Notes1 In January 2009, the Cuban government marked its 50th year in power, having survived substantial economic, social, and political challenges. During these 50 years, many dissident groups have challenged the Cuban government, seeking to establish domestic and international support for an alternative national vision (Encinosa 2004). The challenge for both government and dissidents is […]

Cuba’s revolutionaries reviled all things associated with the island’s bourgeoisie including art. Early in 1959, the revolutionaries swiftly ransacked the homes and offices of all those they accused of the crime of being affiliated with the regime of Fulgencio Batista. Soon thereafter they looted the properties of many who fled into exile. The new Cuban […]

Those who lived in pre-Castro Cuba may understand the title of this essay. Those who did not will likely be at a loss. Let us seek to clarify drawing from a series of essays written about Cuba in the fifties by American John Parker.1 The Havana housewife leaned heavily for the family provisioning on the […]

For nearly three decades—from 1962 through 1989—Cuban national income and product accounts were constructed based on the Material Product System (MPS), a methodology developed by the former Soviet Union and applied by other socialist countries. MPS aggregates were not comparable to those of most other nations, who followed the System of National Accounts (SNA) developed […]

THE THREAT Cuba is 700 miles long, has 5400 miles of coastline, and is surrounded by 3700 islands or keys. Located close to southern Florida, it thrusts from the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico. Starting with the British attempt to monopolize trade with their American colonies, Cuba became a base for smuggling rum, slaves, […]