This volume of Cuba in Transition brings together papers and selected commentaries presented at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Association of the Study of the Cuban Economy, which was held in Coral Gables, Florida, August 2-4, 2001. As previous volumes, the collection of papers and commentaries included here covers a wide range of topics related to Cuba’s economy and society: the current economic situation, macroeconomics, economic reforms, foreign investment, the external sector, tourism, agriculture, transition issues, governance and the role of civil society, legal issues, demography.
The Eleventh Annual Conference was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Felipe Pazos, a Cuban economist of recognized international prestige, teacher and good friend of many of us, who passed away in Caracas in February 2001. Felipe was instrumental in the formation of ASCE. He agreed to serve as its first ex officio President and delivered the first Carlos F. Díaz-Alejandro Lecture in December 1990, the first plenary activity held by the organization. During the Eleventh Annual Conference, we held a special session to recognize Felipe’s contributions on economic analysis, thought and policies. We have decided to launch our series of ASCE Occasional Studies with the papers and testimonies presented at this session.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of ASCE, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Jorge Pérez-López for preparing and editing this volume of Cuba in Transition and the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies of the University of Miami for their cooperation at the annual meeting and their generous contribution to support the publication of this volume.
Carlos N. Quijano
ASCE President
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