The income from agrarian reform and nationalization provided the funds to finance major social welfare programs. Housing for the poor was upgraded via a massive project to construct low-income housing, particularly in rural areas, and to electrify much of the countryside. This allowed many peasants to leave their rickety shacks behind and move into modest but modern living accommodations. Education was improved by nationalizing the nation's many private and religious schools and opening their doors to all children at no charge. This initiative soon contributed to the elimination of illiteracy from the island, which had been about 30 percent before the revolution. As part of the literacy initiative the government established public libraries across the island. By 1989 the number of libraries had increased from approximately one hundred in 1959 to more than two thousand.

The government also set out to provide free...