Based on the firsthand testimony of prominent Afro-Cubans who live in Cuba, this book of interviews looks at ways that race affects daily life on the island." "All responded to four controversial questions: What is it like to be black in Cuba? How has the revolution made a difference? To what extent is that difference true today? What can be done? Exposing the contradictions of both racial stereotyping and cultural assimilation, their answers make the case that the issue of race in Cuba, no matter how hard to define, will not be ignored.

With essays covering U.S. foreign policy, U.S.-Cuba relations, international relations, and international economics, this collection highlights the striking tension between America's Cuba policy and the rest of the international community.

"A classic on post-Cold War Cuba... Azicri evidences Cuba’s expanding external relations with the papacy, the Economic Union, and Latin America and argues that Cuba has begun internal changes that could later create an all-national rather than a solely communist party... This work is essential reading for D.C., Havana, and Miami—and is likely to anger all three."— Choice "A masterful and provocative summary, analysis, and evaluation of political, economic, and cultural developments in Cuba, as well as the international relations of Cuba, in the tumultuous decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the process, Azicri gives a unique insight into how and why Cuban socialism, though greatly modified in the 1990s, continues to survive."—Sinan Koont, Dickinson College Unlikely to gratify those with strong views on either side of the political divide, Azicri’s study provides an intelligent, scholarly response to the current questions posed by the Cuban Revolution. Covering the turbulent period of the 1990s, the book examines such issues as the impact on Cuba of the Soviet Union's collapse, the country’s social malaise under economic scarcity, the reorganization of its economy, changes in its political system, problems in its relations with the United States, and the renaissance of Cuban religious life in the aftermath of the pope's visit. Azicri offers an objectively researched study that addresses many of the assumptions made by partisan participants. Demonstrating how Cuba's ongoing reform process has allowed it to avoid the fate of other Soviet bloc regimes, he maintains that Havana has continually reinvented the nature of Cuban socialism. Drawing on original sources and scholarly studies from Cuba, the United States, and elsewhere, he argues that a more restrained and limited socialism is suitable to today's Cuba and explains why such a system probably will prevail beyond Castro. Max Azicri, professor of political science at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, is the author of Politics, Economics and Society and of numerous articles on Cuban politics, society, culture, and international relations.

This volume emphasizes two key aspects of Cuba's foreign relations: the country's adjustment since the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc, and the ongoing confrontation between Cuba and the United States. The author proposes that Cuba has been highly sensitive to independence on an external power.

"A refreshing and insightful analysis of the real Cuba as seen by one of the country's leading intellectuals. Rafael Hernández should be commended for disclosing to the rest of us a complex, sophisticated, thoughtful, and realistic assessment of the relationship of culture and politics in the making of present-day Cuba."—Nelson Valdes, University of New Mexico "An intelligent and provocative reading of the past and present of Cuban politics. Using the lens of contemporary debates about civil society to challenge prevailing conclusions and misperceptions, Hernández's reflections provide valuable insights on intellectuals, political culture, and participation in socialist Cuba."—Sheryl Lutjens, Northern Arizona University This unprecedented inside look at Cuba offers the first discussion in English of the way radical changes in the island's economy and society in the 1990s created a new environment for rethinking the country's future. Written and first published in Spanish by a Cuban political scientist—who is also a socialist, a poet, and a sociologist—the essays set off sharp debate in Cuba about civil society, public opinion, culture, and politics. Rafael Hernández, one of the most visible intellectuals living and writing in Cuba today, addresses such controversies as the current social diversity brought about by socialist policies, the presence of well-educated new generations, and the emergence of growing inequality that accompanied and has followed the crisis of the 1990s. He also discusses the role played by Fidel Castro in this transitional period; Cuban foreign relations; the revival of religious practices on the island; the new debate over racial prejudice and discrimination; and the new environment for artistic freedom of expression. In contrast to most outside observers, he argues that future transformation of the socialist system in Cuba must not be discussed simply in political terms because the social and cultural fabric of the island is also integral to what makes the government socialist or not. His discussion of the political restrictions and civil responsibilities of the Cuban intellectual and artist emphasize his point that the future of socialism in Cuba will be more radical for its humanism. Hernández's independent voice refutes the notion that within Cuba only "officialists" and "dissidents" speak out and that intellectual debate is the exclusive property of Cuban émigrés or the U.S. government. Rafael Hernández is the editor of Temas, the leading Cuban magazine in the social sciences and the humanities, which is renowned for its contribution to intellectual controversy on the island. He is a senior research fellow at the Centro de Investigación de la Cultura Cubana Juan Marinello in Havana and is the author or editor of several books, including Cuba and the Caribbean and United States-Cuban Relations in the Nineties. Dick Cluster, lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, has translated the work of a variety of Cuban literary figures including Abel Prieto, Pedro de Jesus, Mirta Yáñez, Aida Bahr, Mylene Fernández, and Antonio José Ponte. He is the author of novels and historical works including They Should Have Served That Cup of Coffee .

