Availability and Reliability of Statistics in Socialist Cuba (Part Two)

In: Latin American research review, Band 4, Heft 2, S. 47-81

Abstract

In this section a sample of interesting cases is provided to illustrate the problems involved when attempting to judge the reliability of Cuban statistics. The paper does not attempt to cover all the existing difficulties nor to offer final answers to some of the intriguing puzzles discussed. Yet the process of describing these statistical abnormalities occasionally clarifies the way in the search for truthful figures. The eight reconstructed tables included in this section do not have to be taken as absolutely reliable, but at least they offer a ten-year perspective (1957-66) of the most credible statistics available. The fact that this section has a negative approach should not lead the reader to the conclusion that all Cuban statistics are purposely misleading. Examples of accurate data are given when dealing with foreign trade, for instance. In some cases of erroneous data, the fault lies with the flaws in the system, including those detailed in the two previous sections. In other cases figures are deliberate misrepresentations. The author's ultimate objectives in this section are to alert the researcher to the frequent difficulties he will encounter when working with Cuban data, and to suggest criteria for selecting the more accurate figures from the Cuban statistical tangle.