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 […]

The Cuban philosopher Humberto Piñera once said that “history is a system of discontinuities tied together by inevitable continuities.” This paper is a succinct walk through the inevitable continuities of history in an effort to uncover the spiritual phenomena, the primo-phenomena, as Nicolai Berdyaev would have said, through which we can pierce onto the essence […]

In its recent efforts to transform (or “update”) its economic model, Cuba has understandably focused on its agricultural sector. Even though it only accounts for approximately 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), agriculture represents a relatively large share of the Cuban economy (some 20%) due to its direct linkages with other sectors and multiplier effect […]

Agradezco profundamente a la Asociación para el Estudio de la Economía Cubana (ASCE) la posibilidad de participar en esta XXI Reunión Anual, junto a relevantes especialistas y académicos. He apreciado durante años que sus evaluaciones y propuestas no son meros ejercicios intelectuales, sino que añoran profundamente contribuir a la solución de los problemas que afronta […]

Marianela es una muchacha afro-descendiente de 24 años de edad, de Guanabacoa. Casi todos los cubanos dirían “una mulatica.” Completó un técnico medio en laboratorio, y consiguió un trabajo en el Hospital Maternidad Obrera localizado en Marianao. Como técnico de laboratorio ganaba unos 425 pesos mensuales, aproximadamente $17 dólares. Desde los 20 años comenzó a […]