Health care and education under the Batista dictatorship and changes in cuban politics after the revolution

Abstract

The article analyzes how public health and education policies in Cuba during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar (1952/1958) did not address the concerns and needs of the people. This situation led to the suffering of curable diseases, premature deaths of children, illiteracy and the non-participation of society in solving these problems. After the Revolution (from 1959), significant changes were made to improve health and education, such as the literacy campaign, programs that guaranteed universal and free access to these services with quality, transformed into fundamental rights, with a focus on preventive and community work, where the comprehensive education system has become a reference for other peoples. It should be noted that after more than 60 years of U.S. economic blockade, COVID-19, as well as other internal limiting factors, have had a negative impact on the economic and social life of the country, while at the same time they have been a stimulus to maintain resistance in the country and to develop innovations.