The final collapse of Cuba’s alliance with the former Soviet Union—a process that unfolded between 1979 and 1989—brought the Cuban economy to a complete state of disarray, leading to an unparalleled chaotic set of developments. How to deal with them became crucial and extremely conflicting. Fidel Castro’s strong refusal to give in to demands from […]

Notes1 “Nations that have endured patiently and almost unconsciously the most overwhelming oppression often burst into rebellion against the yoke the moment it begins to grow light. Experience teaches that the most critical moment for bad governments is the one which witnesses the first steps toward reform.” —Alexis de Tocqueville, 18562 This paper speculates on […]

Notes1 Official statistics indicate that the Cuban economy expanded at an exceptionally rapid pace during the first decade of the XXI century. The expansion was strong by international standards and very strong in comparison with Cuba’s own performance in the previous decade. This paper seeks to understand the factors that accounted for Cuba’s recent economic […]

La economía cubana es muy dependiente del significativo apoyo venezolano desde 2004, estimado en el orden del 15% del PIB (Hernández-Catá, 2012).1 Si termina la ayuda venezolana el colapso de la economía es probable, similar al que ocurrió a principios de la década de los 1990s cuando la ayuda soviética concluyó, a menos que se […]

“Ni de la lectura de los Lineamientos ni de las primeras medidas de gobierno de Raúl Castro, podemos decir que el gobierno cubano esté considerando un tránsito inmediato al socialismo de mercado al estilo vietnamita o chino, y obviamente no es un proceso de transición hacia el capitalismo como en los antiguos países socialistas de […]