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The article examines the key challenges facing political leaders in Cuba in changing the economic model as of June 2017. These challenges are building and maintaining consensus among political elites over the process of economic reform and rebuilding of regime legitimacy with the public around performance if the founding generation will retire. Also discussed are President Raúl Castro's economic policy that promotes market socialism and Castro's belief that bureaucrats must have positive attitudes toward markets and private property.

The article focuses on the move of U.S. President Barack Obama to initiate the restoration of the country's diplomatic relations with Cuba. It examines the reason behind Obama administration's change of policy towards Cuba and the insistence of its President Raúl Castro for the U.S. to end the embargo. It also discusses the vital role played by businesses and political leaders in the normalization process between the two nations and to improve the economic condition in Cuba.

The article compares economic reform in Cuba and Ecuador. Topics covered include the misconceptions about the reform processes, the historical legacies that Cuba and Ecuador share, and the contribution of Fidel Castro, the chief architect of the Cuban Revolution, to reforms in Cuba. Also discussed are the role of Movimiento Patria Altiva y Soberana (PAIS) group led by Rafael Correa in Ecuador's reform, and how economic reform is understood across cultures.

Losing its closest socialist ally, the Soviet Union, launched Cuba into a severe economic and political crisis that forced the state to make several concessions to its earlier ideals. State services and contributions to the population were severely cut, the country was opened to international tourism and day-to-day life became increasingly monetised, favouring some whilst marginalising others. Expectations of the crisis were that it would create widespread popular resistance to the state. Drawing on ethnographic evidence from contemporary Havana, this report explores how individuals relate to Cuba's current state discourse in the context of the island's recent political and economic transformations. The dynamics between large-scale developments and individuals' everyday lives is approached through the notion of dialectics of care, which highlights the multifaceted relationships that people maintain with state institutions, whilst simultaneously finding inventive ways to negotiate the continuing political and economic precarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss economic conditions in Cuba, with a particular focus on private enterprise and Internet access. It is suggested that while improving relations with the U.S. may bring additional foreign investments, the Cuban government's internal economic restrictions present a greater obstacle to development than the U.S. trade embargo. Details on the activities of them Internet firm Google Inc. in Cuba are presented. The administration of Cuban President Raúl Castro is also discussed.

Cuba is starring a time of important legal changes brought by the government in pursuit of economic development, foreign investment growth and opening the country to international markets. This article presents an explanatory summary of major legal reforms that have been adopted in recent years and are especially linked to the establishment of a new legal framework for the business environment in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New import restrictions strain the transnational people-to-people flow of goods on which government economic reforms unofficially depend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on economic and social changes that have taken place in Havana, Cuba in 2016.

The article analyzes the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 on the economy of Cuba. It highlights the performance of Cuba's real gross domestic product (GDP) from 1990 to 2013. Other topics discussed include the country's infant mortality rates and life expectancy at birth, a contraction of its import capacity and the effort to maintain employment and welfare provision.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the external sector on Cuban tobacco from the export demand perspective towards the euro area. A tobacco-specific exchange rate is built to better capture the distinctions of this sector when competing overseas. We apply cointegration in the Fully-Modified Ordinary Least Squares framework and complement an error correction mechanism. It is found that both long and short-run estimates of exchange rate elasticities are significantly inelastic but present, at the same time, a high degree of stability. This means that prices become a fundamental control variable for economic policy purposes. Moreover, there is statistical evidence that income elasticity plays a significant role in the determination of exports growth for Cuban tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between economic conditions and discourses surrounding partner choice Cuba. According to the author, economic changes caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union have necessitated strategies economic survival which differ from previously-held ideals of romantic partnerships. It is suggested that anxieties surrounding changes in gender and kinship relations also reflect broader concerns about Cuba's social and economic hierarchies and the future of socialism.

The article looks at politics and government in Cuba, as of 2013, focusing on the country's communist system and the political transition following the retirement of long-time Cuban President Fidel Castro. It discusses the policies implemented by Raúl Castro since his succession to the presidency in 2006 and notes that his likely successor is José Ramón Machado Ventura due to his second secretary position in the Cuban Communist Party. Topics include economic conditions in the country, political repression, and the position of the Cuban armed forces in the economy.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including economic developments in Cuba, the role of mass communication in Cuba, and gender and sexuality in Cuba.

