 Complete the following phrase:  With favourable trade from the Soviet bloc ended, Castro publicly declared that Cuba was entering a Special Period in Time of Peace. Petrol rations were dramatically reduced, Chinese bicycles were imported to replace cars, and factories performing non-essential tasks were shut down. Oxen began to replace tractors, firewood began being used for cooking and electricity cuts were introduced that lasted 16 hours a day. Castro admitted that Cuba faced the worst situation short of open war, and that the country might have to resort to subsistence farming. By 1992, Cubas economy had declined by over 40 in under two years, with major food shortages, widespread malnutrition and a lack of basic goods. Castro hoped for a restoration of MarxismLeninism in the USSR, but refrained from backing the 1991 coup in that country. When Gorbachev regained control, Cuba-Soviet relations deteriorated further and Soviet troops were withdrawn in September 1991. In December, the 