Cuba from Revolution to Development

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, observers have been predicting that Cuba will go the same way as the other members of the Warsaw Pact: market forces replacing planning directives, and with political representation through political parties competing periodically for the national vote. This text examines the different options open to Havana's policy-makers, discussing their possible economic choices in the light of the political constraints. Cuba faces a new, hostile international economic environment, and in this book the scale of the pressures facing the country is assessed in the context of development since the revolution in 1959. The alternative policy strategies described in the traditional literature are theoretically addressed, emphasizing the ideological implications of each programme. The discussion is couched in accessible language which explains Cuba's economic decline and ensuing surprising recovery in the 1990s.