This article traces the origins and reasons for the 'Lineamientos de la Política Económica y Social del Partido y la Revolución' (Guidelines for Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution) adopted by the sixth Communist Party of Cuba Congress held in April 2011. It explains how this broad economic plan envisages a transformation of the Cuban economy utilising market mechanisms that are aimed at preserving socialism, in contrast to the former socialist countries where the reforms that were undertaken changed the system, rather than adapting it. The article uses economic data to discuss the progress made in the adoption of the principles contained in the Guidelines, analyses the problems that remain to be solved and offers some predictions as to the course of future developments. It concludes that the new reforms will allow Cuba to move gradually towards a sustainable socialist society without abandoning the principles of solidarity that characterise it, and which will compare favourably to the alternative that neoliberalism offers today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide a brief summary of the last two years of the process of transformation in Cuba from a primarily economic perspective. It consists of five parts: an introduction, which makes it clear that the changes are not merely economic; a first section that deals with the urgent needs of economic development; a second section that seeks to highlight how the process has been gaining in depth and scope and now focuses more on how to define the paths of development than on survival; a third section that evaluates the results in two perspectives, from the dynamics of the process of change and from the country's economic performance in recent years (although with restrictions due to data availability); and conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the implementation of post-Soviet economic reforms, remittances have had a strong influence on the Cuban economy and society. While economic and social influences of remittances from permanent migration have been examined, the same cannot be said of remittances from temporary migration. As part of an expansion of professional service exports over the past decade, tens of thousands of Cuban professionals (internationalistas) have worked abroad, remitting their earnings and often returning with substantial savings and a broadened global perspective. The expansion of professional service exports across more than 65 countries in the global south has extended the influence of remittances far beyond Miami and the USA. Using first-hand accounts of returned internationalistas interviewed in Havana in 2010 and 2011, this article explores the socio-economic influences of the remittances from Cuban internationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the revival and evolution of the economic condition of Cuba from foreign investments from 1990 to 2011. An overview is given on the economic challenges faced by the country. It describes the secrecy culture of the Cuban government in addressing and releasing data about its international capital flows. It also explores the country's source of information on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows.

The article discusses food distribution policies in Cuba, with a focus on the role cooperatives played in Cuban agricultural practices, forms of land ownership, and models for sustainable agriculture. Topics include socialist states, President Raúl Castro, and how half of agricultural land remained fallow as a result of a dependence on inputs from the Soviet Union. Additional information is presented on Cuban food imports, colonialism and its removal of indigenous agriculture, and Marxist philosophy.

The article discusses the restructuring of Cuban economic policies, with a focus on transforming government administration, rejecting cultural complacency, and creating models for economic development. Topics include the "Communist Party Conference" held in January 2012, professional development programs for public officials, and U.S. sanctions and their effects on investors. Additional information is presented on inefficient food distribution, Cuba's “Proposed Guidelines for Economic and Social Policy” document, and socialism and agricultural development.

The article presents an analysis of political and economic conditions in Cuba as of November 2012, emphasizing the National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party and the broader context in which it took place. Topics include forecasts and opinions about trends in Cuban politics, Marxist and Leninist socio-political ideologies, and the stimulation of self-employment in the private sector. Additional information is presented on socialist economic policies, cooperative agriculture, and land ownership.

Chinese communities resident in Mexico and Cuba face a common problem: their dealings with business partners in China are perceived as a threat to national interests. In Mexico this concern emanates from manufacturers unable to compete with Chinese imports, and is evident in antagonistic news media and acts of hostility against Chinese businesses. In Cuba it stems from the state's stewardship over economic sovereignty, and is evident in efforts to assimilate Havana's Chinatown and its entrenched informal sector into a centralized scheme of commercial regulation. Interviews with policy makers, local officials and Chinese entrepreneurs indicate that the “rationalization” of Chinese ethnic allegiances for the greater public good is a critical step towards alleviating tensions. I conclude that both countries can leverage benefits from overseas Chinese communities, but to do so they must support their entrepreneurial activities, harness their networks to promote targeted imports and exports, and develop more culturally sensitive regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses Cuban medical internationalism, a system in which Cuba sends medical aid to countries across the globe, with attention to the effects of the program under President Raúl Castro in the early years of the 21st century. A history of Cuba's medical international cooperation since 1960 is provided, including descriptions of initiatives such as assistance for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986 in the Ukraine, the training of doctors from developing countries at no cost starting in 2005, and work in East Timor. Cuba's medical internationalism is also discussed within the context of Cuba's political and economic restructuring as outlined in the document "Lineamientos de la política económica y social," published in 2010 by the Communist Party of Cuba.

