The failure of the 1970 harvest caused officials to reassess the Cuban economy, sacrificing egalitarian measures and embracing Soviet influence.

[2] By 1965, Cuba was officially a one-party state after a long period of political solidification by Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution.

[4] Cuba had begun what was referred to as the "radical experiment", where the country was to be reorganized to promote revolutionary consciousness and an independent economy.

[7]: 37 In March 13, 1968 on the eleventh anniversary of the Havana Presidential Palace attack, Fidel Castro announced plans to nationalize all remaining private businesses in Cuba, thus ushering in the Revolutionary Offensive.

The nationalizations would be the first step in the larger economic mobilization of the country, with a primary goal of attaining an annual sugar harvest of 10 million tons by 1970.

[10] The Cuban government also issued blanket bans on self-employment, farmer's markets, and private gardens on state farms.

[7]: 38 During the 1970s, the ideas behind the Revolutionary Offensive lost support and the Cuban economic model re-oriented on the basis of the Soviet Union's Kosygin Reform.

[7]: 38 Many Cubans were reportedly overcome with a fierce passion to accomplish the planned economic goals, and government officials saw this as evidence that moral enthusiasm alone could incentivize workers into better production.

[8] However, with the elimination of many niche artisans, the state failed to fill the void of their lost services and their economic sectors quickly became under-served.

[13] With the total erasure of small enterprises, the black market was severely reduced; however, barter transactions still continued in the rural countryside where the state's presence was weaker.