The Special Period in Time of Peace in Cuba was an extended period of economic crisis that began in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early-to-mid 1990s before slightly declining in severity towards the end of the decade. It was defined primarily by the severe shortages of hydrocarbon energy resources in the form of gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum derivatives that occurred upon the implosion of economic agreements between the petroleum-rich Soviet Union and Cuba. The period radically transformed Cuban society and the economy, as it necessitated the successful introduction of sustainable agriculture, decreased use of automobiles, and overhauled industry, health, and diet countrywide. People were forced to live without many goods they had become used to.

Overview[link]

right|thumb|350px|The dissolution of the Soviet Union hit the Cuban economy severely. The country lost approximately 80% of its imports, 80% of its exports and its Gross Domestic Product dropped by 34 percent. Food and medicine imports stopped or severely slowed. The largest immediate impact was the loss of nearly all of the petroleum imports from the USSR; Cuba's oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts. Before this, Cuba had been re-exporting any Soviet petroleum it did not consume to other nations for profit, meaning that petroleum had been Cuba's second largest export product before 1990. Once the restored Russian Federation emerged from the former Soviet Union, its administration immediately made clear that it had no intention of delivering petroleum that had been guaranteed the island by the USSR; this resulted in a decrease in Cuban consumption to 20% of its previous level within two years. The effect was felt immediately. Entirely dependent on fossil fuels to operate, the major underpinnings of Cuban society—its transportation, industrial and agricultural systems—were paralyzed. There were extensive losses of productivity in both Cuban agriculture — which was dominated by modern industrial tractors, combines, and harvesters, all of which required petroleum to run — and in Cuban industrial capacity.

The early stages of the Special Period were defined by a general breakdown in transportation and agricultural sectors, fertilizer and pesticide stocks (both of those being manufactured primarily from petroleum derivatives), and widespread food shortages. Australian and other permaculturists arriving in Cuba at the time began to distribute aid and taught their techniques to locals, who soon implemented them in Cuban fields, raised beds, and urban rooftops across the nation. Organic agriculture was soon after mandated by the Cuban government, supplanting the old industrialized form of agriculture Cubans had grown accustomed to. Relocalization, permaculture, and innovative modes of mass transit had to be rapidly developed. For a time, waiting for a bus could take three hours, power outages could last up to sixteen hours, food consumption was cut back to one-fifth of their previous levels and the average Cuban lost about nine kilograms (twenty pounds). Although starvation was avoided, persistent hunger, something not seen since before the Cuban Revolution, suddenly became a daily experience, and initially, malnutrition in children under five was evident after just a few weeks of these food shortages.

At the time, United States law allowed humanitarian aid in the form of food and medicine by private groups. Then in March 1996, the Helms-Burton Act imposed further penalties on foreign companies doing business in Cuba, and allowed U.S. citizens to sue foreign investors who use American-owned property seized by the Cuban government. Due to the external factors contributing to the energy crisis in Cuba, the collapse of the USSR who had been their main source of petroleum and food imports, along with the various stages of the US embargo, this is referred to as an "artificial" peak oil.

The Cuban government was also forced to contract out more lucrative economic and tourism deals with various Western European and South American nations in an attempt to earn the foreign currency necessary to replace the lost Soviet petroleum via the international markets. Additionally faced with a near-elimination of imported steel and other ore-based supplies, Cuba closed refineries and factories across the country, eliminating the country's industrial arm and millions of jobs. The government then proceeded to replace these lost jobs with employment in industrial agriculture and other homegrown initiatives, but these jobs often did not pay as well, and Cubans on the whole became economically poorer. Alternative transportation, most notably the Cuban "camels" — immense 18-wheeler tractor trailers retrofitted as passenger buses meant to carry hundreds of Cubans each — flourished. Food-wise, meat and dairy products, having been extremely fossil fuel dependent in their former factory farming methods, soon diminished in the Cuban diet. In a shift notable for being generally anathema to Latin American food habits, the people of the island by necessity adopted diets higher in fiber, fresh produce, and ultimately more vegan in character. No longer needing sugar as desperately for a cash crop — the oil-for-sugar program the Soviets had contracted with Cuba had, of course, dissipated — Cuba hurriedly diversified its agricultural production, utilizing former cane fields to grow consumables such as oranges and other fruit and vegetables. The Cuban government also focused more intensely on cooperation with Venezuela once the socialist Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998.