The article presents an analysis of the nature of the political climate, as well as the social and economic conditions, of Cuba as a socialist nation in the 21st century. The author posits that in order to understand the survival of the ideals of the Cuban Revolution under Fidel and Raul Castro, there must be a clarification as to what Cuban socialism has become and how it has changed in the 50 years since the Revolution. A history of Cuba's political system since 1959 is offered, and the author concludes that the focus on nation-building that was prevalent during the mid-20th century Revolution is present in the early 21st century once again.

A study on the use of the terms dissemination, diffusion, Internet, intranet, web site, search, access and virtual library is performed. All of the above mentioned terms deal with the line of development of information services. The study begins with the representation of the above mentioned categories of terms in the titles of the Cuban professional production of Library and Information Sciences from 1905 to 2008 present in the LBI database (Cuban Bibliographical and Informational Literature, Spanish acronym). The study ends with a proposal of historical timing for the development of information services in Cuba from the representation of terms. The Cuban economic crisis of the 1990's is characterized by the search of alternatives mainly supported by information technologies in order to achieve a new terminological treatment giving place to the birth of new terms. The topics related with these significantly increased and new types of services were developed. These more specialized services were focused on the management and personalization of the users and were even extended to business scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of Cuba's biotechnology industry on its economic reindustrialization efforts. Despite the crisis in its economy and a trade embargo, Cuba was able to develop its biotech industry into one of the most innovative in the world. A government investment in the industry, which was established based on a closed or complete cycle model, resulted in pharmaceutical exports that reached 350 million U.S. dollars in 2007.

