In 2004, the Cuban Government announced the prohibition of the use of the U.S. dollar as a means of exchange in retail as well as in other commercial operations. From then on, all transactions have been conducted using Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), the Cuban peso backed in U.S. dollars. Cuban authorities proclaimed that the proscription […]

Ever since Fidel Castro became seriously ill and ceded power to his brother Raúl in July 2006, Cubans who live outside the island have been hoping and expecting a transition to democracy to take place in the island. I myself see the transfer of power as the first step in such a transition (see Sibaja […]

Notes1 This paper analyzes Cuba’s financial relations with the rest of the world with a focus on Cuba’s external debt. In a world of globalization, countries do not have a choice but to try to integrate their economies as much as possible to the rest of the world in order to grow and improve their […]

Notes1 Economists traditionally divide international trade into two large categories: (1) merchandise trade, the trade of tangible products, goods, or articles originating from the primary (agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying) and secondary (manufacturing) sectors of the economy; and (2) services trade, also referred to as “invisible trade,” the trade of shipping, financial, insurance, and […]