Cuba

Cuba
Author: Georges Alfred Fauriol
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 484
Release: 1990-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781412820820

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Fidel Castro's revolution and its foreign policy extensions have been the source of much U.S.-Latin American policy frustration during the last 30 years. Not only the ideological tensions, but the almost global sweep of Cuba's national pretensions have consumed U.S. resources and political capital, and thrust a small island nation to the forefront of global intrigue and crisis. But as this volume shows, there are signs that Cuba's internationalism is now at a crossroads. Fauriol and Loser have gathered together a distinguished group of specialists on Cuba to review principal aspects of Cuba's international relations. Among the new dimensions discussed are shifts in Cuba's African policy, the residual political impact of Grenada, developments in Central America, the aftermath of the Ochoa narcotics episode, and perhaps most significantly, the degree of tension between Cuba and both Moscow and Washington, and leadership succession beyond Castro. A primary issue for Cuba, the authors show, will be its isolation within the Soviet bloc, and its refusal to address Gorbachev's challenges to the status quo. At the very least, Cuba risks becoming an irrelevant anachronism amidst the groundswell of change in the communist world. These and other issues are addressed in a major review of Cuba's position in the world 30 years after its revolution. "Cuba: The International Dimension "will be of interest to researchers and policy makers concerned with Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as those interested in changes in the Third World and communist countries worldwide. Contributors include: Jiri Valenta, Jaime Suchlicki, William Ratliff, Ernest Evans, Juan Benemelis, Gillian Gunn, Scott MacDonald, Michael J. Mazaar, Constantine Menges, Jorge F. Perez-Lopez, Jorge Sanguinetty, Paula J. Pettavino, and Juan M. del Aguila.

Cuba's Second Economy

Cuba's Second Economy
Author: Jorge Perez-Lopez
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351293583

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Without doubt, Cuba is facing its most serious economic challenge in nearly thirty-five years of revolutionary rule. There is consensus that as the official, centrally planned economy has faltered, ordinary citizens eke out a living only by engaging in under-the-table, unrecorded, and mostly illegal activities. In fact, this "second economy" is growing by leaps and bounds. This volume sketches the contours of the very complex phenomenon of the second economy of socialist Cuba, and discusses its evolution over time, as well as the role that it may play in the transition to a market economy on the island. The economic crisis of the 1990s has propelled the second economy from behind the scenes to center stage. Not only have black markets mushroomed, but second economy activities connected to the free-market that the Castro government has traditionally discouraged or even prosecuted are now being incorporated into the government's own economic strategy. Self-employment, cultivation of individual plots, and the use of foreign currencies to buy or sell goods, are now promoted with considerable enthusiasm by the leadership. Perez-Lopez examines different ways of thinking about unregulated economic activities that have been set forth in the literature and concludes that the concept of the second economy is the most appropriate for Cuba. He brings together available information from a multitude of sources on the manifestations of the second economy in Cuba and of its operation. Cuba's Second Economy is a timely study of an economic system in crisis. It will be of interest to economists, political scientists, policymakers, and Latin America area scholars.