In Cuba over the past two decades, diverse and apparently contradictory aspects of tourism have emerged along with state-led development and market-driven initiatives. This ethnographic account examines the complex ways in which Cubans and international visitors experience tourism as an economic and cultural force. Despite the unintended consequences of tourism, which has produced growing social inequality and illicit trade, tourism has met surprising success in appealing to desires for both pre-revolutionary pleasures and enduring revolutionary culture and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms by which the world economic crisis has been transmitted from developed to developing economies are conditioned by domestic factors that may attenuate or accentuate external economic shocks and their adverse social effects. Cuba is a special case: it is an open economy and hence vulnerable to trade-growth transmission mechanisms, but at the same time, it is a socialist economy with universal social services. This article reviews the literature, summarises Cuba's domestic socio-economic strengths and weaknesses prior to the crisis, evaluates the effects of the crisis on the macro-economic and social services indicators, assesses the government response and suggests alternative socio-economic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study was elaborated from cattle production results related to strategies used from foreign technologies which are not appropriate for our climatic and socioeconomic conditions. In general the situation of developed and developing countries is shown in face of the economic recession in relation to cattle production. A detailed guide to increase the sustainability and efficiency of the technologies, mainly of cattle production, is included. This guide presents and discusses the fundamental aspects of the most adequate strategies for the conditions of our region, as well as the most appropriate technologies for the current conditions in which the highest and most efficient use of domestic resources represent the fundamental basis to turn the weaknesses from the low efficiency of our cattle areas into strengths, in which the role of human resources is key. It emphasizes in granting the systematic measures and controls of the main sustainability and efficiency indices for the most adequate adjustment and application of those technologies. Final conclusions are drawn comprising the general strategy of cattle production development in the conditions of the region, especially in Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of a methodology which considers the elements to take into account in order to determine the quantitative level that must reach the fee (the fare price) in the passengers transport service by bus where they are showed the social and enterprises subjects. These subjects pursue in the first case to achieve the profitability of the service and to take decisions by the company and in the second case to know the financial impact to the population. As a result it was gotten a function of the lineal cost, in which they are combined the productive and economical indicators where it is achieved that the service could be recovered and financed as possible by means of the recovering of the operation expenses made by the government. The application of the mathematical formulation was validated in a study made in the Center for Research and Development of Transport (CETRA) in the passengers inter urban services by bus in Cuba and as a result it was ahieved $0.50 per interval of 15 kilometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work treats about the role played by the logistic processes of cargo transportations and warehouses in a Supply Chain, as main elements in order to achieve the satisfaction of the costumer demands by means of an efficient and effective performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of the blockade policy of the United States government in the economic field in general and in all the production branches of our country, including transport, have had great repercussions in the daily activity of all Cubans. The extraterritorial effects of the application of the United States government blockade to Cuban including Torricelli´s and Helms Burton's laws in addition that they are a transgression of Internationals Laws have caused heavy additional damages to the national economy and in particular in transport, restricting the substitution possibilities of equipments its development and the acquisition ofstate of the art technologies. The main objective of this paper is to display and measure the factors who have had incidence as an effect of the blockade in the, current operation maintenance, organization and development of each activity in transport field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime services of passengers in the country have a great social and economic importance, when linking points located in areas of difficult access for others conventional means of transport in harbours, dykes and Cuban rivers. The same ones crossed a stage of strong depression in the nineties of last century, when the country had a very difficult economic situation called Special Period. The main objective of this study consisted in the determination of its current difficulties through an integral analysis, as well as the definition of its more peremptory solutions. As a main result, their current situation was compared with the existent one before the Special Period and the necessary general measures were determined for the rescue of the previous volumes of passengers transported by this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information and communication technologies have favored the first way in which the new tourist -the Internet user- makes use of the components of tourist services to satisfy their leisure and recreation time. Among the elements that show more advances is the Electronic Commerce for Internet. The Group of Marketing and Urban Development of the University of Matanzas, is developing an investigation line related to the use of Electronic Commerce as a supporting tool for managerial administration in the province of Matanzas, and especially in the tourist sector due to its importance in the development of the province and of the country. The main objective is to carry out an evaluation of the current situation of the use of the techniques of Electronic Commerce in the tourist sector in the province of Matanzas, from the point of view of its importance as one of the main Cuban tourists destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformations of world economy in recent years, characterized by instability in the price of food and fuels, have repercussion on Cuban economy, affected by the collapse of the socialist countries, the inviability of the implemented economic model, the devastating effect of hurricanes and the blockade by the United States; this has compelled to perform a process of changes in agriculture and other sectors of society, which should be accompanied by an intense preparation of people. It is necessary to "transform the people who change things, not the things to change people" with the inclusion and consideration of an alternative that evaluates the improvement of the conditions of the rural communities associated to livestock production. In that sense, there is an urgent need to carry out actions aimed at influencing a change of paradigm in producers and managers, academics and researchers, which would allow to assimilate new direction and management methods of the productive process. For that, a new world vision is needed, in addition to a new mental model, changing values, concepts, approaches and models that support a new paradigm to shape the way of thinking and acting of the social, economic, political and institutional stakeholders related to the process of agriculture and economy development in the country. In this work the authors intend to approach the problems that limit the innovating capacity of the Cuban livestock production enterprise from a systemic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuba has merited five decades of American punishment because its domestic policies were disobedient to Washington. This article examines whether President Barak Obama will continue to demand that one sovereign state demand submission from another. Assuming his honesty and good intentions, Obama will encounter a problem in the mind-set of the elite Washington policy circle, which has thought little about Cuba. In 1991, most of them rejoiced when Cuba's economy virtually collapsed following the demise of the Soviet Union. But official American attitudes, shaped by Cold War views and the strength of Cuban-American opponents of the Castro government, have not only been passed by, but also have shown to be hollow. Cuba continues to resist and survive—but has been wounded in the process. Looking at the hubris of American policy toward Cuba and the odyssey of post-Cold War Cuban-American relations allows for understanding why President Obama announced at the Trinidad meetings of hemispheric nations in April 2009, the end of one of the United States' most stupid, long-enduring and unfair policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the stage of the development of the supply chains it is taking place an increase of the reach and complexity of the processes with a bigger demand towards the consideration of their design and management. In Cuba, the processes related to the containers movement impact to practically all the supply chains that spread in the national economy. The Processes Value Model (PVM) constitutes a tool for the integral consideration of the variables of the processes in order to adopt integrated decisions, efficient and effective considering its specific features. The PVM constitutes a tool for the analysis, design and management of the processes, as well as to form specialists with a domain in system of the same ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents case studies on how Cuban universities have increasingly become directly involved with the economic and social development of the country. The paper shows how Cuban universities, from the late 1980s and early 1990s, started reorientation and organization of their scientific research, becoming more directly and intensely involved in the economic and social development of the country. In this connection, special reference is made to the case of a research group at the University of Havana: the Laboratory of Synthetic Antigens. This group developed the first synthetic vaccine for human use approved in the world. In the article, public policies involved in this success as well as different obstacles are discussed. These obstacles demonstrate the difficulties and challenges that universities face when carrying out research and innovation activities related to economic and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the various constitutional experiences of Eastern Europe and their relevance to a possible democratization in Cuba and economic transition. It discusses the background and history of the economic system in Cuba and its supporting legal framework in light of different nationalizations in Cuba. It mentions constitutionalism in Cuba in light of the communist ideology and the provision of Cuban constitutionalism pertaining to public and private property rights. Three main scenarios emerged from the experience of Eastern Europe are also discussed.

