“Actions are caused by desires and opportunities.” —Jon Elster1 Can social mechanisms sustain political order in autocratic- authoritarian regimes? Does the use of mechanisms tell us something significant about how these regimes govern? In many ways, these questions are more than rhetorical. Despite the indiscriminative repression against its opponents, citizens continue to find innovating mechanism […]

INTRODUCTION This paper examines one of the most important bilateral issues that will need to be addressed by the United States and a future Cuban Government—the resolution of the outstanding claims of U.S. nationals1 for the uncompensated expropriation of their assets in the early years of the Cuban Revolution. The paper assumes that resolution of […]

Notes1 One of the few sources of foreign capital available to Cuba is direct foreign investment. Cuba receives virtually no aid from foreign governments or international organizations.2 Cuba is also unable to borrow from multinational lending institutions because of its history of defaults on foreign loans and other factors. 3 The loans that Cuba is […]

Today, the political, military, and ideological problem of this country is looking for food. […] We must be clear about one thing: if there is food for the people, the risks do not matter.—Raúl Castro, September 28, 1994 (1997: 466) As we went through the makeshift front door of Central Havana’s “Paladar Las Doce Sillas” […]

Perhaps more than any other branch of government, historically the judiciary has played a critical role in protecting the individual from the awesome power of the state. Of course, that protection exists only if the judiciary operates as a legitimate and independent branch of government with sufficient power and authority to overrule legislatures and curb […]