Cuba Today and the Future of Cuban Socialism (original) (raw)
In the April 1996 issue of this magazine, William Smaldone presented his observations and interpretations from his participation in the Seventh Conference of North American and Cuban Philosophers and Social Scientists in Cuba inJune 1995. This brief article is motivated by the following two considerations: 1) There have been a number of changes in Cuba over the last year that impact on several of the issues considered by Smaldone. Among these are an improved economy, a decision by the leadership of the revolution to increase the attention paid to political work and the goal of socialism, 1 and increased statistical information on the extent of the economic downturn in the early 1990s. This article will discuss these recent developments. 2) Smaldone's title "Observations on the Cuban Revolution" correctly suggested the nature of his article as a series of observations and reflections. What was not clear in the article was what the author thought the sum of his observations had to say about the overall situation in Cuba, specifically AI Campbell teaches economics at the University of Utah. He would particularly like to thank Cliff DuRand, who has been the sparkplug for the past nine yearly meetings in Cuba, that gave rise to Bill Smaldone's article and this response. Beyond thanks or the many in teresting discussions on theory and practice in Cuba, he would like to thank DuRand for his dedication to the project of keeping open a window of contact between U.S. citizens and Cubans in the face of persistent efforts by the U.S. government to make such contacts as difficult and limited as possible.
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