Grey years

The grey years in Cuba refer to a loosely defined period in Cuban history that is generally agreed to have started with the Padilla affair in 1971. The period has been termed and dated as the quinquenio gris ("five grey years"), the decada negra ("black decade"), or the trinquenio amargo ("bitter fifteen years"). The period occurred during the tenure of Luis Pavón Tamayo as the head of the National Cultural Council. The period is generally defined by cultural censorship, official demotion of artists, and the harassment of LGBT people.[1][2] The strengthening of internal repression inside Cuba was also occurring alongside greater influence from the Soviet Union in the political affairs and economy of Cuba.[3] This soviet influence lead to mimicry in Cuba's new laws and policies at the time.[4]

Fidel Castro giving a speech in Havana during the grey years (1973).

History

Background

By 1968 Cuba was entering a new political direction. The year was marked by the death of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro's support of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the total nationalization of all property and censorship of cultural actors in the "Revolutionary Offensive".[2] In 1970 the Cuban government organized all aspects of Cuban society to participate in a sugar can harvest to attempt to harvest ten million tons. When the harvest failed to reach its goal, Soviet influence in the economy increased. By 1972 there were around ten thousand Russians living in Havana, Russian replaced English as the business language of Cuba, and Cuba officially joined Comecon.[3]

Developments

The recognized beginning of the grey years came with the arrest of Heberto Padilla in April 27, 1971 for his 1968 book "In Hard Times" which criticized Cuban censorship. The Padilla affair stirred international outrage, and intellectuals Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Italo Calvino, Gabriel García Márquez, and others signed a protest letter in regard to the arrest. After the affair the National Cultural Council was reorganized and headed by Luis Pavón Tamayo which lead to the CNC being labeled the "Pavonato".[5]

In Fidel Castro's April 30, 1971 closing speech at the first National Congress of Education and Culture he criticized pseudo-leftists, "intellectual rats", and homosexuals.[2] The CNC would enact policies that targeted censored "high-risk" arts, specifically theatre. Artists who were not trusted ideologically, or considered homosexuals were marginalized. The aficionados movement was developed by the CNC which was a coordinated effort with political organizations in Cuba to disseminate instructors of Marxism Leninism and resist Ideological diversionism.[6]

Throughout the grey years campaigns of censorship against Ideological diversionism and counter-cultural expressions like long hair on men, were common.[5] Afro-Cuban culture, especially religions like Santeria and Palo were seen as an expression of counter-revolutionary black nationalism, and censored.[7] In 1975 the CNC working with Soviet advisors required that Marxism Leninism be taught by all educators in Cuba.[6] In 1976 a soviet-style constitution was adopted that centralized high leadership positions and consolidated power for the Communist Party of Cuba.[3]

Ending

Luis Pavón Tamayo stepped down from his position at the National Cultural Council in 1976. Pavon's leaving and the creation of a new Ministry of Culture is often held as the end of the grey years. Within Cuba other dates of the grey years exist which purport that cultural repression continued well after 1976.[5]

See also

References
  1. Humphreys, Laura-Zoë (2012). Symptomologies of the State: Cuba's 'Email War' and the Paranoid Public Sphere. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 197–213. doi:10.1057/9780230391345_12. ISBN 978-1-349-33380-6.
  2. Grenier, Yvon (November 11, 2017). Culture and the Cuban State: Participation, Recognition, and Dissonance Under Communism. Lexington Books. p. 31.
  3. Martin, Jorge; Roberts, John Peter (November 22, 2018). Permanent Revolution in Latin America: Cuba. Nicaragua. Venezuela. Wellred Books.
  4. Weppler-Grogan, Doreen (2010). "Cultural Policy, the Visual Arts, and the Advance of the Cuban Revolution in the Aftermath of the Gray Years". Cuban Studies. 41: 143–165. JSTOR 24487232.
  5. Chomsky, Aviva (2015). A History of the Cuban Revolution (PDF). John Wiley and Sons. p. 92.
  6. Gordon-Nesbitt, Rebecca (2015). To Defend the Revolution Is to Defend Culture: The Cultural Policy of the Cuban Revolution. PM Press. p. 92.
  7. Peters, Christabelle (2012). Cuban Identity and the Angolan Experience. Palgrave Macmillan.
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