Examining the international implications of U.S.-Cuba political and economic relations, these essays reveal a stark anomaly. While many of Cuba's relationships with American allies have evolved beyond the cold war paradigm, its relations with the United States have not. With essays covering U.S. foreign policy, U.S.-Cuba relations, international relations, and international economics, this collection highlights the striking tension between America's Cuba policy and the rest of the international community. Contributors argue that Washington's approach is anachronistic, irrational, and ultimately ineffective, and their discussion provides a comprehensive framework for judging not only the United States’ Cuba policy but also its foreign policy in general. Their analysis makes an important contribution to the debate about multilateralism versus unilateralism in U.S. foreign policy.

How do Santería practitioners in Cuba create and maintain religious communities amidst tensions, disagreements, and competition among them, and in the absence of centralized institutional authority? What serves as the "glue" that holds practitioners of different backgrounds together in the creation of a moral community? Examining the religious lives of santeros in Santiago de Cuba, Wirtz argues that these communities hold together not because members agree on their interpretations of rituals but because they often disagree.Religious life is marked by a series of "telling moments"—not only the moments themselves but their narrated representations as they are retold and mined for religious meanings. Long after they occur, spiritually elevated experiences circulate in narratives that may express skepticism or awe and hold the promise of more such experiences. The author finds that these episodes resonate in gossip and other forms of public commentary about the experiences of their fellow Santería practitioners.Drawing on ethnographic research about Santería beliefs and practices, Wirtz observes that practitioners are constantly engaged in reflection about what they and other practitioners are doing, how the orichas (deities) have responded, and what the consequences of their actions were or will be. By focusing their reflective attention on particular events, santeros re-create, moment to moment, what their religion is. Wirtz also argues that Santería cannot be considered in isolation from the complex religious landscape of contemporary Cuba, in which African-based traditions are viewed with a mix of fascination, folkloric pride, and suspicion. \[ Interactions among the conflicting discourses about these religions—as sacred practices, folklore, or dangerous superstitions, for example—have played a central role in constituting them as social entities. \] This book will interest scholars of religion, the African diaspora, the Caribbean, and Latin America, as well as linguistic and cultural anthropologists.

"I know of no other comprehensive and up-to-date narrative that covers all aspects of the U.S.-Cuba security relationship"—Philip Peters, Vice President of the Lexington Institute The United States and Cuba actually cooperate on several issues of mutual interest. This intriguing pattern of U.S.-Cuban cooperation emerged during the 1990s. Naked self-interest led the two governments to cooperate in four areas: illegal immigration, drug trafficking, decreasing tensions around Guantánamo Naval Base, and reducing the threat of unintended war. The fact that there has been any cooperation between the United States and Cuba may be surprising since the public rhetoric of animosity has always dominated U.S.-Cuban discourse. To date, there has been little systematic research on these areas of cooperation, from confidence building measures to how Cuban exile groups have attempted to undermine all levels of cooperation with the United States. Melanie Ziegler examines these issues and offers possible solutions in hopes of discovering the best pathway for avoiding future confrontation and for building normal relations in the twenty-first century. As the Fidel Castro era draws to a close, it is essential to examine and begin looking for new perspectives on U.S.-Cuban cooperation tactics. Complete with a historical background, this book is a must-read for scholars, students, policy experts, and members of the U.S. military.

This is a rare look at one aspect of civil society in Communist Cuba—the Protestant experience—and at continuing links between Cuba and the United States that do not focus on diplomatic issues. After the 1959 Cuban revolution, Protestant churches on the island suffered the repression, economic hardship, and isolation that the rest of the country experienced. Even so—and contrary to conventional thought about the relationship between the United States and Cuba—Cuban Protestant churches continued to maintain most of their ties with U.S. churches and have preserved an high degree of independence from the Cuban government. By 1961 most U.S. missionaries had left Cuba, and throughout the decade many young Cuban pastors and seminarians were conscripted into semi-military work brigades. Despite these events, most Protestants sought to maintain their pre-revolution identity, which included a rejection of atheistic Marxism. In addition, economic and political changes in Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union have brought about a renewal of bonds between Cuba and the United States in many denominations. The author follows the story of church-state relations to the present, including the explosive growth of Pentecostalism since the 1990s.

