The Cuban embargo is a highly politicized and controversial topic that leads to a great deal of misinformation by those who want to keep it and by those who want to lift it. At the same time there are legitimate issues associated with both positions that should be considered by any observer or policy maker […]
Oil and Democracy in Cuba: Going Towards Nigeria or Norway?
Notes1 With news of the possible presence of offshore oil within Cuban waters, USGS (2004), hopes were raised that substantial amounts suitable for commercial exploitation would be found. Two of the exploratory wells drilled by Scarabeo 9, an especially-built drilling platform for deep water exploration in Cuban waters, under contract to international oil companies Repsol […]
Cuba’s Attempts at Democracy: The Colony
Notes1 Most Latin American countries became independent from Spain at the beginning of the 19th century. This happened through declarations of independence for areas similar but not identical to current geographical arrangements or for larger territories, comprising several current countries that later separated into the countries we know today. Instances of the latter are the […]
Democracy’s Dimensions and Cuba’s Development in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis
Notes1 In the political economy literature as applied to development, there is a tendency to view democracy in onedimensional terms. In this essay we move away from this one-dimensional characterization. This broadening of the concept leads to a re-examination of the literature on the relation between long-term growth or development and democracy. With these two […]
Is There Political Will Towards Democratization in Cuba?
Notes1 The concept of political will can be applied to any context where actors in a political environment vary in their commitment and ability to attain a particular objective. The objectives in question can be comprehensive or non-comprehensive and they can be objectives independent observers view positively or negatively. In this analysis we will focus […]