CTP News

Welcome to CTP News, the monthly newsletter of the Cuba Transition Project (CTP) at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS). The CTP is funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The CTP held a panel discussion, "What's Raul Castro Up To?" on May 20, 2008. Panelists included Antonio Jorge, Senior Research Scholar at ICCAS and Senior Academic Advisor to the Cuba Transition Project; Brian Latell, Senior Research Associate at ICCAS; Andy Gomez, Assistant Provost at the University of Miami and Senior Fellow at ICCAS; José Azel, Senior Research Associate at ICCAS, and Jaime Suchlicki, Director, ICCAS.

A video of the discussion is now available on our website, http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/main.htm, under "New/Relevant."

The Cuba Transition Project sends to Cuba periodically its publications in Spanish by email, regular mail, with visitors, and through various embassies in the island. Following are some of the recent comments of Cubans receiving our publications:

• "He recibido correos de CTP y me gustaría intercambiar directamente con ustedes. Resido en Cuba, soy periodista independiente y recien graduada en la licenciatura en derecho. Sus informes me complacen mucho y son muy interesantes." (“I have received emails from CTP and would like to have direct contact with you. I reside in Cuba, I am an independent journalist, and recently graduated with a Law Degree. I enjoy your publications a lot; they are very interesting.”)

• "Nosotros no nos hemos suscritos a su periódico de basura." (“We have never subscribed to your newspaper of trash.”)

• "Para los liberales Cubanos es de suma importancia obtener, repasar y constatar sus proyecciones, estudios y cúmulo de ideas racionales que servirán, para la transición Cubana, en la que estamos involucrados muchos Cubanos fuera y dentro de la isla. Les agradezco infinitamente el correo enviado." (For liberal Cubans it is of utmost importance to obtain, review and observe your projections, studies, and wealth of ideas that will help in the Cuban transition, which we are involved in, Cubans inside and outside the island. Thank you infinitely for the mail sent.”)

• “Mucho les agradeceremos el envío de publicaciones, información, etc. sobre vuestra organización para uso de nuestra biblioteca y su divulgación en Cuba.” (“We greatly appreciate you sending us your publications, information, etc. about your organization for its use in our library and distribution in Cuba.”)

(Name and addresses withheld to protect senders; on file at CTP.)

A new issue of Cuba Facts, "Cuba in Context: National Debt and GDP" is now available at the CTP website, click here to view. Two new issues of Cuba Focus, "Not Going Away: Cuban Mass Migration to Florida," click here to view, and "Back to the Past with Raul," click here to view, are also available at the CTP website.

The new issue of Cuban Affairs, the quarterly electronic journal of ICCAS, to be released next week, will include the following articles:

Cuba Policy Recommendations: Here We Go Again
Everett Ellis Briggs

Mi Vida: The Manichean Face of Dictatorship
Irving Horowitz

Interpreting Raul Castro’s Economic Measures
Jorge Sanguinetty

The Cuban Economy: Recent Evolution, Principal Economic Challenges, and the Road Ahead
Mario Gonzalez-Corzo

Book reviews and a chronology of recent events in Cuba are also included.

We invite you to visit the journal’s website click here for more information and/or to subscribe.

The CTP can be contacted at P.O. Box 248174, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-3010, Tel: 305-284-CUBA (2822), Fax: 305-284-4875, and by email at ctp.iccas@miami.edu.