Famine[link]

Nutrition fell from 3,052 calories per day in 1989 to 2,099 calories per day in 1993. Other reports indicate even lower figures, 1,863 calories per day. Some estimated that the very old and children received only 1,450 calories per day. The recommended minimum is 2,100–2,300 calories.

The Special Period's malnutrition created epidemics, but it had positive effects too. Manuel Franco describes the Special Period as "the first, and probably the only, natural experiment, born of unfortunate circumstances, where large effects on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality have been related to sustained population-wide weight loss as a result of increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake".

A paper in the American Journal of Epidemiology, says that "during 1997-2002, there were declines in deaths attributed to diabetes (51%), coronary heart disease (35%), stroke (20%), and all causes (18%). An outbreak of neuropathy and a modest increase in the all-cause death rate among the elderly were also observed." This was caused by how the population tried to reduce the energy store without reducing the nutritional value of the food.

A letter published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) criticizes the American Journal of Epidemiology for not taking all factors into account and says that "The famine in Cuba during the Special Period was caused by political and economic factors similar to the ones that caused a famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s. Both countries were run by authoritarian regimes that denied ordinary people the food to which they were entitled when the public food distribution collapsed; priority was given to the elite classes and the military. In North Korea, 3%–5% of the population died; in Cuba the death rate among the elderly increased by 20% from 1982 to 1993." The regime did not accept American donations of food, medicines and cash until 1993. Thirty thousand Cubans fled the country.

August 5th, 1994 protest[link]

Hundreds of Cubans protested in Havana on August 5, 1994, some chanting "Libertad!" ("Freedom"). The protest, in which some threw rocks at police, was dispersed by the police after a few hours. A paper published in the ''Journal of Democracy'' argues that this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively.

Government response[link]

Immediate actions taken by the government included televising an announcement of the expected energy crisis a week before the USSR notified the Cuban government that they would not be delivering the expected quota of crude oil. Citizens were asked to reduce their consumption in all areas and to use public transportation and carpooling. As time went on, more structured strategies were developed to manage what would turn out to be a long-term energy/economic crisis which would take them into the 21st century.

Food rations[link]

Food rations were intensified. Monthly allocations for families were based on basic minimum requirements as recommended by the United Nations. However, at the worst of times, the rations were only 1/5 of these consumption amounts.

Housing, land distribution, and urban planning [link]

The scarcity of tools, and building materials, and the cost of producing cement increased the pressure on already overcrowded housing. Even before the energy crisis, extended families lived in small apartments (many of which were in very poor condition) to be closer to an urban area. To help alleviate this situation, the government engaged in land-distribution where they supplemented larger government owned farms with privately owned ones. Small homes were built in rural areas and land was provided to encourage families to move and assist in food production for themselves and to sell in local farmers' markets. As the film "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" discusses, co-ops were developed which were owned and managed by groups, as well as creating opportunities for allowing them to form "service co-ops" where credit was exchanged and group purchasing power was used to buy seeds and other necessary items.

Transportation[link]

Cubans were accustomed to cars as a convenient mode of transportation. It was a difficult shift during the Special Period to adjust to a new way of managing the transportation of thousands of people to school, to work and to other daily activities. With the realization that food was the key to survival, transportation became a secondary worry and walking, hitch-hiking, and carpooling became the norm. Privately owned vehicles are not common; ownership is not seen as a right but as a privilege awarded for performance. Public transportation is creative and takes on the following forms:

Cars - old US cars common in Cuba are used as taxis to transport from six to eight passengers, stopping at locations as needed.

Trucks - canopies and steps were added to accommodate more passengers and protect them from the natural elements or open "dump-truck buses" are used.

Bikes - 1.2 million bicycles were purchased from China and distributed as well as another half a million produced in Cuba.

"Camels" - Conversion of semi-truck flatbeds into bus-like vehicles that hold up to 300 passengers.

Government vehicles pick up passengers as needed.

Horses and mules are used as well as bike and horse drawn carriages with taxi licenses are numerous both in rural and urban areas.

Convenience for the individual is secondary to efficient use of energy.

Agriculture[link]

Cuba's history of colonization included deforestation and overuse of its agricultural land. Before the crisis, Cuba used more pesticides than the U.S.. Much of their land was so damaged (de-mineralized and almost sand-like) that it took three to five years of intensely "healing" the soil with amendments, compost, "green manure", and practices such as crop rotation and inter-planting (mixed crops grown in same plot) to return it to a healthy state. Bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides have replaced most chemicals. Today, 80% of Cuba's produce is organically grown, successes that those interviewed in the documentary ''The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil'' were very proud of.

