|
Production
Post 1959 Cuba falls short in areas
of industrial production once prioritized by Soviet client states, such as
electricity production. Although Cuba has never been a regional leader in
public electricity production per capita, its relative ranking among 20
Latin American countries has fallen from eighth to 11th during the Castro
era. In fact, in terms of the rate of growth for this measure, Cuba ranks
19th of 20 countries in the region, with only Haiti showing less accelerated
development.
Cuba is the only country in Latin America whose production of rice has
fallen since 1958, when it ranked fourth in the region in production of this
staple. Two of the countries ranking ahead of Cuba in rice production in
1958 -- Colombia and Peru -- have since seen their rice production grow by
more than three fold. Cuba's Caribbean neighbor, the Dominican republic, has
increased its rice production by four fold since 1958. Perhaps even more
telling are Cuba's yields per hectare in rice production. Whereas the
Dominican Republic has increased rice yields from 2100 kg per hectare in
1958 to 5400 kg per hectare in 1996, Cuba's yields today are only 2500 kg
per hectare, a negligible increase from the 2400 kg per hectare registered
in 1958, according to UN FAO data.
|
LATIN AMERICA: RICE PRODUCTION |
|
|
(1,000 MT) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Average |
| |
|
|
|
Annual |
| |
|
|
|
Growth |
| |
1958 |
|
1996 |
(PERCENT) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
BRAZIL |
3829 |
|
10035 |
2.6 |
|
COLOMBIA |
378 |
|
1787 |
4.2 |
|
ECUADOR |
176 |
|
1346 |
5.5 |
|
PERU |
285 |
|
1203 |
3.9 |
|
ARGENTINA |
217 |
|
974 |
4.0 |
|
URUGUAY |
58 |
|
868 |
7.4 |
|
VENEZUELA |
22 |
|
733 |
9.7 |
|
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC |
99 |
|
555 |
4.6 |
|
MEXICO |
240 |
|
455 |
1.7 |
|
BOLIVIA |
11 |
|
296 |
9.1 |
|
PANAMA |
86 |
|
230 |
2.6 |
|
CUBA |
261 |
|
223 |
-0.4 |
|
NICARAGUA |
33 |
|
219 |
5.1 |
|
COSTA RICA |
34 |
|
186 |
4.6 |
|
CHILE |
102 |
|
154 |
1.1 |
|
PARAGUAY |
20 |
|
119 |
4.8 |
|
HAITI |
42 |
(A) |
96 |
2.3 |
|
EL SALVADOR |
27 |
|
51 |
1.7 |
|
HONDURAS |
21 |
|
41 |
1.8 |
|
GUATEMALA |
11 |
|
33 |
2.9 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
(A) - 1959. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOURCE: FAO YEARBOOK (UN) |
Foreign Trade AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
Cuba's exports have not kept pace with other countries of the region. Of the
20 countries in the region for which comparable IMF data are available, Cuba
ranks last in terms of export growth -- below even Haiti. Mexico and Cuba
had virtually identical export levels in 1958 -- while Mexico's population
was five times Cuba's. Since then, Cuba's exports have merely doubled while
Mexico's have increased by almost 130-fold, according to IMF statistics.
Cuba's exports in 1958 far exceeded those of Chile and Colombia, countries
which have since left Cuba behind. The lack of diversification of Cuba's
exports over the past 35 years also is remarkable, when compared with other
countries in the region.
Cuba's enviable productive base during the 1950's was strengthened by
sizable inflows of foreign direct investment. As of 1958, the value of U.S.
foreign direct investment in Cuba was $861 million, according to United
States government figures published in 1959. Adjusting for inflation that
foreign investment number amounts to more than USD 4.3 billion in today's
dollars.
Contrary to popular perception, U.S. investors were not focusing on the
sugar industry in the 1950's. U.S. firms began to gradually sell their Cuban
sugar holdings to Cuban firms beginning in 1935. By 1958, U.S. firms owned
fewer than 40 of Cuba's 161 mills. While U.S. firms were moving away from
sugar, they were rapidly investing in a range of other ventures, especially
in infrastructure development. According to U.S. government statistics, 41
percent of U.S. direct investments in Cuba were in utilities as of 1958.
|
LATIN AMERICA: TOTAL EXPORTS |
|
|
(MILLION USD) |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Average |
| |
|
|
Annual |
| |
|
|
Growth |
| |
1958 |
1996 |
(PERCENT) |
| |
|
|
|
|
MEXICO |
736 |
95991 |
14 |
|
PANAMA |
23 |
2722 |
13 |
|
ECUADOR |
95 |
5243 |
11 |
|
COSTA RICA |
92 |
3826 |
10 |
|
CHILE |
389 |
15396 |
10 |
|
BRAZIL |
1243 |
47747 |
10 |
|
PARAGUAY |
34 |
1282 |
10 |
|
HONDURAS |
70 |
2469 |
10 |
|
ARGENTINA |
994 |
23794 |
9 |
|
COLOMBIA |
461 |
10437 |
9 |
|
GUATEMALA |
103 |
2330 |
9 |
|
PERU |
291 |
5854 |
8 |
|
BOLIVIA |
65 |
1216 |
8 |
|
URUGUAY |
139 |
2397 |
8 |
|
VENEZUELA |
2319 |
23149 |
6 |
|
EL SALVADOR |
116 |
1020 |
6 |
|
NICARAGUA |
71 |
621 |
6 |
|
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC |
136 |
886 |
5 |
|
HAITI |
48 |
181 |
4 |
|
CUBA |
732 |
1831 |
2 |
| |
|
|
|
|
SOURCE: IMF DIRECTION OF TRADE STATISTICS. |
As the numbers above imply, Cuba had a very
favorable overall balance of payments situation during the 1950's,
contrasted with the tenuous situation today. In 1958, Cuba had gold and
foreign exchange reserves -- a key measure of a healthy balance of
payments--totaling $387 million in 1958 dollars, according to IMF
statistics. (That level of reserves would be worth more than 1.9 billion USD
in today's dollars.) Cuba's reserves were third in Latin America, behind
only Venezuela and Brazil, which was impressive for a small economy with a
population of fewer than 7 million people. Unfortunately, Cuba no longer
publishes information on its foreign exchange and gold reserves.
MASS MEDIA
It is no exaggeration to state that during the 1950's, the Cuban people were
among the most informed in the world, living in an uncharacteristically
large media market for such a small country. Cubans had a choice of 58 daily
newspapers during the late 1950's, according to the UN statistical yearbook.
Despite its small size, this placed Cuba behind only Brazil, Argentina, and
Mexico in the region. By 1992, government controls had reduced the number of
dailies to only 17.
There has also been a reduction in the number of radio and television
broadcasting stations, although the UN no longer reports these statistics.
However, it should be noted that in 1957, Cuba had more television stations
(23) than any other country in Latin America, easily outdistancing larger
countries such as Mexico (12 television stations) and Venezuela (10). It
also led Latin America and ranked eighth in the world in number of radio
stations (160), ahead of such countries as Austria (83 radio stations),
United Kingdom (62), and France (50), according to the UN statistical
yearbook.
[End of Document]
Michael E. Ranneberger
Coordinator for Cuban Affairs
Remarks at Friedrich Hayek University
Coral Gables, Florida, November 17, 1997
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