scenario in which an invasion by the United States might force Cuba into a state of emergency and national siege. In 1990, Fidel Castro delivered a speech to the Federation of Cuban Women in which he stated that the "special period in times of war" had been studied in the event of a total U.S. blockade of Cuba, and that if serious problems in the Soviet Union led to a disruption of oil supplies, it would lead to a "special period in times of peace". As instability increased in the Soviet Union, later in 1990 Castro stated that Cuba was now entering that special period in time of peace.
History
Immediate shortages
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, resulting in a large-scale economic collapse throughout the newly independent states which once comprised it. During its existence, the Soviet Union provided Cuba with large amounts of oil, food, and machinery. In the years following the Soviet Union's collapse, Cuba's gross domestic product shrank 35%, imports and exports both fell over 80%, and many domestic industries shrank considerably. Food and weapon imports stopped or severely slowed. The largest immediate impact was the loss of nearly all of the petroleum imports from the Soviet Union; Cuba's oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts. Before this, Cuba had been re-exporting any Soviet petroleum it did not consume to other nations for profit, meaning that petroleum had been Cuba's second largest export product before 1990. Once the restored Russian Federation emerged from the former Soviet Union, its administration immediately made clear that it had no intention of delivering petroleum that had been guaranteed to the island by the USSR; this resulted in a decrease in Cuban consumption by 20% of its previous level within two years. The effect of this was severe, with many Cuban industries being unable to run without petroleum. Entirely dependent on fossil fuels to operate, the major underpinnings of Cuban society—its transport, industrial and agricultural systems—were paralyzed. There were extensive losses of productivity in both Cuban agriculture, which was dominated by petroleum-fuelled tractors, combines, and harvesters, and in Cuban industrial capacity.The early stages of the Special Period were defined by a general breakdown in transportation and agricultural sectors, fertilizer and pesticide stocks, and widespread food shortages. Australian and other permaculturists arriving in Cuba at the time began to distribute aid and taught their techniques to locals, who soon implemented them in fields, raised beds, and urban rooftops across the nation. Organic agriculture soon developed, supplanting the old industrialized form of agriculture Cubans had grown accustomed to. Relocalization, permaculture, and innovative modes of mass transit had to be rapidly developed. For a time, waiting for a bus could take three hours, power outages could last up to sixteen hours, food consumption was cut back to one-fifth of its previous level and the average Cuban lost about nine kilograms, or 20 pounds. The average daily dietary energy consumption of Cuban citizens during the periods of 1990–92 and 1995–97 were 2720 and 2440 kcal/person/day respectively. By 2003, average caloric intake had risen to 3280 kcal/person/day. According to the FAO, the average minimum daily energy requirement is about per person.
1994 protest
Thousands of Cubans protested in Havana on 5 August 1994, some chanting "Libertad!". The protest, in which some protesters threw rocks at police, was dispersed by the police after a few hours. A paper published in the Journal of Democracy argued that this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively.In response to the Maleconazo, Raúl Castro reinstated farmers markets. In these markets, farmers could sell surplus produce to the state to fulfill quotas. Though farmers were now incentivized to turn a profit on their crops, the markets they participated in were still heavily regulated and taxed. This, along with the price restrictions, ensured that the cost of goods would not escalate as it did in the 1980s.
International relations
During the early years of the crisis, United States law allowed humanitarian aid in the form of food and medicine by private groups. Then in March 1996, the Helms–Burton Act imposed further penalties on foreign companies doing business in Cuba, and allowed U.S. citizens to sue foreign investors who use American-owned property seized by the Cuban government.The Cuban government was also forced to contract out more lucrative economic and tourism deals with various Western European and South American nations in an attempt to earn the foreign currency necessary to replace the lost Soviet petroleum via the international markets. Additionally faced with a near-elimination of imported steel and other ore-based supplies, Cuba closed refineries and factories across the country, eliminating the country's industrial arm and millions of jobs. The government then proceeded to replace these lost jobs with employment in industrial agriculture and other homegrown initiatives, but these jobs often did not pay as well, and Cubans on the whole became economically poorer. Alternative transport, most notably the Cuban "camels", immense 18-wheeler tractor trailers retrofitted as passenger buses meant to carry hundreds of Cubans each, flourished. Food-wise, meat and dairy products, having been extremely fossil fuel dependent in their former factory farming methods, soon diminished in the Cuban diet. In a shift notable for being generally anathema to Latin American food habits, the people of the island by necessity adopted diets higher in fiber, fresh produce, and ultimately more vegan in character. No longer needing sugar as desperately for a cash crop—the oil-for-sugar program the Soviets had contracted with Cuba had, of course, dissipated—Cuba hurriedly diversified its agricultural production, utilizing former cane fields to grow consumables such as oranges and other fruit and vegetables. The Cuban government also focused more intensely on cooperation with Venezuela once the socialist Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998.
Long-term impact
From the start of the crisis to 1995, Cuba saw its gross domestic product shrink 35%, and it took another five years for it to reach pre-crisis levels, comparable to the length seen during the Great Recession in the United States, and five years shorter than the time it took in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Agricultural production fell 47%, construction fell by 75%, and manufacturing capacity fell 90%. Much of this decline stemmed from a stoppage in oil exports from the former Eastern Bloc.In response, the Cuban government implemented a series of austerity policies. The Cuban government eliminated 15 ministries, and cut defense spending by 86%. During this time, the government maintained and increased spending on various forms of welfare, such as healthcare and social services. From 1990 to 1994, the share of gross domestic product spent on healthcare increased 13%, and the share spent on welfare increased 29%. Such policy priorities have led to historian Helen Yaffe dubbing them "humanistic austerity".
Shortages
Agriculture
experienced deforestation and overuse of its agricultural land. Before the crisis, Cuba used more pesticides than the United States. Lack of fertilizer and agricultural machinery caused a shift towards organic farming and urban farming. Cuba still has food rationing for basic staples. Approximately 69% of these rationed basic staples are imported. Overall, however, approximately 16% of food is imported from abroad.Initially, this was a very difficult situation for Cubans to accept; many came home from studying abroad to find that there were no jobs in their fields. It was pure survival that motivated them to continue and contribute to survive through this crisis. The documentary, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, states that today, farmers make more money than most other occupations.
Due to a poor economy, there were many crumbling buildings that could not be repaired. These were torn down and the empty lots lay idle for years until the food shortages forced Cuban citizens to make use of every piece of land. Initially, this was an ad-hoc process where ordinary Cubans took the initiative to grow their own food in any available piece of land. The government encouraged this practice and later assisted in promoting it. Urban gardens sprang up throughout the capital of Havana and other urban centers on roof-tops, patios, and unused parking lots in raised beds as well as "squatting" on empty lots. These efforts were furthered by Australian specialists who were invited to the island in 1993 to teach permaculture, a sustainable agricultural system, and to "train the trainers", establishing a long-running NGO partnerships program of community engagement and capacity building funded by the Australian government.
Downtown Havana kiosks provided advice and resources for individual residents. Widespread farmers' markets gave easy access to locally grown produce; less travel time required less energy use.