Another reason Cuba survived this crisis is the shift in their thinking from machine to manual labour. Abandoning their previous industrialized agricultural methods, tractors and other machinery were replaced with human and animal labor. Older farmers familiar with raising and training oxen trained others to increase those involved in food production. Chemical fertilizers were replaced with organic farming techniques which require more labor but less fossil fuels. Initially, this was a very difficult situation for Cubans to accept; many came home from studying abroad to find that there were no jobs in their fields. It was pure survival that motivated them to continue and contribute to survive through this crisis. The documentary states that today, farmers make more money than most other occupations.

Due to a poor economy, there were many crumbling buildings that could not be repaired. These were torn down and the empty lots lay idle for years until the food shortages forced Cuban citizens to make use of every piece of land. Initially, this was an ad-hoc process where ordinary Cubans took the initiative to grow their own food in whatever piece of land was available. The government encouraged this practice and later assisted in promoting it. Urban gardens sprung up throughout the capital of Havana and other urban centers on roof-tops, patios, and unused parking lots in raised beds as well as "squatting" on empty lots. These efforts were furthered by Australian agriculturalists that came to the island in 1993 to teach permaculture, a sustainable agricultural system, and to "train the trainers". The Cuban government then sent these teams throughout the country to train others.

"Kiosks" (farmers' markets) were set up in all communities to provide easy access to locally grown produce; less travel time required less energy use. These local markets provide 80-100% of the produce needed for that local community.

Other effects[link]

The ideological changes of the Special Period had effects on Cuban society and culture, beyond those on the country. A comprehensive review of these effects concerning ideology, art and popular culture can be found in Hernandez-Reguant's Cuba in the Special Period. As a result of increased travel and tourism, popular culture developed in new ways. Lisa Knauer, in that volume, describes the circulation of rumba between New York and Havana, and their mutual influences. Antonio Eligio Tonel has described the contemporary art networks that shaped the Cuban art market, and Esther Whitfield the channels through which Cuban literature accessed the wider Spanish speaking world during that period. Elsewhere, Deborah Pacini, Marc Perry, Geoffrey Baker and Sujatha Fernandes extensively wrote about rap music as a result of these transnational exchanges. In recent years, that is, not in the 1990s which is the period identified with the Special Period, reggaeton has replaced timba as the genre of choice among youth, taking on the explicitly sexual dance moves that originated with timba.

Whereas timba music was a Cuban genre that evolved out of traditional son and jazz, emphasizing blackness and sexuality through sensual dancing, with lyrics that reflected the socio-cultural situation of the period with humor [Hernandez-Reguant 2006], Cuban hip hop evolved as a socially conscious movement influenced heavily by its kin genre in the United States. Thus it was not so much a product of the Special Period -as timba was- as one of globalization.[Fernandes 2004] The Revolution and the blockage of all imports from the US had made the dissemination of American music difficult during the sixties and seventies, as it was often "tainted as music of the enemy and began to disappear from the public view." But all of that changed in the 1990s, when American rappers flocked regularly to Cuba, tourists brought CDs, and North American stations, perfectly audible in Cuba, brought its sounds. Nonetheless, hip hop circulated through informal networks, thus creating a small underground scene of rap enthusiasts located mostly in Havana's Eastern neighborhoods that called the attention of foreign scholars and journalists. Eventually, rappers were offered a space within state cultural networks. The lack of resources to purchase the electronic equipment to produce beats and tracks gives Cuban rap a raw feel that paralleled that of 'old school' music in the US.

See also[link]

''The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil'', a documentary film paralleling the Special Period's changes with the rest of the world's choices regarding global warming

Economy of Cuba

Rationing in Cuba

References[link]

Other sources[link]

Chavez, L. (2005). Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar; Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Chiddister, Diane. (2006, April 27). Film shows many ways Cuba reacted to peak oil crisis Yellow Springs News. Retrieved October 18, 2006

Heinberg, R. (2003). The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. Canada: New Societies Publishers

Hernandez-Reguant, A., ed.(2009). Cuba in the Special Period. Culture and Ideology in the 1990s. New York: Palgrave -Mac Millan.

Lopez, M. Vigil. (1999). Cuba; Neither Heaven Nor Hell. Washington, D.C.: The Ecumenical Program of Central America and the Caribbean (EPICA).

Pineiro-Hall, E. (2003) Seattle Delegation US Women and Cuba@ 5th International Women’s Conference, University of Havana.

