first captain above captain, and there is allegedly no grade higher than major. This is largely a fiction, for since 1963 there have been three recognized higher levels of major in addition to commander in chief. As the Spanish word comandante means both major and commander, the new grades of division commander (or division major), corps commander, and army commander fit readily into the structure while technically retaining the limitation of major. All are addressed simply as "major."

Army and air force ranks are identical, and although naval officers have been given distinctive designations, they continue to use their equivalent army titles. All services use the same insignia of rank for officers, consisting of small bars, chevrons, or stars in gold-colored metal. They are worn on shoulder loops or on the shirt collar in the army and air force, and on the collar or olive-green shoulder boards in the navy. Noncommissioned officers' grades are the same for all services, but the navy wears reversed (points down) chevrons in red instead of the standard gold (points up) of the army and air force (see table 15).

Basic dress for all services is the two piece cotton-twill uniform of olive-green shirt and trousers. This is used for service and garrison wear and becomes the field uniform with the addition of sidearms and equipment. Trousers are worn loose for garrison duty and are tucked into combat boots for the field. Navy men wear the same uniform but change to traditional white for the hot weather months. Accessories, such as belts and shoes, are brown for the army and air force, and black for the navy. Women's uniforms are the same as the men's, substituting an olive-green skirt for the trousers, except for service in the field, when slacks are worn.

There is a wide range of headgear of which the most prevalent is the blocked field cap with peak, which is worn by the army and the air force. The navy wears an overseas-type garrison cap, and changes to a navy flat hat worn with the white uniform. Berets are optional for all officers and may be worn by certain designated units. The steel helmet is widely used for parades and for combat training.

Extensive use is made of patches and tabs to distinguish arms, services, and branches. Navy personnel wear a rectangular patch over the left breast pocket with the initials MGR (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria) in black letters on a white background. The air force has a circular shoulder patch, bearing a white star on a red triangle with stylized wings. Pilot wings are of conventional design, with a central shield of the national coat-of-arms over a scroll inscribed FAR. All conscripts wear a shield-shaped shoulder patch of alternating diagonal blue and white stripes, with the letters FAR in white on a red chief. Castro has abolished all awards and decorations, and recognition of outstanding service is effected through promotion or public commendation.

*FAR (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias-Revolutionary Armed Forces).

Insignia

Three chevrons and two arcs
Three chevrons and one arc
Three chevrons
Two chevrons

Uniforms and equipment are issued to both officers and men, and include personal items such as underclothing, shoes, and towels. Uniforms closely resemble United States models and are manufactured locally. They are simple, well adapted to the climate, and are of reasonably good quality. Increasing emphasis is being placed on the proper wearing of the uniform, and for the most part the serviceman and servicewoman presents a neat, smart appearance.

MILITARY JUSTICE

The normal judiciary functions of the armed forces are under the jurisdiction of the judge advocate general whose mission is to prevent crime, judge offenders, and rehabilitate the sentenced. All penal activities of the FAR are administered under a new "Manual of Military Justice," which was promulgated in late 1968. It covers all aspects of military jurisprudence, and serves as a manual for courts martial supplementing the Military Penal Code and Military Procedure Law adopted in 1966.

The military court structure consists of three levels: the prosecutor, who serves as a permanent summary court; the Military Tribunal, composed of a president and two voting members; and the Supreme Military Tribunal, which is attached to the Armed Forces General Staff, and is presided over by the commander in chief. All units, beginning with the battalion level, have either a permanently assigned prosecutor or a Military Tribunal. In addition, unit commanders are given fairly wide latitude in dispensing summary justice for minor offenses without resorting to formal trial.

Court martial procedures follow traditional lines, progressing through the standard steps of reading the charges, examination of witnesses, arguments, findings, and sentence. All prisoners must be represented by a defense counsel, and the prosecutor or president of a court must be of the same rank as the accused. The accused's commanding officer must approve the sentence, which he may modify in favor of, but not against, the prisoner. All findings of guilty may be appealed to the next higher echelon.

The avowed purpose of the military penal system is the rehabilitation of prisoners, and the judge advocate general has stated that his aim was to produce good soldiers. In line with this philosophy, punishment for convicted offenders takes one of two forms; either confinement in a military prison or assignment to a penal labor battalion. Imprisonment is restricted to the more serious cases, but these are offered an opportunity to qualify for a labor battalion through reeducation and exemplary "socialist" conduct.

All prisoners, whether incarcerated or in the somewhat less restricted confinement of a work group, are organized into military formations; part of their time is devoted to drill and military train

ing. All prisoners also receive instruction in Marxist principles, and daily classes are held in political and cultural subjects.

Labor battalions are usually housed in temporary camps and are used locally on projects of agricultural labor or public works. There is a system of rotation in which one company undergoes military training while the others work. Their confinement is not overly strict, and they are run largely by self-discipline through Disciplinary Commissions elected from among the prisoners themselves. These groups handle most of the camp's management and resolve its problems; they can even recommend parole, for which a prisoner becomes eligible after serving one-third of his sentence. All such recommendations, however, must have the approval of the battalion commander before final action.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Section I. Social

RECOMMENDED SOURCES

"After 51⁄2 years of Communism-How Cuba Looks Today," U.S. News and World Report, August 31, 1964.

Aguirre, M. "The Persecution in Cuba," Catholic World, CXCIII, April 1961, 28-35.

Anderson-Imbert, Enrique. Spanish-American Literature: A History. (Trans., John V. Falconier.) Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1963.

Aparicio, Laurencio Angel. Donde Esta el Cadaver . . . se Reunen los Buitres. Santiago de Chile: 1963.

"Behind the Cane Curtain," Times of the Americas (Miami), August 6, 1969.

Betancourt, Juan René. "Castro and the Cuban Negro," Crisis, LXVIII, No. 5, May 1961, 270-274.

Bethel, Paul D. The Losers. New Rochelle: Arlington House, 1969.

Boorstein, Edward. The Economic Transformation of Cuba. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1968.

Boza y Domínguez, Luis. La Situación Universitaria en Cuba. Santiago: Editorial del Pacifico, S.A., 1963.

Burks, David D. "Cuba Seven Years After," Current History, L, January 1966, 38-44.

Cabrera, Raimundo. Cuba and the Cubans. Philadelphia: Levytype, 1896.

"The Caribbean Region and Central America." Pages 10-38 in Illustrated Library of the World and Its People. New York: Greystone Press, 1965.

Cohen, J. M. (ed.) Writers in the New Cuba. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967.

Corwin, Arthur F. Spain and the Abolition of Slavery in Cuba, 1817-1886. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967.

"The Cuban Refugee Problem-1963," Interpreter Releases, XL, No. 39, October 21, 1963, 294-303.

Dewart, Leslie. Christianity and Revolution: The Lesson of Cuba. New York: Herder and Herder, 1963.

Le Directoire du Professorat Revolutionaire. La Farce del Edu