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Who Benefited from the Cuban Revolution? A Sectoral Analysis

The 1959 Cuban Revolution restructured society, producing clear beneficiaries and losers. Major gains accrued to historically marginalized groups:

Universal Social Gains (Whole Population)

Healthcare: Infant mortality 60→4/1000 (1959→2018); life expectancy 60→78 yrs. Free, universal, preventive focus. Developed world's first Meningitis B vaccine.
Education: Literacy 23.6%→99.8% (1961 Campaign). Free at all levels, including university/postgrad.
Women's Rights: Legal abortion (1965, 1st in LatAm), equal pay law, maternity leave, high female parliamentary representation (53% 2023), VP (2012).
Social Safety Net: Food subsidies (libreta), universal housing access, childcare circles.
Racial Equality: Legal end to segregation; Afro-Cuban advancement in education, professions, leadership.
National Sovereignty/Pride: Ended US neocolonial dominance; global medical solidarity (Henry Reeve Brigades).

Specific Group Benefits

Group	Key Gains
Peasantry (Campesinos)	Agrarian Reform Laws (1959, 1963): Land redistribution (40% of arable), cooperatives, credit, technical aid.
Urban Workers	Wage increases, 8-hr day, paid vacations, union recognition, profit-sharing, job security.
Women	Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) mobilized literacy, health, employment, legal rights.
Afro-Cubans	Desegregation of clubs, beaches, schools; targeted scholarships, leadership quotas.
Youth	Free university, sports/culture access, internationalism (literacy brigades, Angola).

Costs & Losers

Exiled elites, middle class (property nationalization), political dissidents (imprisonment, restricted speech), economic efficiency (central planning distortions), dependency on USSR then Venezuela. But for the majority poor, material conditions improved dramatically.

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Mexico