Sierra, J.A. Time Table of Cuba 1980–2005, Retrieved December 12, 2006

Zuckerman, S. (2003). Lessons From Cuba: What Can We Learn From Cuba's Two-Tier Tourism Economy?, Retrieved November 26, 2006

External links[link]

Cuba: Life After Oil

Category:Economy of Cuba Category:Cuban Revolution Category:Economic disasters Category:Austerity Category:Energy in Cuba Category:Peak oil

de:Sonderperiode in Kuba es:Período especial

name	Zachary Quinto
birth name	Zachary John Quinto
birth date	June 02, 1977
birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	2000–present
website	http://www.zacharyquinto.com/ }}

Zachary John Quinto (born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and producer. Quinto grew up in Pennsylvania and was active in high school musical theater. In the early 2000s, he guest starred in television series and appeared in a recurring role in the serial drama ''24'' from 2003 to 2004. In 2006, Quinto acted in the sitcom ''So NoTORIous'' and portrayed series antagonist Sylar in the science fiction drama ''Heroes'' from 2006 to 2010. He was cast as Spock of the ''Star Trek'' franchise and appeared in the 2009 reboot ''Star Trek''. He will continue the role in the 2013 sequel. He also voiced the ''Emergency Medical Hologram'' (EMH) in the ''Star Trek Online'' MMORPG

Early life[link]

Quinto, who is of half-Italian and half-Irish descent, was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Green Tree, Pennsylvania, with his mother Margo and his brother Joe. His father, John, who was a barber, died of cancer when Quinto was 7 years old. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1995, where he participated in their musicals and won the Gene Kelly Award for Best Supporting Actor, and then attended Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, from which he graduated in 1999.

Career[link]

Quinto first appeared on television in the short-lived television series ''The Others'', and appeared as a guest star on shows including ''CSI'', ''Touched by an Angel'', ''Charmed'', ''Six Feet Under'', ''Lizzie McGuire'', and ''L.A. Dragnet''. In 2003, he landed a recurring role as computer expert Adam Kaufman on the Fox series ''24''; Quinto appeared in 23 episodes of the third season.

In 2006, Quinto played the role of Sasan, the haughty, gay Iranian-American best friend of Tori Spelling on her VH1 series ''So NoTORIous''. Later that year, he joined the cast of Tim Kring's ''Heroes'' as Gabriel Gray, better known as the serial killer Sylar. He worked on the series until its cancellation in 2010 after four seasons.

His casting as a young Spock in the J. J. Abrams-directed reboot of the ''Star Trek'' film franchise was officially announced at the 2007 Comic-Con. Speaking alongside Leonard Nimoy at a press conference to promote the new ''Star Trek'' film, Quinto revealed that Nimoy had been given casting approval over who would play the role of the young Spock. "For me Leonard's involvement was only liberating, frankly," says Quinto. "I knew that he had approval over the actor that would play young Spock, so when I got the role I knew from the beginning it was with his blessing."

In a September 2008 interview, Abrams said of Quinto's performance as Spock: "Zachary brought a gravity and an incredible sense of humor, which is a wonderful combination because Spock's character is deceivingly complicated. The revelation for me watching the movie, when I finally got to watch the whole thing after working on sequences, was that he is extraordinary. He was doing things I didn't even realize while we were shooting – these amazing things to track his story."

Following ''Star Trek'', he appeared in the comedy short ''Boutonniere'' (2009). It "...was a movie written and directed by my former landlady and friend [actress Coley Sohn]. She called up and said, 'Would you do me a favor and be in my short film?'"

Quinto has joined with Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson to form Before the Door Pictures. The company is working on projects in film, television, new media, and the graphic novel arena. It announced a three-book publishing deal with comic book publisher Archaia at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. The first project from the partnership is expected to be a 100-page graphic novel called ''Mr. Murder is Dead'', created by writer Victor Quinaz. It will be followed by the comic book series ''LUCID: A Matthew Dee Adventure'' written by writer/actor Michael McMillian.

Quinto's theatre experience includes roles in a variety of productions, including ''Much Ado About Nothing'' at the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival and ''Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow'' at the Old Globe Theatre. Baseline Studio Systems announced in January 2010 that Steven Spielberg may direct a biopic about George Gershwin, which is scheduled for release in 2012, with Quinto confirmed for the lead role. From October, 2010 to February 2011, Quinto played the lead role of Louis Ironson in an Off-Broadway revival of Tony Kushner's ''Angels in America'' at the Signature Theatre, New York City. For this role, Quinto received the Theatreworld Outstanding Debut Performance award. He has modeled for magazines including ''GQ'' and August.

