Soviet Union

The Soviet Union appears in Dark times for Cuba’s economic experiment as Cuba’s first major external patron after the 1959 revolution. The Planet Money episode says the Soviet Union bought Cuban goods above market value and sold Cuba oil below market value, letting Cuba’s state-led system survive under the U.S. embargo despite poverty and economic inefficiency.

The Soviet collapse in 1991 becomes the first major test of External Patron Dependence. The source says Cuba’s GDP fell by 35%, food became scarcer, and the Special Period began after cheap oil and favorable trade terms disappeared.

Connections

• Cuba and Fidel Castro - country and revolutionary context.
• External Patron Dependence - main concept illustrated by Soviet support and collapse.
• Oil Dependency Blackout Risk - later energy-vulnerability pattern foreshadowed by the loss of cheap Soviet oil.
• Venezuela - later oil lifeline that partially replaced Soviet support in the episode’s history.