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Editorial Rating

8

Recommendation

President Obama’s 2016 trip to Cuba was a study in contrasts. While his discussions with Cuban president Raul Castro regarding human rights and political transparency proved unproductive, the baseball game between Cuban and American teams illustrated a budding ability to cooperate. Overall, however, the visit failed to address what the United States might do to help Cuba climb out of a struggling economy. Michael W. Klein of the Brookings Institution and professor Pavel Vidal-Alejandro assess what forms that assistance might take. getAbstract recommends this informed perspective on the island nation’s economic challenges and prospects to economists, policy makers and executives interested in doing business in Cuba.

Summary

Despite the renewal of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, it is doubtful the US Congress will remove the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba anytime soon. Yet America can still help Cuba rebuild its economy. The Cuban revolution brought people substantial improvements in health care and education. But the economy depended heavily on aid from countries like the former Soviet Union and Venezuela. That aid took a big hit in the 1990s when the Soviet Union folded. In 2016, Cuba is facing another blow from the deterioration of Venezuela’s economy...

About the Authors

Michael W. Klein is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Pavel Vidal-Alejandro is an associate professor at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia.


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