In 2010, Quinto's company Before the Door Pictures produced ''Margin Call'', an independent film about the financial crisis. Quinto played the role of Peter Sullivan in the film, in a cast that included Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore. ''Margin Call'' premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival. In October 2011, Quinto began his recurring role on the FX series, ''American Horror Story'', as Chad, former owner of the house. Quinto will return for the second season in a lead role.

Personal life[link]

Quinto publicly came out as gay in October 2011. He explained that, after the suicide of gay teenager Jamey Rodemeyer, he realized "that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it, is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality." Prior to his coming out, Quinto had long been an active supporter of gay rights and organizations like the Trevor Project. In 2009, he appeared in the one-night production ''Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays'', a benefit stage reading in response to the passing of Proposition 8, as well as in the play ''The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later'', about the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard. In 2010, Quinto contributed a video to the It Gets Better Project, an Internet-based campaign that aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

Film and television[link]

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2000 | ''The Others'' | Tony | episode "Unnamed" |- | rowspan=2 | 2001 | ''Touched by an Angel'' | Mike | episode "When Sunny Gets Blue" |- | ''An American Town'' | Bennett | |- | rowspan=5 | 2002 | ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' | Mitchell Sullivan | episode "Anatomy of a Lye" |- | ''Off Centre'' | Smudge | episode "Diddler on the Roof" |- | ''Lizzie McGuire'' | Director | episode "Party Over Here" |- | ''Haunted'' | Paul Kingsley | episode "Grievous Angels" |- | ''The Agency'' | Jay Lambert | episode "Air Lex" |- | rowspan=3 | 2003 | ''Six Feet Under'' | Hip Student | episode "The Eye Inside" |- | ''Charmed'' | Warlock | episode "Cat House" |- | ''Miracles'' | Messenger | episode "Battle at Shadow Ridge" |- | 2003–2004 | ''24'' | Adam Kaufman | 23 episodes |- | rowspan=3 | 2004 | ''Dragnet'' | Howard Simms | episode "Frame of Mind" |- | ''Hawaii'' | Loomis | episode "No Man Is an Island" |- | ''Joan of Arcadia'' | Pretentious Filmmaker God | episode "P.O.V." |- | 2005 | ''Blind Justice'' | Scott Collins | episode "In Your Face" |- | rowspan=3 | 2006 | ''Crossing Jordan'' | Leo Fulton, Jr. | episode "Code of Ethics" |- | ''Twins'' | Jason | episode "When I Move, You Move" |- | ''So NoTORIous'' | Sasan | 10 episodes |- | 2006–2010 | ''Heroes'' | Gabriel Gray/Sylar | 60 episodes |- | 2008 | ''Robot Chicken'' | Archimedes Q. Porter / Sylar | 1 episodeVoice only |- | rowspan=3 | 2009 | ''Star Trek'' | Spock | |- | ''Boutonniere'' | Michael Paul David | Short film |- | ''Hostage: A Love Story'' | Gunman (Stew) | Short filmAlso producer |- | 2010 | ''Before After II'' | | Short filmAlso executive producer |- | rowspan=5 | 2011 | ''Margin Call'' | Peter Sullivan | Also producer |- | ''Girl Walks Into a Bar'' | Nick (Nicolas) | |- | ''Dog Eat Dog: A Short Tale'' | | Short filmAlso producer |- | ''What's Your Number?'' | Rick | |- | ''American Horror Story'' | Chad Warwick | 4 episodes |- | 2013 | Untitled ''Star Trek'' sequel | Spock | |}

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Gay actors Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States

ar:زاكري كوينتو an:Zachary Quinto be:Закары Куінта ca:Zachary John Quinto cs:Zachary Quinto da:Zachary Quinto de:Zachary Quinto es:Zachary Quinto eo:Zachary Quinto fa:زاکاری کوئینتو fr:Zachary Quinto ko:재커리 퀸토 id:Zachary Quinto it:Zachary Quinto he:זאכרי קווינטו jv:Zachary Quinto hu:Zachary Quinto nl:Zachary Quinto ja:ザカリー・クイント no:Zachary Quinto pl:Zachary Quinto pt:Zachary Quinto ru:Куинто, Закари sk:Zachary Quinto fi:Zachary Quinto sv:Zachary Quinto th:แซกคารี ควินโต tr:Zachary Quinto uk:Закарі Квінто zh:沙查·昆圖