Suggested Books

A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution Click here to purchase this book Description

Brenner Phillip, Marguerite Rose Jimenez, John M. Kirk, and William M. LeoGrande (Editors)
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (2007)

This anthology brings together the best recent scholarship and writing on Cuban politics, economics, foreign relations, society, and culture in the post-Soviet era, which Cubans call the Special Period. Ideally suited for students and general readers seeking to understand contemporary Cuba, the book includes a substantive introduction setting the historical context, as well as part introductions and a chronology.

Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag Click here to purchase this book Description

Armando Valladares
Encounter Books (2001)

Against All Hope is Armando Valladares’ account of over twenty years in Fidel Castro’s tropical gulag. Arrested in 1960 for being philosophically and religiously opposed to communism, Valladares was not released until 1982, by which time he had become one of the world’s most celebrated “prisoners of conscience.” Interned all those years at the infamous Isla de Pinos prison (from whose windows he watched the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion), Valladares suffered endless days of violence, putrid food and squalid living conditions, while listening to Castro’s firing squads eliminating “counter revolutionaries” in the courtyard below his cell. Valladares survived by prayer and by writing poetry whose publication in Europe brought his case to the attention of international figures such as French President Francois Mitterand and to human rights organizations whose constant pressure on the Castro regime finally led to his release. When Against All Hope first appeared, it was immediately compared to Darkness at Noon and other classic prison narratives about the resilience of the human spirit in the face of totalitarianism. Now, with a new introduction by the author, which tells of his life since prison and brings the story of Cuban dissidence up to the case of Elian Gonzalez, Against All Hope is more relevant than ever.

After Fidel, Updated Edition: Raul Castro and the Future of Cuba's Revolution Click here to purchase this book Description

Brian Latell
Palgrave Macmillan (2007)

This is a compelling behind-the-scenes account of the extraordinary Castro brothers and the impending dynastic succession of Fidel's younger brother Raul. Brian Latell, the CIA analyst who has followed Castro since the sixties, gives an unprecedented view into Fidel and Raul's remarkable relationship, revealing how they have collaborated in policy making, divided responsibilities, and resolved disagreements for more than forty years--a challenge to the notion that Fidel always acts alone. Latell has had more access to the brothers than anyone else in this country, and his briefs to the CIA informed much of U.S. policy. Based on his knowledge of Raul Castro, Latell makes projections on what kind of leader Raul would be and how the shift in power might influence U.S.-Cuban relations.

Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Click here to purchase this book Description

Muhammad Yunus
PublicAffairs (2003)

Muhammad Yunus is that rare thing: a bona fide visionary. His dream is the total eradication of poverty from the world. In 1983, against the advice of banking and government officials, Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with minuscule loans. Grameen Bank, based on the belief that credit is a basic human right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, now provides over 2.5 billion dollars of micro-loans to more than two million families in rural Bangladesh. Ninety-four percent of Yunus's clients are women, and repayment rates are near 100 percent. Around the world, micro-lending programs inspired by Grameen are blossoming, with more than three hundred programs established in the United States alone. Banker to the Poor is Muhammad Yunus's memoir of how he decided to change his life in order to help the world's poor. In it he traces the intellectual and spiritual journey that led him to fundamentally rethink the economic relationship between rich and poor, and the challenges he and his colleagues faced in founding Grameen. He also provides wise, hopeful guidance for anyone who would like to join him in "putting homelessness and destitution in a museum so that one day our children will visit it and ask how we could have allowed such a terrible thing to go on for so long." The definitive history of micro-credit direct from the man that conceived of it, Banker to the Poor is necessary and inspirational reading for anyone interested in economics, public policy, philanthropy, social history, and business. Muhammad Yunus was born in Bangladesh and earned his Ph.D. in economics in the United States at Vanderbilt University, where he was deeply influenced by the civil rights movement. He still lives in Bangladesh, and travels widely around the world on behalf of Grameen Bank and the concept of micro-credit. Muhammad Yunus was born in 1940 in Chittagong, a seaport in Bangladesh. The third of fourteen children, five of whom died in infancy, he was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. In 1972 he became the head of the economics department at Chittagong University. He is the founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank.

Cambios en Cuba: Pocos, Tardios y Limitados Click here to purchase this book Description

February 2011

Oscar Espinosa Chepe

Comments and proposals about the Social and Economic Realignment Project of the VI Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba y other analysis of the cuban reality.

Conquering Nature: The Enviromental Legacy of Socialism in Cuba Click here to purchase this book Description

Sergio Díaz-Briquets and Jorge Pérez-López
University of Pittsburgh Press (2000)

Conquering Nature provides the only book-length analysis of the environmental situation in Cuba after four decades of socialist rule, based on extensive examination of secondary sources, informed by the study of development and environmental trends in former socialist countries as well as in the developing world. It approaches the issue comprehensively and from interdisciplinary, comparative, and historical perspectives. Based on the Cuban example, Díaz-Briquets and Pérez-López challenge the concept that environmental disruption was not supposed to occur under socialism since it was alleged that guided by scientific policies, socialism could only beget environmentally benign economic development. In reality, the socialist environmental record proved to be far different from the utopian view. Between the early 1960s and the late 1980s the environmental situation worsened despite Cuba’s achieving one of the lowest population growth rates in the world and having eliminated extreme living standard differentials in rural areas, two of the primary reasons often blamed for environmental deterioration in developing countries. The government’s approach was to “conquer nature” and under its central planning approach, it did not take local circumstances into consideration. This disregard for the environmental consequences of development projects continues to this day despite official allegations to the contrary—as the country pursues an economic survival strategy based on the crash development of the tourist sector and exploitation of natural resources. An underlying conclusion of the book is that the environmental legacy of socialism will present serious challenges to future Cuban generations. Conquering Nature provides, for the first time, a relevant analysis of socialist environmental policies of a developing country. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Cuba and those interested in environmental issues in developing countries.

Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism Click here to purchase this book Description

Muhammad Yunus
PublicAffairs (2007)

Creating a World Without Poverty tells the stories of some of the earliest examples of social businesses, including Yunus's own Grameen Bank. It reveals the next phase in a hopeful economic and social revolution that is already under way—and in the worldwide effort to eliminate poverty by unleashing the productive energy of every human being.

Cuba's Aborted Reform: Socioeconomic Effects, International Comparisons, and Transition Policies Click here to purchase this book Description

Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Jorge Perez-Lopez
University Press of Florida (2005)

Focusing on economic and social policies and performance during the “Special Period in Time of Peace” (1990-2004), the authors draw on an impressive array of statistics (synthesized in 28 tables) to show that in 2005 Cuba has yet to return to economic levels of the late 1980s, and the access and quality of many of the highly touted social services--education, health care, social security, housing--also have not been restored to the levels achieved prior to the economic crisis triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, they argue, poverty has expanded and unequal access to foreign remittances combined with expanding income differences have exacerbated social inequalities and widened the consumption gap between those with access to hard currency and those without. The authors demonstrate that governmental concerns about a strengthening private sector resulting in loss of political control finally prompted the Cuban leadership to prioritize political over economic ends. It aborted the modest market-oriented reforms of 1993-1996 and actually reversed them in 2003-2004, recentralized the economy, drastically reduced the limited spaces for private economic activity, exerted increasing control over hard currency, prohibited the circulation of the dollar, and stepped up repressive measures on peaceful dissidents. Centralized economic control has been fully restored, even though it will undoubtedly result in further deterioration of economic conditions and declining standards of living.

Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution Click here to purchase this book Description

Louis A. Perez
Oxford University Press (2005)

Spanning the history of the island from pre-Columbian times to the present, this highly acclaimed survey examines Cuba's political and economic development within the context of its international relations and continuing struggle for self-determination. The dualism that emerged in Cuban ideology--between liberal constructs of patria and radical formulations of nationality--is fully investigated as a source of both national tension and competing notions of liberty, equality, and justice. Perez integrates local and provincial developments with issues of class, race, and gender to give readers a full and fascinating account of Cuba's history, focusing on its struggle for nationality. The third edition features the latest research on Cuba, including a new chapter on post-Cold War Cuba that covers the years 1995 through 2004. The political chronology has been revised and updated and the extensive bibliography has been both condensed, where necessary, and expanded to highlight the scholarship of the past decade.

Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana Click here to purchase this book Description

Ann Louise Bardach
Vintage (2003)

PEN award–winning investigative journalist Ann Louise Bardach, delivers an incisive and spirited portrait of the twentieth century’s wiliest political survivor and his fiefdom. Cuba Confidential is the gripping story of the shattered families and warring personalities that lie at the heart of the forty-three-year standoff between Miami and Havana. Famous to many Americans for her cover stories and media appearances, Ann Louise Bardach has been covering Cuba for a decade. She’s talked to the crooks, spooks and politicians who have made history, and to their hired assassins and confidants. Based on exclusive interviews with Fidel Castro, his sister Juanita, his former brother-in-law Rafael Díaz-Balart, the family of Elián González, the friends and family of the legendary American fugitive Robert Vesco, the intrepid terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, and the inner circles of Jeb Bush and the late exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, Cuba Confidential exposes the hardball take-no-prisoners tactics of the Cuban exile leadership, and its manipulation and exploitation by ten American presidents. Bardach homes in on Fidel Castro and his cronies, taking us closer than we’ve ever been—and on the militant exiles who have devoted their lives, with CIA connivance, to trying to eliminate him. From Calle Ocho to Juan Miguel González’s kitchen table in Cárdenas, from Guantánamo Bay to Union City to Washington, D.C., Ann Louise Bardach serves up an unforgettable portrait of Cuba and its exiles.

Cuba en el siglo XXI: Ensayos sobre la transicion Click here to purchase this book Description

Marifeli Pérez-Stable
Editorial Colibrí (2006)

Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond Click here to purchase this book Description

Jaime Suchlicki
Potomac Books (2002)

In Jaime Suchlicki’s engaging style, Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond provides a detailed and sophisticated understanding of the Cuba of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In addition to its concise narrative history, CUBA details the current political climate, economy, and the regime’s future. Suchlicki discusses the domestic and international events that have affected this island nation in recent years. This highly readable history is perfect for students, travelers, and anyone else who seeks to understand more about Cuba and its people.

Cuba hoy: Analizando su pasado, imaginando su futuro Click here to purchase this book Description

Jorge I. Dominguez
Editorial Colibrí (2006)

Cuba's Military 1990-2005 : Revolutionary Soldiers during Counter-Revolutionary Times Description

Hal Klepak
Palgrave Macmillan (2005)

This book is the first examination of the Cuban military in the context of Cuba's political and economic challenges in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR--and therefore of Soviet economic, political, and psychological support. It does so by providing important historical and political contexts of the development and engagement of the military. This information and analysis are essential to understanding how U.S-Cuban relations will develop, especially after the changes sure to follow the death Fidel Castro.

