ABSTRACT
In socialist countries, all social services are largely public services in that the scope and depth of private initiatives are dwarfed by the ubiquitous presence and coverage of the state. Furthermore, in Cuba the domain of public services extends well beyond the traditional agenda which includes education, health care, electric and water utilities, transportation, and recreational facilities. This chapter reviews the government’s provision of rural public services in socialist Cuba. It presents an overview of prerevolutionary conditions and an outline of revolutionary objectives in this area. In prerevolutionary Cuba, there were vast disparities in social and economic conditions between the cities and the countryside. Available information on education, health, and housing reveals similar or greater inequalities. The rural illiteracy rate was almost four times that in urban areas. One of the major policy thrusts early in the revolutionary period was to effect a massive redistribution of income, employment, and public services from the cities to the countryside.
