On February 16, the day that he assumed the position of Prime Minister (see “The Provisional Revolutionary Government of 1959” 9/19/2014), Fidel proposed to the Council of Ministers a reduction in the salary of the ministers by 50% and the elimination of a surplus payment that the ministers received for “Representation Expenses.” The proposal was approved that same day.
The Council of Ministers also approved on February 16 various measures that were designed to protect employment: a ban on the dismissal public employees; suspension of the dismissal of employees in the private sector, when this had been done to reduce costs; and restoration of employees that had been dismissed for this reason. These measures with respect to employment were designed to respond to the inquietudes of the people. In previous changes of government, there had been massive and arbitrary dismissal of public employees, in order to facilitate nepotism and the fulfillment of commitments made during electoral campaigns. And the British-owned Shell petroleum company in Cuba had provoked popular anxiety by announcing layoffs. This cost-cutting measure was made necessary by a boycott of British companies, which had been called by the 26th of July Movement in the Sierra Maestra, in response to the sale by the British government of airplanes and tanks to the Batista government. The conflict was resolved when the government annulled the boycott and Shell agreed to an increase in workers’ salaries. But it contributed to popular apprehension. In his encounter with the people during the month of January, Fidel had found that unemployment was among the highest concerns, and there was fear that the changing political situation could provoke the elimination of jobs (Buch and Suarez 2009:67-69, 83-84, 91).
On February 17, the Council of Ministers approved a law that made legal all acts that had been prosecuted as criminal acts during the period of March 10, 1952 to December 31, 1959, when such acts were directly or indirectly part of the movement against the Batista dictatorship (Buch and Suarez 2009:85).
On February 20, in response to efforts to create disorder by instigating peasants to occupy land, the Council approved a law stipulating that all persons who occupy land without waiting for the enactment of an agrarian reform law would forfeit their right to receive land under said law (Buch and Suarez 2009:86).
The Council on Ministers also approved on February 20 funding for the completion of construction of ten hospitals that had been left partially constructed as a result of corruption during the Batista government (Buch and Suarez 2009:87).
On February 28, Faustino Pérez, Minister of the newly created Ministry for the Recuperation of Embezzled Public Funds, proposed a law that confiscated the property of Batista and persons associated with the Batista regime. The Council approved the law on the same day, and it affected the property of Batista and his collaborators; officials of the armed forces that had participated directly in the coup of March 10, 1952; ministers of the Batista government during the period 1952 to 1958; members of the spurious Congress of 1954-58; and candidates in the sham elections of November 1958 (Buch and Suarez 2009:51, 88).
On March 3, the Council took action against the Cuban Telephone Company, a US-owned company that had been operating in Cuba since 1909. It approved a law authorizing government intervention in the affairs of the company, and it annulled an increase in telephone service rates that had been implemented on March 13, 1957 (Buch and Suarez 2009:89).
On March 19, the Council approved a law that reduced housing rents. A scale was established, with the lowest rents reduced to 50% and the highest rents reduced to 70% of their previous level (Buch and Suarez 2009:90).
In 1890, the Spanish Crown had declared the beaches available for public use. However, for decades this decree was rendered inoperable, as governments granted concessions along the coast to persons and societies of recreation of the bourgeoisie. On April 21, the Council abolished such concessions, returning the beaches to the people (Buch and Suarez 2009:92).
Thus, we see that in February, March and April of 1959, the Provisional Revolutionary Government, with Fidel as Prime Minister, took decisive steps in defense of the interests of the people and in accordance with popular desires: the reduction of salaries for ministers at the highest levels of government; protection of public employees and of employees in the private sector; reduction of housing rents and rates for telephone services; the confiscation of the property of Batista and members of the Batista dictatorship; and the cancellation of concessions to bourgeois recreation societies, and the opening of the beaches to the people. The most significant step, however, lay ahead. The Agrarian Reform Law would strike at the heart of the neocolonial relation, and it would mark a definitive break with the bourgeoisie, as we will see in subsequent posts.
Buch Rodríguez, Luis M. and Reinald Suárez Suárez. 2009. Gobierno Revolucionario Cubano: Primeros pasos. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.
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