Although the “new” peso, or convertible peso, was introduced in 1994, it was not used as the major monetary exchange in the hard currency food chain until the Cuban government ceased to recognize the U.S. dollar as legal tender in 2004.1 For nearly a decade, from 1993 until November 2004, the U.S. dollar was the […]

Notes1 When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, Cubans on both sides of the political differend committed a costly strategic error. We allowed our internal struggle to become a football in the Cold War game. Castro sided with the Soviet Union, at a time when a nuclear war could destroy everything. The Cuban opposition […]

Notes1 For several years, Mexican-Cuban relations were regarded as the “exception that confirmed the rule” in the interamerican stage. Immediately after the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and during the next three decades, Mexico’s position regarding Cuba would often stand alone in the Western Hemisphere. The bilateral relationship of the two Latin American […]

Todo se prohibe pero todo se hace. (Everything is prohibited, but everything can be done.) —Saying on the street, Havana, 2004 By trying to control everything, the Government ends up controlling nothing. —Saying on the street, Havana, 2004 Various types of economic illegalities as well as underground economic activities occur in all countries. In Cuba, […]

Notes1 Cuba’s economy and infrastructure, in shambles following the economic crisis caused by the end of Soviet aid in 1991, improved somewhat after the government enacted a series of short-lived “market reforms” in 1993. The inevitable continuation of these free market policies, particularly in a future post-central planning system, would create substantial benefits and investment […]