Cuba on My Mind: Journeys to a Severed Nation Click here to purchase this book Description

Roman de la Campa
Verso (2000)

Cuba on my Mind examines the dual Cuban capitals of Havana and Miami to offer an insight on the two Cubas: their obsessive attempts to deny the other, their uses of migration as a political card, and their nationalistic passions. The impasse over Elian Gonzalez is only the most publicized chapter in the ongoing rift between the two Cuban capitals of Havana and Miami. In this gripping personal account of the forty-one-year-old divide between Cuba and its exile population in the United States, Roman de la Campa questions both sides of a family feud that is acutely reflective of his own experience. Cuban born and commuting between the arch-enemies in spite of their respective roadblocks, he tells the story of his coming of age in the Cuban diaspora, with its faded sympathies for revolution, and his continuing disdain for official Miami, the exile capital. Cuba on my Mind takes the three migration waves of Cubans to the United States as a historical backdrop for the author's story. Through these de la Campa's memoir offers a hard look at his two Cubas, their obsessive attempts to deny the other, their respective use of migration as a political card, and their nationalist passions. Above all it shows how globalization and post-socialism are shaping a Cuban national split with obvious consequences, not only for Havana, but also for the United States.

Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures Click here to purchase this book Description

Sujatha Fernandes
Duke University Press (2006)

In Cuba something curious has happened over the past fifteen years. The government has allowed vocal criticism of its policies to be expressed within the arts. Filmmakers, rappers, and visual and performance artists have addressed sensitive issues including bureaucracy, racial and gender discrimination, emigration, and alienation. How can this vibrant body of work be reconciled with the standard representations of a repressive, authoritarian cultural apparatus? In Cuba Represent! Sujatha Fernandes—a scholar and musician who has performed in Cuba—answers that question. Combining textual analyses of films, rap songs, and visual artworks; ethnographic material collected in Cuba; and insights into the nation’s history and political economy, Fernandes details the new forms of engagement with official institutions that have opened up as a result of changing relationships between state and society in the post-Soviet period. She demonstrates that in a moment of extreme hardship and uncertainty, the Cuban state has moved to a more permeable model of power. Artists and other members of the public are collaborating with government actors to partially incorporate critical cultural expressions into official discourse. The Cuban leadership has come to recognize the benefits of supporting artists: rappers offer a link to increasingly frustrated black youth in Cuba; visual artists are an important source of international prestige and hard currency; and films help unify Cubans through community discourse about the nation. Cuba Represent! reveals that part of the socialist government’s resilience stems from its ability to absorb oppositional ideas and values.

Cuba Today and Tomorrow: Reinventing Socialism Click here to purchase this book Description

Max Azicri
University Press of Florida (2001)

The Cuban Revolution has aroused passion and controversy for 40 years. Cuba Today and Tomorrow explains its extraordinary survival, as well as how and why it seems likely to continue into the new century. 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. In this polarized context, Max 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. 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.

Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know Click here to purchase this book Description

Julia Sweig
Oxford University Press (2009)

n Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know , Julia Sweig, one of America's leading experts on Cuba and Latin America, presents a concise and remarkably accessible portrait of the small island nation's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years. Yet it is authoritative as well. Following a scene-setting introduction that describes the dynamics unleashed since summer 2006 when Fidel Castro transferred provisional power to his brother Raul, the book looks backward toward Cuba's history since the Spanish American War before shifting to more recent times. Focusing equally on Cuba's role in world affairs and its own social and political transformations, Sweig divides the book chronologically into the pre-Fidel era, the period between the 1959 revolution and the fall of the Soviet Union, the post-Cold War era, and-finally-the looming post-Fidel era.

Cuban Studies Since the Revolution Click here to purchase this book Description

Damian J. Fernandez
University Press of Florida (2005)

For the first time in the past three decades we now have a comprehensive discourse on the epistemology of Cuban studies. This work evaluates the key areas of inquiry and research in the field, documenting the unresolved issues and offering points of departure for future study of Cuba in particular and for social science research in general. Leading Cuban specialists address the disciplines of political science, international relations, economics, literature, history, and sociology. While the authors represent multiple vantage points, they share a sense of the need to reevaluate their approaches to the sociopolitical reality of the island. "Uncertainty in the world necessarily translates into uncertainty for us," Fernández writes. "Long gone are the simple and universalistic explanations for a confused and confusing reality. This book is part of an ongoing revitalization of our area of study.

Culture and the Cuban Revolution: Conversations in Havana Click here to purchase this book Description

John M. Kirk and Leonardo Padura Fuentes
University Press of Florida (2001)

This unusual collaboration between a Cuban novelist and a Canadian professor offers uncensored and frank interviews with prominent figures of contemporary Cuban cultural life, from a Grammy-winning jazz artist to world-class filmmakers and actors, writers, ballet dancers, and dramatists. The thirteen people interviewed played a leading role in cultural life during the years of the revolutionary process and today are considered official Cuban figures.

