• Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • About
  • Contact

Cold War

Before, During, and After the Cold War

  • Podcast
  • Red Scare
  • Cuba
  • Iran
  • Urbanization
  • Spy
  • Afghanistan
  • Taiwan
  • Vietnam
  • Timelines

HAVANA 1970 REDUX

February 8, 2012 by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe

Soviet Influence on Havana Harbor

By the beginning of the 1970s, Soviet advisors were a common sight on the streets of Havana.

Carmelo Mesa-Lago estimates the in the summer of 1971 there were approximately 3,000 Soviet technicians and military advisors in Cuba. They were  particularly visible in the Vedado section of  the city around the University of Havana.

By 1973, 1500 Cubans  — 85% of them engineers and technicians — were being trained in the USSR. This number was about equal to all Cubans studying there from 1961-71.

Cuba’s total debt to the Soviet Union in 1972 was approximately $4 billion and Cuba’s merchant marine carried only 7-8% of the island’s trade — most of the rest was carried by Soviet vessels.

The Soviet presence reflected, in part, the establishment in December 1970 of a Cuban-Soviet Commission on Economic, Scientific, and Technical Collaboration. The Commission was based at the University of Havana and its task was to help in restructuring inefficient Cuban institutions based on a Soviet prototype.

Jorge Dominguez spells out “how vast and decisive Soviet influence would become” as a result of the establishment of this commission.

The group was to coordinate the efforts of the Cuban Ministries of Foreign Trade, Merchant Marine and Ports, Basic Industries, and Mining and Metallurgy and of the Central Planning Board, the Agency for Agricultural Development (DAP), the Agricultural Mechanization Agency, the Institutes of Fishing and of Civil Aeronautics, and the Electric Power Enterprise. The commission itself would become a new agency and prod Cuba toward further bureaucratization and centralization of power. All the agencies it coordinated would have to establish systematic, formal bureaucratic procedures under the guidance of Soviet technicians (whose numbers in Cuba consequently increased vastly in the early 1970s) in order to make effective use of Soviet assistance. Moreover, the agencies and their individual leaders would not deal with issues on an ad hoc basis, as in the past, but through the intermediary of the new superagency.

Around the same time, Soviet economic models were also becoming more pervasive.

Technical assistance was provided to a new state planning board by about 3,000 Soviet advisers.

In 1972, Cuba joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON — the Soviet common market.

In 1975, Cuba began implementing the Soviet directed System for Economic Management and Planning (SDPE).

Membership in the CMEA, according to Dominguez, “both permitted and required international coordination of Cuba’s economy and therefore very extensive planning.”

Frank T. Fitzgerald said the action was particularly important because it meant that

beginning with Cuba’s first five-year plan of 1976-1980. Cuba’s plans were coordinated with those of other CMEA countries, and the price of Cuban sugar exports to the Soviet Union was indexed to the prices of Cuban imports, especially petroleum, from that country.

The new system required adherence to strict Soviet guidelines which dictated that sugar would remain the principal sector of the economy.

Photograph by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe.

Filed Under: Cuba

About Lisa Reynolds Wolfe

Widely published, Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Politics from New York University and a Master of Science in Policy Analysis and Public Management from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Areas of particular interest and expertise include Cold War Studies, sustainable development, heritage, and the environment.

Follow Us On Twitter

Cold War Studies Follow

A Cold War historian, Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Politics from New York University and a MS in Policy Analysis and Public Management from SUNY Stony Brook.

Avatar
Avatar Cold War Studies @coldwarstudies ·
29 Jan

11 Places to Explore Spycraft @atlasobscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/history-of-spies

Reply on Twitter 1619760825916604417 Retweet on Twitter 1619760825916604417 Like on Twitter 1619760825916604417 Twitter 1619760825916604417
Avatar Cold War Studies @coldwarstudies ·
29 Jan

Inside Cold War spy Kim Philby's life - sex, deception and double-dealing https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inside-cold-war-spy-kim-29074870?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Reply on Twitter 1619760444658565120 Retweet on Twitter 1619760444658565120 Like on Twitter 1619760444658565120 Twitter 1619760444658565120
Avatar Cold War Studies @coldwarstudies ·
28 Jan

Check out this article from @nytimes. Because I'm a subscriber, you can read it through this gift link without a subscription. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/opinion/sunday/knitting-fabric-michelle-obama.html?unlocked_article_code=1ew_IOkoQKL6pwCvaRQwqw7kaWYxQwBmX4RM8ZwtFdZYqpOghTnXUxbK7NmSwILpgVkTsehpl3Au4GhqUs1-dQP4onemJRdEVXYlONemCl8eqaGxUhfyGFeV0mwhRgrGJBllB6l7bc09s40JuyYDCn-Pzj_QRnzJRPcBVqRfaOwmRVceyoxIxg3hjSG4aJC0jFK7rVqZ3d-HPGkCAInMKNtJNaRye6_h-msXKJWjY1ipfpuF4gvQQjACg6r618EQKLx4kY3mXwdfk4DYZAbtqtAoHTE9btePy6OljFN7QC_ZDdcEA_0JCp2Cqwlnrht_EQUuLBsVhjEs-doVEvBw0WJ9hFHqwu9kVp9GTguk1Q&smid=tw-share

Reply on Twitter 1619318960922714113 Retweet on Twitter 1619318960922714113 Like on Twitter 1619318960922714113 Twitter 1619318960922714113
Avatar Cold War Studies @coldwarstudies ·
25 Jan

Cold War Nuclear Bunker Lures Tourists Worried About New Threats https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/world/canada/diefenbunker-museum-ottawa.html?smid=tw-share

Reply on Twitter 1618235296033943554 Retweet on Twitter 1618235296033943554 Like on Twitter 1618235296033943554 Twitter 1618235296033943554
Load More

Affiliate Disclosure

Cold War Studies is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn a small commission by advertising and linking to amazon.com. You never pay more if you puchase your Amazon product from one of our links. Thanks for supporting Cold War Studies!

 

How Much Do You Know About the Cold War?

Want to find out how much you really know about the Cold War. Click here to take our quiz. 

 

Most Popular Posts

Cold War Fashion: The Early Years (1950s-1960s)

History of Colonization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Precursor to Cold War Conflict

Cold War Chile

The Rise of Fast Fashion: Globalization and Waste

The Red Scare

10 Little Known Facts About the Peace Sign

Immigration to the US During the Cold War

The First Red Scare: A Timeline

Korean War Music

Cold War Argentina: The Dirty War

The Cold War: Decolonization and Conflict in the Third World

Check Out Our Red Scare White Paper

Read all about the Red Scare. Just click on the cover below.

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in