Agrarian reform prohibits foreign ownership of farmland

The long Washington meeting exposed differing expectations about elections, economic policy and the future relationship between Cuba and the United States.

The unofficial visit revealed both international enthusiasm for the revolution and growing conflict over elections, property and communism.

At an inter-American economic meeting in Buenos Aires, he called for large-scale investment to overcome poverty and dependence.

The law limited large estates, redistributed land and created a framework for cooperatives and state farms. It struck at concentrated and foreign landownership.

The National Institute of Agrarian Reform became a major instrument of economic and political transformation in the countryside.

The programme aimed to turn tenants and precarious cultivators into landholders while also organizing cooperatives on large estates.

A confrontation over the revolution’s direction ended with Urrutia’s resignation after Castro publicly denounced his anti-communist position.

The Council of Ministers selected Osvaldo Dorticós to replace Urrutia, while effective leadership remained centred on Castro.

Large numbers of rural workers and beneficiaries of agrarian reform joined the anniversary celebration of the Moncada attack.

The appointment placed the reorganization of Cuba’s military institutions under a central leader of the guerrilla struggle.