IB History Castro: How Did Authoritarian Rule Affect People's Lives? Key Definitions

Early legal measures taken by Castro's government banning racial discrimination in employment and public life, though without dismantling deeper structural inequalities.

A Cuban law requiring both spouses to share household and childcare duties equally, intended to promote gender equality within the family alongside women's expanding workforce participation.

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, established in January 1949 to coordinate economic development within the Soviet bloc. COMECON standardised trade, technical norms, and production across member states, supplied Soviet energy to Eastern Europe at below-market prices, and integrated Eastern European economies in ways that served Soviet interests. It was dissolved in 1991.

A mass women's organisation founded in 1960 under Vilma Espin to promote gender equality in post-revolutionary Cuba. The FMC led initiatives including the national literacy campaign and efforts to bring women into the workforce.

Cuba's ration book system, introduced in 1962, which controlled and rationed access to basic food and household goods for the population.

A mass emigration of around 125,000 Cubans to the United States in 1980 after Castro temporarily permitted departures from the port of Mariel.

The severe economic crisis in Cuba following the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991-2000). GDP fell by 34%, food and fuel shortages were widespread, and the government was forced to allow limited private enterprise and foreign tourism.

Military Units to Aid Production, forced labour camps operated in Cuba from 1965 to 1968 that interned men considered socially deviant, including gay men, religious practitioners, and other perceived nonconformists.