Video: CUBA Celebrates 50 Years of Agrarian Reform

[magbana]

Of all the footage of the Cuban revolution there are two events that bring tears to my eyes every time. The first is the literacy program where you see scenes of young Cubans teaching very old Cubans how to read and right. The second is the campesinos lined up by the hundreds to get their piece of the pie -- implementation of Cuba's agrarian reform laws. The following URL is an excerpt of Estela Bravo's film "Fidel" and if you go to 7:25 you will see the distribution of land to the campesinos. If you watch to the end (only 90 seconds longer) you will see Fidel's oldest brother Ramon talking about Fidel's father being required to cough up land and Fidel himself talking about the importance of agrarian reform.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihd7UTQACM&feature=channel

magbana


Below is a short article from Prensa Latina

"Cuba Celebrates 50 Years Agrarian Reform PDF Imprimir E-Mail

viernes, 15 de mayo de 2009
15 de mayo de 2009, 16:20Imagen activaHavana, May 15 (Prensa Latina) Peasants, workers and Cuban young people are putting the final touches on preparations to celebrate this weekend the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of the first Law of Agrarian Reform in Cuba.
Labor centers, and construction and agricultural sites will hold a national day of voluntary work Sunday in commemoration of the regulations signed by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, on May 17 1959.

The mobilization, explained Salvador Valdes, secretary general of the Cuban Workers Central Trade Union Confederation (CTC), is part of the campaign celebrating 50 years of the first voluntary work brigade, lead by the Argentinean-Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara.

The efforts of the participants will be centered on the production of food, construction of houses, and the reparation and cleaning of various locations.

The first Agrarian Reform Law opened the way for structural transformations in agriculture and took Cuba further along the path of social justice.

The legislation condemned large estates, outlawed the foreign ownership of land, and gave the property to those who worked it, as well as socialized arable areas.

With the new laws the maximum amount of land one could possess, for all natural or artificial persons, was in 402.6 hectares.

Historical documents point out that more than 100,000 rural families became legitimate owners of their lands due to the new laws.

Also, it allowed for the transfer of 40 percent of the arable areas, which were then transformed into state farms, state property."
http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83483&Itemid=1