The extraordinary account of the Cuban people’s struggle for survival in a post-Soviet world In the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced the start of a crisis that decimated its economy. Helen Yaffe examines the astonishing developments that took place during and beyond this period. Drawing on archival research and interviews with Cuban leaders, thinkers, and activists, this book tells for the first time the remarkable story of how Cuba survived while the rest of the Soviet bloc crumbled. Yaffe shows how Cuba has been gradually introducing select market reforms. While the government claims that these are necessary to sustain its socialist system, many others believe they herald a return to capitalism. Examining key domestic initiatives including the creation of one of the world’s leading biotechnological industries, its energy revolution, and medical internationalism alongside recent economic reforms, Yaffe shows why the revolution will continue post-Castro. This is a fresh, compelling account of Cuba’s socialist revolution and the challenges it faces today.

This book is a study of Cuba's economic development under communism over the last fifty-five years. The authors find that Cuba's socioeconomic development has gone backward since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The authors conclude that Fidel Castro's revolution has been an economic disaster for Cuba. The book first outlines Cuba's economic position prior to the revolution. It reviews Cuba's rankings with respect to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the 1950s and examines the strength of pre-Castro Cuba's foreign reserves and the health of its monetary system. It also presents pre-Castro Cuba's investments in health care and education and documents the island's development potential in the 1950s. The last few chapters describe the precipitous decline in all of these areas of Cuba's economy under Castro. Despite the socioeconomic catastrophe of the Castro years, the authors envision a post-Castro Cuba, where this book can provide a benchmark to measure the developmental success that the Cuban work-ethic and entrepreneurial spirit can generate in a free-market system.

When the end of the Castro era arrives, the successor government and the Cuban people will need to answer certain questions: How is Castro's more than four-decade rule likely to affect a post-Castro Cuba? What will be the political, social, and economic challenges Cuba will confront? What are the impediments to Cuba's economic development and democratic transition? The authors examine Castro's political legacies, Cuba's generational and racial divisions, its demographic predicament, the legacy of a centralized economy, and the need for industrial restructuring.

In September 2010, Cuban president Raul Castro announced the beginning of sweeping economic reforms, including the elimination of a million public sector jobs, the easing of restrictions on private enterprise, and the first Communist Party Congress since 1997. To explore what Cubans think about the announced reforms, Freedom House conducted in-depth interviews with 120 people in six provinces from December 2010 to January 2011. These interviews also assessed access to information and technology on the island, and explored Cubans' values and beliefs, which Freedom House compared with the findings from other countries in the World Values Survey study. The results of this study indicate that despite hopes that the reforms will benefit Cuba, many do not believe they will personally benefit. Cubans continue to struggle to survive on a daily basis and are preoccupied by the need to feed their families, pay debts, and find work. When asked to describe their economic situation, the most common adjective used was "apretado" (tight). Cubans want to see economic reforms that will increase wages, lower prices, and make basic goods and services more available. Many younger Cubans would like to start a family but are unable to afford to live on their own, let alone raise children. As a young salesperson in Havana said, "If I don't have enough to support just myself, what will it be like if I have a family?" The poor state of Cuba's transportation system further isolates Cubans, particularly those in rural areas. While there is some indication that outright repression on the island has lessened slightly, Cubans are still subjected to a variety of restrictions on freedom of expression, private enterprise, and freedom of movement. Cubans are reluctant to complain in public, yet often criticize the government in private. Private businesses such as casas particulares (family homes that rent out a room) are subjected to hefty taxes and fined for minor infractions. A casa particular owner in Villa Clara, for example, claimed, "Everyone watches you here. If it's not the government, it's the neighbors who immediately alert the authorities when someone arrives." Although the Cuban government opened tourist areas to Cubans in 2008, the high cost of entry means few are able to take advantage of the facilities or services, such as the internet, offered at these sites. A resident of Villa Clara acknowledged, "It's an achievement by the government. But who does it serve? The tourists and not the Cuban people. Before we couldn't even enter; now we can, but how are we going to do that if everything is in CUC [pesos convertibles, or convertible peso)]?" Additionally, Cubans continue to need official permission to travel or move between provinces, as well as to leave the country. A respondent from Villa Clara explained how Cubans are required to have work licenses or certificates in order to exchange places with a family member in another province. Also, several respondents spoke of their efforts to leave the country either by acquiring a Cuban exit visa or gaining citizenship from another country and subsequently obtaining a non-Cuban passport. Separately, the July 2010 prisoner release negotiation was also initially hailed as reform, yet almost all of those released were forced to accept exile in countries such as Spain and the United States, prompting critics to argue that the Cuban government was using the prisoner release to physically remove the opposition from the island.

The Cuban revolution served as a rallying cry to people across Latin America and the Caribbean. The revolutionary regime has provided vital support to the rest of the region, offering everything from medical and development assistance to training and advice on guerrilla warfare. Cuba and Revolutionary Latin America is the first oral history of Cuba’s liberation struggle. Drawing on a vast array of original testimonies, Dirk Kruijt looks at the role of both veterans and the post-Revolution fidelista generation in shaping Cuba and the Americas. Featuring the testimonies of over sixty Cuban officials and former combatants, Cuba and Revolutionary Latin America offers unique insight into a nation which, in spite of its small size and notional pariah status, remains one of the most influential countries in the Americas.

“Frequent insights, stimulating historical comparisons, and command of the data relating to Cuba’s economic and social performance.” —Foreign Affairs Uncritically lauded by the left and impulsively denounced by the right, the Cuban Revolution is almost universally viewed one dimensionally. In this book, Samuel Farber, one of its most informed left-wing critics, provides a much-needed critical assessment of the Revolution’s impact and legacy. “The Cuban story twists and turns as we speak, so thank goodness for scholars such as Samuel Farber, an unapologetic Marxist whose knowledge of Cuban affairs is unrivalled . . . In this excellent, necessary book, Farber takes stock of fifty years of revolutionary control by recognizing achievements but lambasting authoritarianism.” —Latin American Review of Books “A courageous and formidable balance-sheet of the Cuban Revolution, including a sobering analysis of a draconian ‘reform’ program that will only deepen the gulf between revolutionary slogans and the actual life of the people.” —Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums