ABSTRACT
Cuba's pre-revolutionary situation differed from that of other Latin American countries. Cuban income and literacy figures were high for the continent. Cuba carried revolutionary socialism to the New World, thus acquiring truly world-historic significance. Contrasting with the simple land-to-the-tiller reforms of Mexico and Bolivia, the Cuban government collectivised the expropriated estates rather than divide them among the workers. Cuba's pre-revolutionary situation differed from that of other Latin American countries. Contrasting strongly with the generally weak, under-staffed, under-financed reform institutes of other Latin American countries, National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA) has become a strong, autonomous agency for planning virtually the whole of national farm policy. INRA, the land reform organisation, became the revolutionary government's most important organ, a virtual state within the State. The state owned the land; labour was paid wages, with no share in profits, all of which accrued to INRA.
