Notes1 Cuba’s economic transformation in the 1990s cannot be considered the solution to the formidable challenge of substantially modifying the current productive structure of the economy in order to achieve development. Despite the changes, the reconstruction of the Cuban economy is an incipient process with a high level of indeterminacy. To put it simply, it […]

For more than 40 years, longer than many people can remember, the U.S. and Cuban governments have not had diplomatic and trade relationships (for a chronology of the U.S. embargo see Kaufman Purcell and Rothkopf, 2000, Appendix A). During most of that time this anomalous state of affairs did not attract much controversy, for it […]

Notes1 The 2000 U.S. Population Census, conducted between January and September 2000, was, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, “the largest peacetime effort in the history of the United States” (U.S. Census Bureau 2001). The first bits of data – overall estimates of the resident population on April 1, 2000 […]

Through writing, public advocacy, and other personal and professional endeavors, I have demonstrated my firm belief that greater engagement with Cuba would advance America’s national interest and at long last bring economic and democratic reform to the island. As former executive director of the Cuba Policy Foundation (CPF), I had the fortunate experience of participating […]

Notes1 The three key components of a national reconciliation process are truth, justice, and reconciliation. History has shown that all three should be properly addressed for a transition from a repressive regime to take place successfully, that is, in a way that allows society to heal and integrate a painful past in a productive manner. […]