DVD Shoot Down (2008) Click here to purchase this book Description

Cristina Khuly
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Shoot Down takes the audience through one of the most appalling international incidents that perfectly reflects the tumultuous relationship between Cuba and the United States. Winner of the 2007 Sonoma Valley Film Festival Award for Best Documentary, Shoot Down revisits the 1996 Cuban downing of two US civilian planes, piloted by Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR), which resulted in the deaths of four men. The film chronicles the perfect storm of events that led to that fateful day: In the early 90's Cuba was facing a steep economic decline after the pullout of the Soviet Union. Cuban Rafters, fleeing desperate conditions on the Island, were dying by the thousands in an attempt to reach the US. The European Union was recognizing the growing internal dissidence base in Cuba that, for the first time since the revolution of 1959, was effectively and publicly challenging the Castro government. Pressure was mounting and the boiling point came at the end of Clinton's first term in office. BTTR had gained political influence and respect on both sides of the Florida Straits with its many rescue missions of Cuban rafters. The group flew near Cuba to spot the fleeing rafters and, at least once, flew over Havana. This was the pretext the Cuban Government needed to act -- in the air against the US-registered planes and on the Island against the dissidents. In a stirring reenactment of the shoot down, the film replays the actual radio transmissions of the pilots in their final moments and the elation of the Cuban MiG pilots who fired the missiles. Special features include: Spanish & English language versions; a 12 min. unedited audio recording of Raul Castro commenting on the incident; the unedited voice recordings (1 hr., 30 min.) between the Cuban MiG's and Cuban Military Control -- intercepted by US intelligence surveillance; a 30 min. cockpit voice recording of the lead BTTR Cessna, which includes conversations between this plane and the two shot down.

Essays in Cuban Intellectual History Click here to purchase this book Description

Rafael Rojas
Palgrave Macmillan (2008)

Well-known essayist Rafael Rojas presents a collection of his best work, one which focuses on--and offers alternatives to--the central myths that have organized Cuban culture from the nineteenth century to the present. Topics covered include José Martí, Fernando Ortiz, and broader concepts of diaspora and memory in the Cuban literary canon.

Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul Click here to purchase this book Description

Michael Reid
Yale University Press (2008)

Latin America has often been condemned to failure. Neither poor enough to evoke Africa’s moral crusade, nor as explosively booming as India and China, it has largely been overlooked by the West. Yet this vast continent, home to half a billion people, the world’s largest reserves of arable land, and 8.5 percent of global oil, is busily transforming its political and economic landscape. This book argues that rather than failing the test, Latin America’s efforts to build fairer and more prosperous societies make it one of the world’s most vigorous laboratories for capitalist democracy. In many countries—including Brazil, Chile and Mexico—democratic leaders are laying the foundations for faster economic growth and more inclusive politics, as well as tackling deep-rooted problems of poverty, inequality, and social injustice. They face a new challenge from Hugo Chávez’s oil-fuelled populism, and much is at stake. Failure will increase the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants to the United States and Europe, jeopardize stability in a region rich in oil and other strategic commodities, and threaten some of the world's most majestic natural environments. Drawing on Michael Reid’s many years of reporting from inside Latin America’s cities, presidential palaces, and shantytowns, the book provides a vivid, immediate, and informed account of a dynamic continent and its struggle to compete in a globalized world.

Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean Metropolis Click here to purchase this book Description

Joseph L. Scarpaci
The University of North Carolina Press (1997)

One of the oldest and most celebrated cities in the Western Hemisphere, Havana is a fascinating metropolis where history has left its handprint on every corner. Here, an international trio of well-known architects and planners assesses nearly five hundred years of development in the Cuban capital. They offer an insightful introduction to Havana's historic architecture and modern buildings, its social and economic fabric, its diverse people, and its contemporary challenges and opportunities. From the colonial and early republican periods, through the 1959 revolution, and into the post-Soviet era and today, the authors trace Havana's physical evolution and place it in the context of important political, economic, and cultural developments. This new edition--which has been completely revised, redesigned, and updated since the book's original publication in 1997--also highlights recent restoration efforts in Old Havana, commercial development projects throughout the city, and the wide-ranging effects of international tourism.

Havana USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, 1959-1994 Click here to purchase this book Description

María Cristina García
University of California Press (1996)

In the years since Fidel Castro came to power, the migration of close to one million Cubans to the United States continues to remain one of the most fascinating, unusual, and controversial movements in American history. María Cristina García–a Cuban refugee raised in Miami–has experienced firsthand many of the developments she describes, and has written the most comprehensive and revealing account of the postrevolutionary Cuban migration to date. García deftly navigates the dichotomies and similarities between cultures and among generations. Her exploration of the complicated realm of Cuban American identity sets a new standard in social and cultural history.

Human Rights in Cuba, El Salvador and Nicaragua: A Sociological Perspective on Human Rights Abuses Click here to purchase this book Description

Mayra Gomez
Routledge (2003)

This book presents a historical perspective on patterns of human rights abuse in Cuba, El Salvador and Nicaragua and incorporates international relations in to the traditional theories of state repression found within the social sciences.

Looking Forward: Comparative Perspectives on Cuba's Transition Click here to purchase this book Description

Marifeli Perez-Stable
University of Norte Dame Press (2007)

In Looking Forward, Marifeli Perez-Stable and her colleagues imagine Cuba's future after the "poof moment"--Jorge I. Dominguez's vivid phrase--when the current regime will no longer exist. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to all interested readers, this volume does not try to predict how and when the Castro regime will end, but instead considers the possible consequences of change. Each chapter--prepared by an expert in the field--takes up a basic issue: politics, the military, the legal system, civil society, gender, race, economic transition strategies, social policy and social welfare, corruption, the diaspora, memory, ideology and culture, and U.S.-Cuba relations. The author of each chapter considers three questions: How have other new democracies handled the basic issue in question? How might Cuba's unique conditions affect this area in transition? What are the likely outcomes and alternatives for a Cuba in transition? Designed with students, policy-makers, and journalists in mind, this lively and accessible volume is an essential resource.

