Vom Vereins- zum Staatssport: Der Transformationsprozess des kubanischen Sportsystems in den ersten Jahren der Ära Fidel Castro (1959–1962)

Abstract

Based on numerous primary sources, this article provides a detailed analysis of the political and organizational upheavals that sports experienced in Cuba in the early years of the Fidel Castro era. It first shows to what degree the revolutionary government’s ambitious sports policy, which aimed at mass sports right from the start, represented a radical change from the Batista era. In the first phase, in which the restoration of democracy still seemed possible, the State institution Dirección General de Deportes (DGD) cooperated with bourgeois sports associations. The latter, however, were progressively eroded as a result of the increasing competition they faced from the free DGD offers, as well as the emigration of many of their members, coaches and officials. The establishment of a ministry with complete control of sports on February 23, 1961 took place on the one hand in continuity with the developments of the previous two years, and on the other hand, as part of the socialist transformation of society. From then on, all sport activities, both at local and national level, were organized under the control of the State and the revolutionary organizations. The article places the emphasis on amateur sports, but the elimination of professional sport, which happened soon afterwards, will also be discussed.