The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 liberalized the export policy of the United States with regard to the shipment of food and medical commodities to Cuba. As with any changes in trade policy, an important question is the estimation of the resulting economic impact of governmental action. Such an economic impact […]

Notes1 This paper presents some thoughts regarding the future role of the agricultural processing sector after the demise of the communist regime in Cuba. In the main, the content of this paper builds on a previous USAID study of the agriculture sector in Colombia in the early 1970s conducted by the author (Ricardo 1973) and […]

“Experience has taught that no two countries react identically and that in any case, success requires patience and persistence.” —Robert J. Samuelson1 The end of the Cold War underscored two important events: the dissolution of the socialist camp and the beginning of a new era of transition and development for socialist countries. Nations that had […]

The article offers a criticism of the point of view that disaster programs in Cuba should be emulated by other countries, as well as that the removal of Mr. Castro from power will bring about a failed state system that will precipitate a complex humanitarian emergency in which the United States government would be coordinating […]

Tourism has become an attribute of central importance within Havana’s urban environments and landscapes. Throughout the “Special Period,” tourism development has played a crucial role in transforming the city’s main functions and its urban environmental, economic, and social conditions. The rapid increase of tourist inflows and tourism-oriented facilities is testing Havana’s dilapidated urban infrastructural network, […]