Man's Search for Meaning Click here to purchase this book Description

Viktor E. Frankl
Beacon Press (1946)

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey by the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America. Born in Vienna in 1905 Viktor E. Frankl earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. He published more than thirty books on theoretical and clinical psychology and served as a visiting professor and lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, and elsewhere. In 1977 a fellow survivor, Joseph Fabry, founded the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. Frankl died in 1997.

People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government (Updated Edition) Click here to purchase this book Description

Peter Roman
Rowan & Littlefield Publishers (2003)

People's Power is a theoretical, historical and analytical account of representative government that has emerged in Cuba since the 1970's. By combining original research and extensive interviews with citizens and officials, Peter Roman illustrates how the Cuban model was built on theoretical foundations derived from Rousseau, Marx, and Lenin, and the historical precedents of the 1871 Paris Commune, the 1905 and 1917 soviets, and the pre- and post-Stalin years of the Soviet Union. Cuba's contributions to this legacy--the Organs of People's Power--include unique approaches to the nomination and election of municipal assembly delegates and National Assembly deputies, to citizen input and participation, and to the role of the Communist Party. There is no other detailed study of the Cuban parliamentary system. Recorded eyewitness accounts the nominations sessions for municipal assembly delegates and the accountability sessions where citizens voice suggestions and complaints to their delegates, allow Cubans to speak for themselves. Reading this book is imperative for anyone interested in understanding the so often overlooked and misunderstood representative government that exists in Cuba today--as it has for decades.

Reality of Labor in Cuba and the Social Responsability of Foreign Investors Click here to purchase this book Description

Jesus Mercader
Tirant lo Blanch (May 2006)

An objective and thorough analisis of Cuba's labor practices and their flagrant contradictions with international labor treaties adopted by Cuba. Jesus Mercader, Profesor of Labor Law and Social Security of Universidad Carlos III of Madrid examines the 89 ILO conventions adopted by Cuba and their contradictions with Cuban labor and foreign investment laws. The author pays special attention to the observations made by the competen committees of the International Labor Organization. He also analyzes the Social Responsability of Foreign Investors and the clear need for principals of ethical conduct for foreign investors in the island.

Reinventing the Cuban Sugar Agroindustry Click here to purchase this book Description

Jorge F. Pérez-López and José Alvarez
Lexington Books (2005)

One of the key issues that faces Cuban policymakers today, and will continue to face them, is what steps to take in order to ensure the future of the sugar industry. In 2002, nearly one-half of the country's cultivated land was occupied by the 156 fully functional sugar mills, more than a dozen plants and refineries, and the complex transportation infrastructure brought about by the commerce. The loss of preferential markets for Cuban sugar that arose from the demise of the international socialist community constitutes a crisis that the Cuban government has only begun to address, with a radical restructuring plan that would foresee the reduction of sugar land and the elimination of about 100,000 jobs, for increased economic emphasis on tourism. The radical premise of this volume is that there is a future in the twenty-first century for a reinvented Cuban sugar agroindustry, responsive to market signals, organized around smaller and more agile production units, producing raw sugar as well as high value-added outputs, and using some of the facilities to produce ethanol and generate electricity. The editors have asked over a dozen recognized world experts on Cuban agroindustry to analyze specific topics and make recommendations that would not only reinvent an industry for effective transition to a free-market environment but that has the potential to reinvigorate the Cuban economy, providing employment opportunities and generating wealth for generations of Cubans to come.

That Infernal Little Cuban Republic Click here to purchase this book Description

Lars Schoultz
UNC Press (2009)

Cuba has regularly given Washington a headache, Lars Schoultz observes in his comprehensive chronicle of U.S. policy toward the Cuban Revolution. Seeking relief, even the most patient U.S. officials have often been tempted to repeat what an exasperated President Theodore Roosevelt told a friend in 1906: "I am so angry with that infernal little Cuban republic that I would like to wipe its people off the face of the earth." Certainly that has been true since 1959, when a group of rebels led by Fidel Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista, a dictator known for his friendly ties to the United States, and proceeded to cause more trouble than anyone could have imagined. Using a rich array of documents and firsthand interviews with U.S. and Cuban officials, Schoultz tells the story of the attempts and failures of ten U.S. administrations to end the Cuban Revolution. He covers everything from the legendary 1960s plot to assassinate Castro using a rigged ballpoint pen to the message that recently ran across the electronic billboard of the U.S. interests section in Havana: "Communism doesnt work because people like to own stuff"--a comment attributed to the late rocker Frank Zappa. Schoultz argues that despite the overwhelming advantage in size and power that the United States enjoys over its neighbor, the Cubans' historical insistence on their right to self-determination has inevitably irritated American administrations, influenced both U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, and led to a freeze in diplomatic relations of unprecedented longevity. Schoultz's analysis illuminates what has been a highly unproductive foreign policy and points to fresh prospects as a new century of U.S.-Cuban relations begins.

