Interview with Orlando Lugo, president of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the First Agrarian Reform Act

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GRANMA INTERNATIONAL Havana

IN Cuba, 35% of arable land is in the hands of farmers and members of farming cooperatives, grouped into 3,500 grass-roots agricultural associations.

The campesino-cooperative sector produces 96% of the tobacco harvested in Cuba; 75% of corn; 72% of beans; 64% of cacao; 56% of vegetables; 48% of tubers and 70% of its pork. It also produces a large volume of milk and other produce.

Individual farmers provide nearly 50% of the food sold in the state farmers’ markets that operate under the supply and demand method.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the enactment of the First Agrarian Reform Act, signed by Fidel Castro on May 17, 1959. That law, with its profound economic and social content, transformed all of Cuba.

Ever since his defense statement during the trial of participants in the assault on the Moncada Garrison in 1953, Fidel had constantly denounced the terrible situation of Cuban campesinos under the Batista dictatorship, when 200,000 of them labored on land that didn’t belong to them, and lost their families to hunger and disease.

Fidel signed the First Agrarian Reform Act in the modest home of a campesino in La Plata, in the Sierra Maestra. There, in that mountainous region of eastern Cuba, the Rebel Army had its headquarters during the struggle against the dictatorship.

The Agrarian Reform Act not only had great importance for campesinos, but for all Cubans, affirmed Orlando Lugo Fonte, president of the National Association of Small Farmers and member of the Council of State, in an interview with Granma International.

Before 1959, 80% of the island’s finest arable land was in the hands of a group of U.S. companies.

“Fidel has said that Cuba began to belong to the Cubans on May 17, 1959, even though revolutionary power was won by the Rebel Army on January 1 of that year,” Lugo commented.

“The latifundia were organized into people’s farms, which were later incorporated into the development programs for citrus fruits, rice, cattle breeding and coffee, among other food-production plans for the population.

“When the enemies of the Revolution perceived the content of that legal measure was, they realized that this was truly a revolution of the poor and for the poor.”

What reaction did that First Agrarian Reform Act provoke in relations with the United States?

“It accelerated the plans of aggression against Cuba. It was because of that law that they took away our sugar quota. They divided the quota of sugar previously imported from Cuba among the Latin American countries that supported Cuba’s expulsion from the Organization of American States (OAS). They also refused to refine Russian oil on the island and so those industries had to be nationalized.

“The majority of large landowners betrayed the Revolution and sided with the United States in its efforts to destroy it. To a large degree that agricultural bourgeoisie began to conspire and create difficulties for the revolutionary process and it was necessary to make a strong stand against that situation.”

On October 3, 1963, the Second Agrarian Reform Act was enacted, and this one limited land ownership to only 66 hectares. That was the second devastating blow to the agricultural bourgeoisie.

What other benefits did the Agrarian Reform Act bring to the campesinos?

“It not only turned over the land to them, it also provided them with many facilities for their economic and social development. A credit law was immediately passed, giving them access to bank loans at a 4% interest rate. I’ve seen countries that charge up to 25% interest for that type of credit.

“The state agricultural enterprises buy all the campesinos’ crops. In some countries, farmers are afraid to sow on credit, because later they don’t have buyers for their crops and thus are unable to pay off their loans.

“The state buys their crops at prices based on a cost index that leaves a margin for profit. Farmers have been sold material resources that include irrigation systems, machinery and supplies such as fuel and fertilizer, although they are limited to a certain extent now because of the economic situation.

“In case of natural disaster, producers are protected by a Social Security law that assumes crop losses, whether these are due to cyclones or drought.

“The Cuban Parliament approved a land inheritance act, so that when a campesino dies, the relatives living and working on his land can inherit his assets.

“The cooperatives have veterinarians and technical engineers educated free of charge in Cuban universities.

“Handing over the land is not everything; the most important part is the government’s will to change the standard of living for campesinos.”

How many campesinos now own their land in Cuba?

“Our country is accused of not allowing the existence of a private sector and that everything belongs to the State. However, the First Agrarian Reform Act created the largest private sector after the Revolution. Some 200,000 campesinos became the owners of their farms, because everyone who worked the land received a parcel of land for their livelihood.

