The Cuban Experience in East Germany: Academic Migration from 1960 to 2000

In: Bulletin of Latin American research: the journal of the Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS), Band 33, Heft 4, S. 468-483

Abstract

The partnership between revolutionary Cuba and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) offered a route for migration that had not been possible before. While academic exchange aimed to construct a socialist society in Cuba and strengthen the Socialist Bloc, as well as serving the economic and political interests of both states, the creation of a transnational academic elite and of intellectual collectives across borders also occurred as a by‐product of the exchange. This article shows how these 'by‐products' came into existence, and how academic exchange can be influenced by political, financial and organisational limitations.