What was “Rectification”?
A. “Rectification” was for Cuba what ‘Glasnost’ and ‘Perestroika’ was for Russia. The only difference was that it worked in Cuba and not in the Soviet Union. By 1986, the Cuban government knew that things were not right, that their system was not working. It was manifested in breeding domestic problems, popular discontent, and mass corruption. Foreign debt was increasing, a hard currency crisis was imminent, and Ronald Reagan, then the U.S. President, had taken a more aggressive stance against Cuba. Something had to be done. A year long discussion, involving the Cuban population, took place all over Cuba to identify and solve Cuba’s problems. The “Rectification” program implemented in 1987 came just in time for Cuba. It not only gave the State the opportunity to put their house in order but also the strength, two years later, to survive the demise of the Soviet Union.