“The Revolution has always respected the campesinos. During the 5th ANAP Congress, it was decided to create socialist forms of production, which are the Agricultural Production Cooperatives (CPA).

“Fidel said that that process should be a totally voluntary one, that nobody should be forced to socialize their land. Some 100,000 campesinos decided to organize themselves into the CPA and another 100,000 preferred to remain in the Credit and Services Cooperatives (CCS), where they continue to be individual owners, while those in the CPA are collective ones.”

What are the differences in the way the State treats those distinct forms of production?

“There is no difference in treatment, whether they belong to the CPA or the CCS. The prices of resources sold by state enterprises are the same for all; bank interest rates and taxes are also identical.

“The collective land owners and the private ones have the same rights.

“Currently, the total of both individual farmers and cooperative members is around 200,00, but families who work alongside them may belong to ANAP, an organization that currently has 325,000 members.

“Starting 1994, the Ministry of Agriculture approved several resolutions to hand over idle land, thus providing incentives for growing tobacco, coffee and cacao, which are all characterized by requiring a family’s attention. Farms that had land appropriate for those crops, but lacked a labor force for their cultivation were granted in usufruct.

“Many people who were the descendants of campesinos, or former farmers who had gone to work in the cities saw an opportunity to return to their ancestors’ customs, to raise animals, produce food and obtain an income at that time higher than what they earned in the city. We should remember that 1994 was a very hard year of economic crisis.

“In addition to these resolutions, a number of legal agencies emerged to extend land rights for high-performing individual farmers and efficient cooperatives with neighboring non-exploited tracts, on a loan basis.

“Another measure adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture was handing over parcels of land in usufruct to families for their own sustenance. Afterwards, they were permitted to market surplus products in the supply-and-demand markets.

“Those small farmers now number 150,000, and the large majority of them have joined ANAP; Credit and Service Cooperatives have even been organized for those producers.”

What is the average level of education among the island’s campesinos?

“Of the 3,500 CPA and CCS cooperatives in Cuba, only four campesino leaders have not reached grade 12. The current average level is at least 9th grade.

“The average age of ANAP members is around 43 and some 30% of our members are young, 30 to 32 years old.

“There is now a new generation of campesinos. When the socialist forms of production - the CPA’s - were created, 95% of the campesinos who joined were the owners of their lands, that is to say, they contributed their land. Since then, many of those campesinos have died. Now, 98% of CPA members are not the former owners themselves who gave their land to the cooperatives, but rather their descendants and relatives.

“We have cooperatives located on the outskirts of the capital that sell fresh produce every week directly to the 120 education and health centers in Havana.

“All cooperatives have a family doctor’s office. Many campesinos’ children have grown up to become doctors, lawyers and professors, because it was possible for them to study what they wanted to free of any charge.

“We campesinos will always be indebted to the Revolution, because it more than fulfilled what Fidel promised in the Moncada program.”

In its first article, the 1st Agrarian Reform Act proscribed the latifundia. It limited the possession of land to 60 caballerías (402 hectares). Land that was the property of one individual company and exceeded that limit was expropriated for its distribution among the campesinos and landless farm workers. The Realengos (state property) were divided up among the campesinos. Private rented land was handed over to those who were actually working it, as long as it did not exceed parcels of five caballerías (67 hectares).

Before 1959, 9% of the landowners possessed 73% of the total arable land. Just five of the large sugar companies encompassed 18.14% of the country’s territory. Prior to 1959, 70% of Cuban campesinos were not the owners of the land they worked. This majority of campesinos were renters, sub-renters or tenant farmers, who in exchange for laboring on land that didn’t belong to them, had to pay rent in money or in kind to the owners. In 1958, infant mortality among infants up to one year was 60 for every 1,000 live births. Today, that health indicator in Cuban territory stands at six, and in campesino regions in the mountains there are places that report zero deaths. Formerly, half the rural population could not read or write. Today, the rural population has access to education free of charge.