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Identity Booklet (Carné de Identidad)
Object/Artifact
First-generation Cuban national ID booklet issued in Havana in 1975 to María A. Arús Caraballo — from the inaugural year of Cuba's national identity card system. A small, soft-covered booklet with a blue/teal paper or paper-over-card cover. The front cover is embossed in dark-blue ink with "REPÚBLICA DE CUBA" across the top, the Cuban national coat of arms (shield with royal palm, key, rising sun, and supporting branches, surmounted by a Phrygian liberty cap) at center, and "CARNE DE IDENTIDAD" along the lower portion. The cover shows handling wear, especially at the corners and along the spine edge.
2025.1.2
Mandatory use
The Cabrera Arús family collection
María A. Arús Caraballo collection
2025.1
1975
1970s
Issued by the Government of Cuba (Ministerio del Interior / Dirección de Identificación, Inmigración y Extranjería)
Paper
Blind- or ink-embossed/stamped cover; bound booklet.
Good
María A. Arús Caraballo
Owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Issuance
Law No. 1216 (1974)
Ley 1234 del Carné de Identidad y Registro de la Población
The life of others
This is a Cuban Carné de Identidad from 1975, the very first year the national identity card was issued in Cuba. The first carnés were handed out on February 12, 1975, in the municipality of Martí, Matanzas province, to twenty workers as part of a pilot program tied to the early "Poder Popular" experiment. The legal framework was Ley 1234 del Carné de Identidad y Registro de la Población (June 15, 1971), expanded by Ley 1278 (September 13, 1974) and Resolution 18. The system was the product of work that began with the 1970 national census and aimed to create a single unified identity document — replacing the patchwork of prior IDs (work cards, ration books, school cards, etc.) with one document tied to a permanent national identity number. Until 1975, Cubans had no unified national ID document. The first-generation carné was a 24-page bound booklet. Beyond its administrative function, the carné became (and remains) one of the most-handled objects in everyday Cuban life. It is required for legal procedures, banking, employment, schooling, healthcare, travel ticketing, voting, and rationing. Carrying it was (and is) legally obligatory. As a 1975 example, this booklet is a primary source for the founding moment of Cuba's Sistema Único de Identidad Nacional (SUIN).