Notes1 The Cuban economy is plagued by widespread distortions stemming from government controls on key variables and the subsequent failure of markets to clear. There are price controls on many goods, including those subject to the rationing system (libreta). And the exchange value of the non-convertible Cuban peso (CUP) is fixed through exchange controls at […]

This paper reflects on several considerations to explain why Cuba is embarking on economic change and possible outcomes, presents two questions about the economic policies of Fidel and his protégée, Hugo Chávez, and ends with some thoughts about Cuba’s future once political and economic freedom finally returns to the island. WHY CUBA WILL CHANGE There […]

Notes1 Based on more than 20 in-depth interviews with the principal members of Cuba’s four most prominent blogger “collectives,” Voces Cubanas, Havana Times, Bloggers Cuba, and La Joven Cuba, this paper attempts to draw a preliminary thematic map of Cuba’s emergent “blogosphere.”2 Although each of these projects has its own unique history and personality, level […]

Notes1 “Chica, quieres comprar2?” The woman sitting next to me on the bench held out a three-peso coin with Che Guevara’s face on it as she asked that question. I smiled and shook my head no. I already had all the souvenir pesos nacionales that I needed from the semester I studied in Cuba as […]

For fifty years Cuba and the United States have been at loggerheads. For the first thirty years, the Cold War and Cuba’s interest in exporting revolution made Cuba a concern for U.S. national security interests. That concern largely disappeared along with the Soviet Union. The last twenty years have primarily focused on national values and […]