Two central interrelated issues concern the panel on politics: the problem of democracy, that is, its absence in Cuba; and the belief that Cuba’s present regime, its current form of government, is not institutionalized, that it is transitory (please notice the use of the term “transition” in several of the panels of this meeting). Indeed, […]

Notes1 OVERVIEW OF THE CUBAN ECONOMY Cuba, located 93 miles south of the United States, has approximately 11 million inhabitants and a land mass almost three times the size of the state of Louisiana. If Cuba were a state within the United States, it would rank 7th in population. This country is brimming over with […]

Traditional methodologies for gauging public opinion are unavailable to researchers who wish to study the attitudes and behavior of the people of Cuba. First of all, there is limited access to Cuba. Any polling organization would have to have government approval and would be closely monitored. A second problem is that, for all practical purposes, […]

La tarea de edificar una nación cubana conocedora de sus deberes cívicos y apta para defender sus libertades y derechos será obra de muchas generaciones, y de fe. Su logro requerirá la transformación profunda de la cultura política que impera en Cuba por medio de la educación masiva a todos los niveles de la sociedad. […]

The creation of Basic Units of Cooperative Production (Unidades Básicas de Producción Cooperativa or UBPCs) from the former State farms in 1993 and the opening of Agricultural Markets (Mercados Agropecuarios or MAs) in 1994 were significant steps in a process of reform and transformation for the agricultural sector in Cuba. Some analysts argue that, as […]