The Bay of Pigs Click here to purchase this book Description

Howard Jones
Oxford University Press (2008)

"In The Bay of Pigs , Howard Jones provides a concise, incisive, and dramatic account of the disastrous attempt to overthrow Castro. He deftly examines the train of missteps and self-deceptions that led to the invasion of U. S.-trained exiles at the Bay of Pigs."

The Boys from Dolores: Fidel Castro's Schoolmates from Revolution to Exile Click here to purchase this book Description

Patrick Symmes
Vintage (2007)

This is the remarkable tale of a group of boys at the heart of Cuba's political and social history. Chosen in the 1940s from among the most affluent and ambitious families in eastern Cuba, they were groomed at the elite Colegio de Dolores for achievement and leadership. Instead, they were swept into war, revolution, and exile by two of their own number, Fidel and Raúl Castro. Trained by Jesuits for dialectical dexterity and the pursuit of absolutes, Fidel Castro swiftly destroyed the old Cuba they had come from, down to the hallways of Dolores itself. At once sweeping and intimate, this remarkable history by Patrick Symmes is a tour de force investigation of the world that gave birth to Fidel Castro – and the world his Cuban Revolution leaves behind.

The Changing Dynamic of Cuban Civil Society Click here to purchase this book Description

Alexander I. Gray and Antoni Kapcia (Editors)
University Press of Florida (2008)

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. Alexander I. Gray is a researcher in the European Network of Excellence on International Migration, Integration, and Social Cohesion. Antoni Kapcia is professor of Latin American history at the University of Nottingham and professor invitado at the University of Havana.

The Cuban Economy at the Start of the Twenty-First Century Click here to purchase this book Description

Jorge I. Dominguez
Harvard University Press (2005)

How can Cuba address the challenges of economic development and transformation that have bedeviled so many Latin American and Eastern European countries? For the Cuban and American social scientists and policy experts writing in this timely and provocative volume, the answer lies in examining Cuba's development trajectory by delving into issues ranging from the political economy of reform to their impact on specific sectors including export development, foreign direct investment, and U.S.-Cuba trade.

The Cuban Embargo: The Domestic Politics of an American Foreign Policy Click here to purchase this book Description

Patrick J. Hanney and Walter Vanderbrush
University of Pittsburgh Press (2005)

A thorough examination of U. S. economic relations with Cuba, this text discusses the history of the embargo policy as well as current changes in attitudes. It demonstrates the serious effects domestic politics can have on foreign policy.

The Cuban Republic and José Martí: Reception and Use of a National Symbol Click here to purchase this book Description

Mauricio A. Font and Alfonso W. Quiroz (Editors)
Lexington Books (2005)

Jose Marti contributed greatly to Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain with words as well as revolutionary action. Although he died before the formation of an independent republic, he has since been hailed as a heroic martyr inspiring Cuban republican traditions. During the twentieth century, traditionally nationalistic literature has reinforced an uncritical idealization of Marti and his influence. However, new approaches have recently explored the formation, reception, uses and abuses of the Marti myth. The essays in this volume analyze the influence of Jose Marti - poet, scholar, and revolutionary - on the formation of often-competing national identities in post-independence Cuba. By exploring the diverse representations and interpretations of Marti, they provide a critical analysis of the ways in which both the left and right have used his political and literary legacies to argue their version of contemporary Cuban "reality."

The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course and Legacy Click here to purchase this book Description

Marifeli Perez-Stable
Oxford University Press (1998)

This timely study provides a re-examination of the achievements and failures of the Cuban revolution. The Cuban Revolution places the revolution firmly within the context of twentieth century Cuban history, beginning with the inauguration of the republic in 1902 to Castro's triumphant entry into Santiago de Cuba in 1959, and hightlights the factors -- such as a one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. intereference in Cuban affairs -- which made Cuba susceptible to revolution. While identifying nationalism and the struggle for social justice as the legitimate forces behind the revolution, Perez-Stable also provides a fresh insight into the problems facing Castro's Cuba. Arguing that the revolution actually ended in 1970, she blames its defeat on the regime's profitable yet doomed dependence on the Soviet Union and on the failure of Cuba's leaders to diversity the country's economy, sustain development, or create democratic institutions. The Cuban Revolution also focuses special attention on Cuba's confrontation with the United States. This second edition has been updated to include an entirely new chapter with coverage of the changes affecting Cuba's policies and economy since the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the failure of communism in general, as well as a new preface, an up-to-date bibliography, and a thoroughly revised concluding chapter summing up the prospects and possibilities of Cuba's future in the twenty-first century.

The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad Click here to purchase this book Description

Fareed Zakaria
W. W. Norton (2003)

Democracy has reshaped politics, economics, and culture around the world. This provocative book asks, can you have too much of a good thing? Today we judge the value of every idea, institution, and individual by one test: is it popular? Or, more practically, do the majority of those polled like it? This transformation has affected not just politics but also business, law, culture, and even religion. Every institution and profession in society must democratize or die. Democracy has gone from being a form of government to a way of life. Like any broad transformation, however, the trends that democracy unleashes are not uniformly benign. Democracy has its dark sides, yet to question it has been to provoke instant criticism that you are "out of sync" with the times. No more. With an easy command of history, philosophy, and current affairs, Zakaria reinterprets our past and outlines our future. Woodrow Wilson said the challenge of the twentieth century was to make the world safe for democracy. This penetrating book challenges us to make democracy safe for the world.

