Abstract
The introductory chapter draws a broad picture of events and challenges following in Fidel Castro’s footsteps, departing from the premise that hardly anybody could imagine the Cuban Revolution surviving without Fidel at the helm. The chapter is outlining the key question we intend to discuss in this book: Where is Cuba going after Fidel, first under his brother Raúl (president 2008–2018) and then as a new generation of leaders is gradually taking over? More specifically, is a widening of economic pluralism taking place in such a way that it may lead to increasing political pluralism and de-concentration of power? Or, alternatively, will changes in the political and power structure accelerate or slow down economic reforms? Specific problems with the study of politics in Cuba are explained, particularly the lack of a political science tradition. The chapter also goes through the main reforms originally launched by Raúl Castro after he took over the full responsibility from his brother Fidel, in particular the Guidelines for Economic and Social Policy, approved by the 6th Party Congress in 2011.
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- 1.
“Fidel Castro announces retirement”. BBC News. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 19.02.08. (S/E)
- 2.
Granma, 27.07.07.
- 3.
Signature of a human rights treaty does not constitutionally convert it to national law, only ratification by the country’s legislative body makes it part of the law of the land.
- 4.
El País, 19.12.10.
- 5.
Some elements even from his informal execution of presidential authority starting in 2016 will also be included.
- 6.
The contradiction of inclusiveness in A&R’s model is extractiveness, linked to the term ‘exploitation’ of the population at large by the elite. This does not really suit the political economy of Cuba. We will rather use the term ‘exclusiveness’ as the contradiction of inclusiveness, on the economic as well as the political dimension. We see vast problems by using the present-day US as a prototype of inclusive economic and political institutions, as done by Acemoglu and Robinson. One could rather find inspiration for this combination in what Fukuyama (2011) calls “the way to Denmark” (i.e. some kind of a Nordic model).
- 7.
Pettman argues (p. 10) that “all three dimensions […] are political, since politics is ubiquitous. Politics is the species-specific propensity to get one’s own way, whether individually, collectively, or commonly. ‘Politicking’ is manifest in formalised systems of government or it can remain relatively informal. Either way, it occurs at every level of human society, be it in the family, the small group, the tribe, the institution, the state or the world at large. As a consequence, politics is used here with a hyphen throughout, as in politico-strategic, -economic and -social.”
- 8.
On purpose, we have changed the order of these five arenas compared to the order in which Linz and Stepan presented them.
- 9.
- 10.
In the following, we use Mesa-Lago’s (2013: 277–278, Table 3) distinction between administrative changes, non-structural reforms and structural reforms.
- 11.
Granma, 23.12.2011.
- 12.
The selection of the most important reform issues is mostly based on Mesa-Lago (2013).
- 13.
This is the appreciation of the two directors of Cuba Posible , previously Espacio Laical, Roberto Veiga and Leonel Gonzales (interviewed repeatedly in Havana).
- 14.
Cuba and the Paris Club of creditors agreed in December 2015 on a pardon of 11.1 billion USD of the country’s 13.7 billion USD debt, with Cuba committing to clear the remaining 2.6 billion USD of debt in arrears over an 18-year period. http://www.clubdeparis.org/en/communications/press-release/agreement-on-the-debt-between-cuba-and-the-group-of-creditors-of-cuba.
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Bye, V. (2020). Introduction. In: Cuba, From Fidel to Raúl and Beyond. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21806-5_1
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