Does a civil society actually exist in Cuba today and if so what is its nature and role? In seeking answers to this hotly contested and highly politicized question, Alexander Gray and Antoni Kapcia have assembled an impressive and diverse group of contributors. The essays in The Changing Dynamic of Cuban Civil Society range from general discussion of the private sector to case studies about volunteer work, religious entities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the economic crisis in 1990, the Cuban state has experienced severe challenges, and individuals have been forced to respond in unexpected ways to ensure their economic survival. Avoiding polemics and preconceptions, this volume brings a fresh and welcome perspective to one of the most vexing issues in Cuban society today.

In this in-depth view of Cuban gender politics and democracy, Luciak considers the role that women played in the Cuban revolution. The women who joined Castro’s revolution were considered indispensable, and a select group of women held leadership roles. Che Guevara in particular recognized the important contribution women could make to the revolutionary struggle. Most women engaged in open civil dissent and staged demonstrations, while some, such as Celia Sánchez, supported clandestine armed operations at great personal risk.Luciak maintains that Cuba’s revolutionary government made great progress in advancing women’s social and economic rights and proved successful in guaranteeing women’s formal political participation. Ironically this success had an unintended It inhibited public debate on how to transform prevailing gender relations and preempted the emergence of an autonomous women’s movement that could effectively advocate for change. As a result, women hold very limited decision-making power in the current regime.Sánchez was a lifelong confidante to Fidel Castro, who considered women’s emancipation to be a “revolution in the revolution.” But Cuban feminists see Sánchez as a symbol of women’s invisibility, noting that her image adorning the Cuban 20-peso note is part of the watermark, which can be viewed only when held against the light. Drawing on interviews with high-ranking Cuban officials, Luciak argues that democracy cannot be successfully consolidated without the full participation of women in the political process—and the support of men—both at the party and societal levels.

Weinreb, Amelia Rosenberg

"An excellent study indicating how transnational players, particularly corporations, nation-states (including Cuba), and individual tourists (particularly Cuban-Americans) were able purposefully or inadvertently to undermine the U.S. embargo on Cuba so that from its earliest stage in 1960 it was doomed to failure."—Peter Schwab, SUNY-Purchase For almost five decades, the United States has maintained a comprehensive economic embargo on Cuba. U.S.-based travel to the island is severely restricted, and most financial and commercial transactions with Cuba are illegal for U.S. citizens. In the 1990s the United States tightened the embargo further, seeking to promote change in Cuba by depriving the Castro government of hard currency revenues. And yet the stalemate remains. How effective has the embargo been in achieving its main goal? Paolo Spadoni dispassionately answers, "Not very." By extending his analysis to non-state actors (including multinational corporations, migrants, international travelers, indirect investors, and food exporters), Spadoni demonstrates that the United States has not only been unable to stifle the flow of foreign investment into Cuba but has actually contributed to the recovery of the Cuban economy, particularly from the deep recession it entered following the demise of the Soviet Union. Failed Sanctions is a must-read book for those who closely follow Cuban-U.S. relations and for anyone interested in the efficacy of economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool.

“Pushed by necessity but enabled by its existing social and educational policies, Cuba in the 1990s launched the most extensive program of urban sustainable agriculture in the world. This study is to date the only book-length investigation in either English or Spanish of this important national experiment in transforming the environmental, economic, and social nature of today’s dominant system of producing food.”—Al Campbell, University of Utah As large-scale industrial agriculture comes under increasing scrutiny because of its petroleum- and petrochemical-based input costs and environmentally objectionable consequences, increasing attention has been focused on sustainable, local, and agro-ecological techniques in food production. Cuba was forced by historical circumstances to be one of the pioneers in the massive application of these techniques. After the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba was left without access to external support needed to carry on with industrial agriculture. The economic crisis led the country to reconsider their former models of resource management. Cuba retooled its agricultural programs to focus on urban agriculture—sustainable, ecologically sound farming close to densely populated areas. Food now takes far less time to get to the people, who are now better nourished because they have easier access to whole foods. Moreover, urban farming has become a source of national pride—Cuba has one of the best urban agriculture programs in the world, with a thousand-fold increase in urban agricultural output since 1994. Sinan Koont has spent the last several years researching urban agriculture in Cuba, including field work at many sustainable farms on the island. He tells the story of why and how Cuba was able to turn to urban food production on a large scale with minimal use of chemicals, petroleum, and machinery, and of the successes it achieved—along with the continuing difficulties it still faces in reducing its need for food imports. Sinan Koont is associate professor of economics at Dickinson College. A volume in the series Contemporary Cuba, e dited by John M. Kirk

