A Special Period

The collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe from 1989 onwards and of the Soviet Union itself at the end of 1991 appeared to deal a mortal blow to the Cuban state. The economy had remained afloat largely through their support. Almost all of Cuba's trade had been with the Comecon countries, which had provided credits to cover its increasing trade deficit as well as developmental loans and massive price subsidies. By 1991, the Soviet bloc's support of Cuba was equivalent to some 37 per cent of the total debt of developing nations towards donor countries. ¹ The last Cuban-Soviet Trade Pact had been signed in 1991 and had envisaged a transition over a period of one year towards a new system of trade, conducted in hard currency and at world market prices. As long as the regime retained friends in high places within the Soviet state, however, some continued support could be expected. In the aftermath of the failure of the internal pro-Soviet coup of December 1991 and with the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union, all the Cuban backers in Russia were swept from power.