The results of the analysis on the traceability of the legislation related to the quality and their coherence with the Cuban social model are presented. The meeting of the material and cultural needs of the society and the citizens established in the Constitution, would be possible if the products and services had the required quality. The evident and demonstrated lack of existent quality and the dissatisfaction generalized by this cause, it motivated the analysis on the role that the representatives of the State and the Government play through the regulatory scheme. It was demonstrated that it doesn't exist traceability neither total coherence with the Cuban social pattern. The captive clients acquire obliged products that you/they respond to voluntary norms. The legislation doesn't repress the violation of voluntary norms, the necessities are not satisfied and they are without protection the consumers. It proposes the revision and adaptation of the regulatory scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is widespread discussion both within and outside Cuba concerning what direction the Cuban economy will go under its new interim president, Raúl Castro. This very short paper is intended to contribute one piece of information that is needed to intelligently discuss that issue: where Cuba's economy stands today. Its intention is to compactly provide as much current statistical information on a number of longstanding contentious economic issues in Cuba, as is allowed by its short length. It concludes that the evidence supports that there indeed has been real and meaningful accelerated improvement in the Cuban economy in recent years, and at the same time, Cuba remains far from being able to meet many of its citizen's economic needs in accord with its own principals of human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collapse of Soviet-style "industrial" agriculture in Cuba following the end of deliveries of agricultural machinery, spare parts, petroleum, and petroleum derivatives from COMECON countries at the beginning of the 1990s left Cuba face-to-face with a gigantic food security problem, as well as potential overall economic collapse. Urban Agriculture has emerged in Cuba as a very successful, if partial, solution to the food availability problem. The aim of this paper is to analyze the technological, political, historical, and economic underpinnings of this phenomenon in Cuba, and the extent to which the Cuban experience provides potential lessons to the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the debate within Cuba concerning its social and political future. The author cites a 2007 speech by Cuban President Raul Castro and reflects on some of the economic, social and governmental issues which require transformation including the autonomy of labor organizations, the link between work and well-being and the relationship between the socialist government and industrial development.

Since the middle of the 1990s, the reforms, with which the Cuban governament responded to the crisis provoked by the desintegration of the socialist block, have transformed Cuba's economic situation. This transformation has also affected its social model, which now finds itself in a situation halfway between that of its demise, and that of a new reform that, whilst preserving the former's best results to date, will also allow it to overcome the contradictions which it is now facing. In this context, the present work is an approximiation to the transformation of that model, and to the discussion about possible alternatives, that would allow keeping the so called social conquests of the Cuban revolution; which continue to be a reference point for many undeveloped countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]