The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall Click here to purchase this book Description

Ian Bremmer
Simon and Schuster (2007)

What Freakonomics does for understanding the economy, The J Curve does for better understanding how nations behave. Bremmer's tour of the nations of the world -- our friends, our foes, and others in between -- shows us how to see the world fresh, get rid of shopworn attitudes, and discover a new and useful way of thinking.

The Leasing of Guantanamo Bay Click here to purchase this book Description

Michael J. Strauss
Praeger Security International (2009)

The Leasing of Guantanamo Bay explains just how Guantanamo Bay came to be a leased territory where the U.S. has no sovereignty and Cuba has no jurisdiction. This is the first definitive account of the details and workings of the unusual and problematic state-to-state leasing arrangement that is the essential but murky foundation for all the ongoing controversies about Guantanamo Bay's role in U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, charges of U.S. human rights violations, and U.S.-Cuban relations.

The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else Click here to purchase this book Description

Hernando de Soto
Basic Books (2003)

It's become clear by now the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in most places around the globe hasn't ushered in an unequivocal flowering of capitalism in the developing and postcommunist world. Western thinkers have blamed this on everything from these countries' lack of sellable assets to their inherently non-entrepreneurial "mindset." In this book, the renowned Peruvian economist and adviser to presidents and prime ministers Hernando de Soto proposes and argues another reason: it's not that poor, postcommunist countries don't have the assets to make capitalism flourish. As de Soto points out by way of example, in Egypt, the wealth the poor have accumulated is worth 55 times as much as the sum of all direct foreign investment ever recorded there, including that spent on building the Suez Canal and the Aswan Dam. No, the real problem is that such countries have yet to establish and normalize the invisible network of laws that turns assets from "dead" into "liquid" capital. In the West, standardized laws allow us to mortgage a house to raise money for a new venture, permit the worth of a company to be broken up into so many publicly tradable stocks, and make it possible to govern and appraise property with agreed-upon rules that hold across neighborhoods, towns, or regions. This invisible infrastructure of "asset management"--so taken for granted in the West, even though it has only fully existed in the United States for the past 100 years--is the missing ingredient to success with capitalism, insists de Soto. But even though that link is primarily a legal one, he argues that the process of making it a normalized component of a society is more a political--or attitude-changing--challenge than anything else. With a fleet of researchers, de Soto has sought out detailed evidence from struggling economies around the world to back up his claims. The result is a fascinating and solidly supported look at the one component that's holding much of the world back from developing healthy free markets. --Timothy Murphy --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives Click here to purchase this book Description

Ben Corbett
Westview Press (2004)

A colorful first-person account of living on the fringes of Castro's Cuba, and a splendid evocation of the modern Cuban character. Beyond the throngs of tourists streaming through Central Havana's broad Prado Avenue, and outside the yoke of Castro's 43-year-old Revolutionary program, there exists a parallel Cuba - a separate evolution of a people struggling to survive. With personal stories that depict a people torn between following the directives of their government and finding a way to better their lot, journalist Ben Corbett gives us the daily life of many considered outlaws by Castro's regime. But are they outlaws or rather ingenious survivors of what many Cubans consider to be a forty-year mistake, a tangle of contradictions that has resulted in a strange hybrid of American-style capitalism and a homegrown black market economy. At a time when Cuba walks precariously on the ledge between socialism and capitalism, This Is Cuba gets to the heart of this so-called outlaw culture, taking readers into the living rooms, rooftops, parks, and city streets to hear stories of frustration, hope, and survival. Updated with a new preface.

Toward a Culture of Nature: Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development in Cuba Click here to purchase this book Description

Pamela Stricker
Lexington Books (2007)

Toward a Culture of Nature is a comprehensive study of Cuba's environmental policy, specifically the response of the Cuban government to the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent shortage of petroleum products. Pamela Stricker analyzes Cuba's transition to sustainable models of agriculture, efforts toward energy independence using renewable resources, the adoption of "green" medicine, a framework law on environmental protection, the impact of tourism and foreign investment on the island, incorporation of environmental education, and the crafting of a culture of nature, that is, a Cuban environmental ethics of sustainable development. Going beyond the standard accounts of formal legislation and executive institutions, Professor Stricker pays special attention to the scientists and activists who worked in all capacities (governmental and non-governmental) to bring about change to the environmental policies. Spanning the second half of the twentieth-century, Toward a "Culture of Nature" is an important case study of environmental policy, ethics, and sustainable development.

Transforming Socialist Economies: Lessons from Cuba and Beyond Click here to purchase this book Description

Shahid Burki and Daniel Erikson
Palgrave Macmillan (2005)

This work argues that countries with centrally-planned economies can pursue divergent paths towards market liberalization. The book reviews the reform processes of China, the Central Asian Republics, Eastern Europe, Russia, Vietnam, and the role of the international financial institutions, and draws lessons for Cuba, a country on the verge of wider economic transformation.

