Question

Why did the Castro regime in Cuba confiscated private properties?

Answer 1

Fidel Castro's Revolution and First Assault on Property Rights used Batista's disrespect for the 1940 Constitution to justify his own revolution. On 1 January 1959, Castro took control of the island and vowed to re-enact the 1940 Constitution. The 1940 Constitution was re-enacted in the early days of Castro's revolution; however, Castro later named a Council of Ministers which, like the Council of Batista, usurped the amending procedures of the 1940 constitution. One of the first changes that the Council made to the 1940 Constitution included a modification of the rules on property in Article 24.4

This amendment to Article 24, which according to the amending procedures of the 1940 Constitution was procedurally unconstitutional, implied Castro's first assault on Cuban property rights. The amendment not only allowed arbitrary takeovers of property by some of the supporters of Batista, but also served as a tool to prosecute any political opposition. The early revision of Article 24 set the foundation for the systematic erosion of Cuba's property rights.

Castro's initial confiscation program lasted until 7 February 1959, when he formally revoked the 1940 Constitution and adopted the 1959 Basic Law.49 The Basic Law officially declared Castro's Council of Ministers as Cuba's supreme legislative body. This law, reportedly only "temporarily" effective until Castro's government drafted a new constitution in line with