Cuba In The Americas: Looking Inward, Reaching Out

With the end of the Cold War and Cuba’s growing recovery from the “Special Period”—when the country reeled from the sudden collapse of Soviet economic support—the island now faces an entirely different geopolitical reality. The left-turning tide in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, has been a welcome development in Havana and, in some ways, a lifeline. To the north, however, the ultra-right-wing administration of President George W. Bush, with a harsher stance on Cuba than previous administrations, has intensified efforts to destabilize and isolate the island. This Report situates Cuba within this new political geography.