Cuba en las Americas: ancla y viraje

In: Foro internacional: revista trimestral, Band 43, Heft 3, S. 525-549

Abstract

Dominguez considers the OLAS (Latin American Solidarity Organization) -- a good example of what the Cuban revolutionary policy toward the region was during the 1960s -- as a starting point to identify four "waves" of change in Latin America at the end of the 1990s, & explores their relative impact on Cuba's domestic affairs. These "waves" are democratization, an increasing economic liberalization, an improvement in relations with the US, & the rapid transformation of the region's cultural life. Dominguez argues that while the economic &, to a lesser extent, the democratic "waves" had a certain impact on Cuba, they did not produce decisive transformations. The economic reform was nothing more than a survival strategy & although Cuba was able to diversify its dependence, it was a negative kind of diversification. In the political realm, the ultimate goal of the Cuban government was to resist democratization pressures, though it had occasionally allowed public debates. On the other hand, relations with the US improved only in security issues -- migration & drug trafficking being areas of cooperation. As to culture, Cuba still had a "seductive spell," although no more as a revolutionary "hub." Dominguez concludes that the Cuban government was ultimately determined to resist any foreign influence on the regime, even at the cost of undermining its economic & political relations with the region's countries. As in the past -- though in a different way -- Cuba still represents an exceptional case among Latin American countries, since it has not been fully involved in the "waves" of change. 4 Tables. Adapted from the source document.