True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, Cuba's Master Spy Click here to purchase this book Description

Scott W. Carmichael
U.S. Naval Institute Press (2007)

Ana Montes appeared to be a model employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Known to her coworkers as the Queen of Cuba, she was an overachiever who advanced quickly through the ranks of Latin American specialists to become the intelligence community's top analyst on Cuban affairs. But throughout her sixteen-year career at DIA, Montes sent Castro some of America's most closely guarded secrets and at the same time influenced what the United States thought it knew about Cuba. When she was finally arrested in September 2001, she became the most senior American intelligence official ever accused of operating as a Cuban spy from within the federal government. Unrepentant as she serves out her time in a federal prison in Texas, Montes remains the only member of the intelligence community ever convicted of espionage on behalf of the Cuban government. This inside account of the investigation that led to her arrest was written by Scott W. Carmichael, the DIA's senior counterintelligence investigator who persuaded the FBI to delve deeper into Montes activities. Although Montes did not fit the FBI's profile of a spy and easily managed to defeat the agency's polygraph exam, Carmichael became suspicious of her activities and, with the FBI, over a period of several years developed a solid case against her. Here he tells the story of that long and ultimately successful spy hunt. Carmichael reveals the details of their efforts to bring her to justice, offering readers a front-row seat for the first major U.S. espionage case of the twenty-first century. She was arrested less than twenty-four hours before learning details of the U.S. plan to invade Afghanistan post-September 11. Motivated by ideology and not money, Montes was one of the last "true believers" of the Communist era. Because her arrest came just ten days after 9/11, it went largely unnoticed by the American public. This book calls attention to the grave damage Montes inflicted on U.S. security--Carmichael even implicates her in the death of a Green Beret fighting Cuban-backed insurgent in El Salvador and the damage she would have continued to inflict had she not been caught.

U.S.-Cuban Cooperation Past, Present, and Future Click here to purchase this book Description

Melanie M. Ziegler
University Press of Florida (2007)

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. Melanie M. Ziegler is visiting assistant professor of political science and international studies at Miami University in Ohio.

United States-Cuban Relations: A Critical History Click here to purchase this book Description

Esteban Morales Dominguez and Gary Prevost
Lexington Books (2008)

United States-Cuban Relations breaks new ground in its treatment of this long and tumultuous relationship. The overall approach, mirroring the political science background of both authors, does not focus on historical detail that has been provided by many other works, but rather on a broad analysis of trends and patterns that have marked the long relationship between the two countries. Dominguez and Prevost argue that U.S. policy toward Cuba is driven in significant measure by developments on the ground in Cuba. From the U.S. intervention at the time of the Cuban Independence War to the most recent revisions of U.S. policy in the wake of the Powell Commission, the authors demonstrate how U.S. policy adjusts to developments and perceived reality on the island. The final chapters of the book focus on the contemporary period, with particular emphasis on the changing dynamic toward Cuba from U.S. civil society. Dominguez and Prevost describe how the U.S. business community, fearful of being isolated from Cuba's reinsertion in the world's capitalist markets, have united with long-standing opponents of the U.S. embargo to win the right to sell food and medicines to Cuba over the last four years. Ultimately, the authors are realists about the possibility of better relations between the U.S. and Cuba, pointing out that, short of the collapse of Cuba's current political and economic system, fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the island is unlikely in the immediate future.

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy Click here to purchase this book Description

Carlos Eire
Free Press (2003)

Eire's complex, introspective memoir begins the day his world changed: when Castro's troops sent President Batista into exile far from Cuba in 1959. The son of a judge who believed himself to be Louis XVI reincarnated, Carlos, along with his older brother, Tony, spent his days playing with fireworks and lizards. He attended an elite school, where Batista's children were his classmates. Carlos' biggest worries were the disapproving stares he received from a portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria and Jesus, who would sometimes appear in the window to him. All of that changed when Castro came to power; suddenly, attending a prestigious school or driving a classy car was dangerous. The Eire family remained in Cuba even as others left, until finally Eire's parents sent Carlos and Tony to Florida, where a very different life awaited them. Years passed before their mother joined them, but Carlos never saw his father again. In this open, honest, and at times angry memoir, Eire bares his soul completely and captivates the reader in the process. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington Click here to purchase this book Description

Ann Louise Bardach
Scribner (2009)

Ann Louise Bardach offers a spellbinding chronicle of the Havana-Washington political showdown, drawing on nearly two decades of reporting and countless interviews with everyone from the Comandante himself, his co-ruler and brother Raúl, and other family members, to ordinary Cubans as well as officials and politicos in Miami, Havana, and Washington. The result is an unforgettable dual portrait of Fidel and Raúl Castro -- arguably the most successful and enduring political brother team in history. Since 1959, Fidel Castro has been the supreme leader of Cuba, deftly checkmating his foes, both from within and abroad; confronting eleven American presidents; and outfoxing dozens of assassination attempts, vanquished only by collapsing health. As night descends on Castro's extraordinary fifty-year reign, Miami, Havana, and Washington are abuzz with anxious questions: What led to the lightning-bolt purge of key Cuban officials in March 2009? Who will be Raúl's heir? Will the U.S. embargo end now? Bardach offers profound and surprising answers to these questions as she meticulously chronicles Castro's protracted farewell and assesses his transformative impact on the world stage and the complex legacy that will long outlive him. She reports from three distinct vantage points: In Miami, where more than one million Cubans have fled, she interviews scores of exiles including Castro's would-be assassins Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles; in Washington, DC, she reports on the Obama administration's struggle to formulate a post-Castro strategy; in Havanah she permeates the bubble around the fiercely private and officially retired Castro to ascertain the extent of his undisclosed medical condition. Bardach delivers a compelling meditation on one of the most controversial, combative, and charismatic rulers in history. Without Fidel includes never-before-published reporting on Castro, his family, and his half-century grip on the largest country in the Caribbean while assessing how his departure will forever transform politics and policy in the Western Hemisphere -- and the world.

Cuba Study Group

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