In the years since the Cuban Revolution in 1959, eleven men have served as president of the United States, arguably the most powerful nation on earth. Yet none of them has been able to effect any significant change in the stalemate between the United States and Cuba, its closest neighbor not to share a land border. Fifty Years of Revolution features contributions from an international Who’s Who gallery of leading scholars. The volume adopts a uniquely nonpartisan attitude, a departure from this topic’s generally divisive nature. Emerging from a series of meetings, conference panels, and lectures, the book coheres more strongly than the typical essay collection. Organized to analyze—not describe—Cuba’s foreign relations, the work examines sanctions, the embargo, regime change, Guantánamo, the exile community, and more. Drawing from personal experiences as well as recently declassified documents, these essays update, summarize, and explain one of the prickliest political issues in the Western Hemisphere today.

Cuban Economists on the Cuban Economy was written, in part, to reveal the rigorous research conducted within the country and to clarify the different factors that Cubans emphasize in examining their place on the world economic stage. It also provides unique insights into the islands fight against poverty, its aging population, and its trade unions. This book will be an invaluable resource for years to come.

“Krull has assembled an impressive array of international scholars to examine Cuba’s impact on international relations.”—Mervyn Bain, author of Russian-Cuban Relations since 1992 “An anthology of insightful essays that outruns the information blockade on Cuba.”—Ricardo A. Dello Buono, coeditor of Cuba in the Twenty-First Century There is a great deal more to Cuba’s place on the global stage than its contentious relationship with the United States. Taking a refreshing look at Cuban international relations, contributors to this volume from both inside and outside the island explore the myriad ways in which it has not only maintained but often increased its reach and influence. In Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, Cuba has assumed a geopolitical role of unlikely prominence. Even in the face of the ongoing U.S. embargo, Cubans have seen improvement in the quality of their lives. Shedding new light on Cuban diplomacy with communist China as well as with Western governments such as Great Britain and Canada, these essays reveal how the promotion of increased economic and political cooperation between Cuba and Venezuela served as a catalyst for the Petrocaribe group. Links established with countries in the Caribbean and Central America have increased tourism, medical diplomacy, and food sovereignty across the region. Cuban transnationalism has also succeeded in creating people-to-people contacts involving those who have remained on the island and members of the Cuban diaspora. While the specifics of Cuba’s international relations are likely to change as new leaders take over, the role of Cubans working to assert their sovereignty has undoubtedly, as this volume demonstrates, impacted every corner of the globe. Cuba’s domestic and political successes may even serve as models for other developing countries. Carlos Alzugaray Treto| Max Azicri| Mette Louise Berg| Maria Caridad Cumana| Kevin M. Delgado| Karen Dubinsky| Susan Eckstein| Efe Can Gurcan| John D. Holst| Robert Huish| Marguerite Rose Jimenez| Hal Klepak| Catherine Krull| William M. LeoGrande| Yvette Louis| Asa McKercher| Stanley J. Murphy| Louis A. Perez Jr.| Ricardo Perez| Ana Serra| Jean Stubbs

“Kirk’s invaluable study reveals to us, for the first time, the range and character of Cuba’s remarkable achievements, which should be an inspiration and a model for those with far greater advantages.”—Noam Chomsky, author of Manufacturing Consent “Invaluable. Provides ample, detailed, and clear evidence of the whole evolution of medical internationalism within Cuban foreign and social policy, going well beyond the headlines to trace that evolution carefully and honestly.”—Antoni Kapcia, coeditor of The Changing Dynamic of Cuban Civil Society “Offers a textured and nuanced assessment of a complex politico-cultural phenomenon.”—Louis A. Pérez, author of The Structure of Cuban Meanings and Purpose of the Past Cuba has more medical personnel serving abroad—over 50,000 in 66 countries—than all of the G-7 countries combined, and also more than the World Health Organization. For over five decades, the island nation has been a leading force in the developing world, providing humanitarian aid (or “cooperation,” as Cuba’s government prefers) and initiating programs for preventative care and medical training. In Healthcare without Borders, John Kirk examines the role of Cuban medical teams in disaster relief, biotechnology joint ventures, and in the Latin American School of Medicine—the largest medical faculty in the world. He looks at their responses to various crises worldwide, including the 1960 earthquake in Chile, the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine, the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the subsequent cholera outbreak, and the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Kirk issues an informative and enlightening corrective for what he describes as the tendency of the industrialized world’s media to ignore or underreport this medical aid phenomenon. In the process, Kirk explores the philosophical underpinnings of human rights and access to medical care at the core of Cuba’s medical internationalism programs and partnerships.