Latin America & Caribbean / Other publications
Cuba: change and continuity in the 21st century
03/12/2007 By Susanne Gratius
On 29 November FRIDE organised a debate in Casa de Galicia featuring the Cuban academic Carlos Alzugaray Treto, a profesor from the Centre for Studies on the United States (CEEU) in the University of Havana.
In his presentation, Carlos Alzugaray argued that Cuba was at a crossroads and that there was growing demand within the current political system for change. The professor emphasised that the political leadership of Raúl Castro differed from that of his predecessor in its pragmatism and its greater willingness to accept criticism.
He explained that, in line with the speech made by the interim president on July 26, a wide-ranging internal debate is taking place, the outcome of which is still unclear. The issues being tackled include, among others, levels of economic production, efficiency and wage rates in the workplace, social and racial inequality, poverty and migration. In his judgement, the main internal challenges that Cuba must face are low salaries, inequality and the need for greater citizen participation in political processes in order to create a “deliberative democracy”.
With regard to foreign policy, he explained that Cuba’s three strategic allies are China, Venezuela and Vietnam. He also affirmed that the current political landscape in Latin America was favourable for Cuba and that Canada was playing a positive role in the island. The Cuban academic went on to consider the possibilities for starting up a new dialogue, free of conditions, with the United States and criticised the vacillating position of the European Union, which seems to alternate between trying to improve relations with the country and appeasing the US.
The debate centred on the future of US policy towards Cuba, the possibility of reforming Cuba’s migration laws, the opportunities and challenges facing Havana in its relationship with Caracas, and internal perspectives on the potential for bringing about the political and economic transformation of the country while also maintaining the basic characteristics of the current system.
This meeting opened a new space for dialogue and facilitated a wide and frank debate on the minor internal and external changes that have been taking place in Cuba since the new collective leadership took the reigns of the country.
Keywords
Cuba Democracy Development Governance Latin America & Caribbean Political economyRelated publications
- Common goals, different strategies? options for a transatlantic agenda on Cuba
- Forum Spain-Cuba: Spanish Policy and the future of Cuba
- Helping Castro? EU and US policies towards Cuba
- The External Actors and Cuba after Fidel
Bio author: Susanne Gratius
PhD in Political Science by the University of Hamburg. Expert in Latin America.
