Cuban Revolution, Cold War and Collapse of the Soviet Union
When the Cuban Revolution triumphed in 1959, the country was already marked by inequality and dependence. United States companies controlled much of the economy, including sugar, electricity and telecommunications, while the government of Fulgencio Batista, a military strongman who had returned to power through a coup in 1952, represented corruption and repression. In that setting, Fidel Castro’s movement appeared as a promise of justice, independence and dignity.
After taking power, the new government launched a broad programme of nationalisations, meaning the transfer of privately owned businesses and land, many of them foreign, into state ownership. These measures provoked the suspension of Cuba’s sugar quota by Washington and the imposition of a trade embargo. Havana then turned to the Soviet Union, sealing its entry into the socialist bloc and turning the island into a stage of the Cold War. The missile crisis of 1962 consolidated Cuba’s strategic role but also its reliance on Soviet support. For three decades, Moscow supplied oil and credit while Cuba exported its revolutionary ideals abroad.
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a turning point. Without subsidies or preferential trade, the Cuban economy shrank and entered the “Special Period”. Blackouts lasted for hours, public transport collapsed, and food shortages spread. The government reacted by allowing limited market reforms, legalising the dollar and opening the tourism sector to foreign investment. These measures prevented total collapse but created new inequalities between those who earned hard currency, and those who depended on the state.
In the early 2000s, Venezuela became a crucial partner by supplying oil in exchange for doctors, which offered temporary relief. However, as the Venezuelan economy faltered, Cuba again faced the limits of its dependence. Since then, the lack of investment, the deterioration of infrastructure and internal corruption have kept the country trapped between hardship and immobility.
Sanctions and Isolation
United States sanctions, now in their seventh decade, remain the most visible form of external pressure. First imposed in 1962 and reinforced through later laws such as Torricelli and Helms Burton, they have restricted Cuba’s trade and access to finance. Washington continues to justify them as a defence of democracy and human rights, yet the outcome has been contradictory. The embargo has weakened the population but failed to bring political change.
Every year, the United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly against it, condemning these measures, the latest resolution being approved by 165 countries, with only seven opposed and 12 abstaining. Although the vote has no binding effect, it highlights the diplomatic isolation of the United States on this issue. Meanwhile, the embargo is routinely invoked by the Cuban authorities as an explanatory factor for economic and social difficulties.
At the same time, Russia and China have both increased their presence on the island. Moscow seeks to restore influence in the Caribbean through energy cooperation, while Beijing funds infrastructure and telecommunication projects. The European Union follows a cautious balance, criticising abuses but keeping economic dialogue. In Latin America, responses remain split. Countries like Mexico, Colombia, and, at times, Brazil frame Cuba as a partner within regional solidarity. In contrast, others, such as Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica, emphasise democratic standards and maintain a more critical distance. Cuba continues to be a symbol, more powerful in discourse than in material weight, a state that embodies defiance even as it faces deep internal fragilities.
Internal Consequences
The Cuban economy is in prolonged decline. Inflation exceeds 200 percent, and the national currency, the peso, has collapsed, with most families spending almost everything they earn on food. State stores are empty, and the informal market has become essential. Domestic production is stagnant while imports consume the little hard currency available.
Tourism, the primary source of income, has collapsed. The Cuban regime doubled its investment in hotels and restaurants this year. Nonetheless, according to records from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), there has been a 20.5 percent drop in total visitors since last year. Constant blackouts, the deterioration of hotels, and unreliable services have driven away international travellers. In addition, the last hurricane season further damaged key infrastructure along the northern coast and deepened the sense of collapse.
Almost half of Cuba has faced prolonged blackouts caused by failures in seven of the country’s sixteen thermoelectric units, including the Antonio Guiteras plant, the largest in the system. Hurricane Melissa brought further destruction in Santiago de Cuba, the second most populous province, where houses collapsed and crops were lost. Communication services were cut, and power lines fell, exposing once again how vulnerable the national grid has become. What used to be an occasional inconvenience is now part of daily life, and electricity has turned into a privilege rather than a certainty.
Furthermore, the crisis’s social impact is severe. Poverty is widespread, affecting almost 90 percent of the population, and medicines are scarce, with many Cubans struggling to cover their most basic needs. Outbreaks of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya have spread across several provinces, forcing the National Ballet of Cuba to suspend performances after dozens of dancers fell ill. The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported more than 20,000 cases of chikungunya and announced fumigation campaigns and clinical trials of the drug Jusvinza. However, citizens have denounced failures in fumigation, shortages of medicines, and corruption in the health services. The situation reflects a sustained expansion of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and a growing epidemiological emergency across the country.
The protests of July 2021, the largest since the Revolution, exposed the depth of frustration. The state responded with arrests, trials and censorship. Since then, surveillance over activists, artists and independent journalists has increased, and emigration has become the main escape route. Nearly a quarter of the population has left the island, most of them young and educated. The exodus has weakened the health and education systems, once the pride of the Revolution, and reshaped Cuban society itself. The official narrative continues to call for unity against external enemies, but the distance between words and daily life grows wider each year.
Conclusion
Cuba stands between resistance and stagnation. The state remains in control but its legitimacy is fading. The economy survives without vitality, and the population adapts without confidence in change. The embargo continues to obstruct recovery, yet it no longer explains the depth of the crisis. What the country lacks is a plan for development and a political pact that can turn dissent into participation instead of punishment. In the medium term, three paths seem possible. One is the continuation of authoritarianism with small reforms. Another is an economic opening without political change, similar to Vietnam’s model. The third, more distant but not impossible, is a broader transition driven by social pressure and the diaspora. None of these scenarios appears close, but all are conceivable. After seven decades of sanctions and endurance, Cuba’s greatest challenge is no longer simply to resist but to reconcile sovereignty with well-being, memory with future and survival with hope.
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