Sí se puede... ¿leer?: Assessing the Success of the Cuban and Nicaraguan Literacy Initiatives

Author

Camille Lyn Lesseig

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

History

First Advisor

Douglass Sullivan-GonzÃlez

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This research examines the literacy programs conducted in 1961 Cuba and 1980 Nicaragua. Given the similarities in the structure and implementation of the plan as well as the congruencies in rhetoric promoting the plans, this thesis explores the various internal and external variables that affected each country’s program to better understand the widely different results. To research these countries’ programs, I examined both primary and secondary source material related to each country, their educational programs specifically, as well as information about US foreign policy relationships with the countries during this time. Although both programs were initially successful in reducing illiteracy rates, the Cuban program remains the more sustainable success of the two educational endeavors. The Cuban government’s substantial and sustained investment in infrastructure including roads, and schools, in the years following the official close of the Cuban Literacy Campaign most contributed to the country’s overall success in addressing illiteracy. The inability to reinvest in their state educational system and the lack of domestic stability rendered Nicaragua unable to maintain the lower levels of illiteracy attained during the “crusade.

Recommended Citation

Lesseig, Camille Lyn, "Sí se puede... ¿leer?: Assessing the Success of the Cuban and Nicaraguan Literacy Initiatives" (2012). Honors Theses. 2366.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2366

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