The thawing of relations between Cuba and the United States (U.S.) in 2014 brought fresh thinking to a complicated area in diplomatic relations. The Cuba-U.S. relationship has been plagued by distrust and antagonism since 1959––the year Fidel Castro’s movement, together with political and social forces in Cuba, overthrew a U.S.-backed military regime in Havana. The hostility in relations continued in the years that followed, and deepened when Cuba declared itself a socialist state allied with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and East European socialist countries.
The announcement of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations meant a dramatic shift in hemispheric international relations. The announcement sparked a series of transformations in the Cuba-U.S. bilateral relationship, touching on several areas: foreign policy, cooperation, communication, and travel, among others. The process––slow but steady––aroused interest all around the world, but particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. A new reality was presented to regional actors, who were uncertain as to what the transformations were and to the nature of their potential impact on the national and international levels. The Donald Trump administration’s policy toward Cuba has since added new uncertainties to the future development of the Cuba-U.S. relationship. Some questions being asked include: is a total reversal of the previous Barack Obama administration’s policies possible? How all this process might affect the Caribbean?
After almost five years from the initiation of the thaw in diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, the end of the two-term Obama presidency, and over two years of the Trump administration, enough time has passed to allow an examination of the nature, scope, and extent of changes in the bilateral Cuba-U.S. relationship and of the impact that the normalization process has on the Caribbean and on Cuba-Caribbean relations. The empirical findings of this book, however, do not cover the entire Caribbean region, but instead are concerned with a subset of the Caribbean––namely, the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Cuba’s long and close relationship with CARICOM countries is put in the spotlight, in the context of Cuba’s re-establishment of relations with the United States. CARICOM members have embarked on solid cooperation schemes with Cuba, despite the traditional U.S. rhetoric against the island country. Will the re-establishment of relations between the United States and Cuba create a stronger pull toward the North, at the expense of CARICOM countries in the global South? Do Cuba and CARICOM countries have the requisite institutional, financial, legislative, and technical competencies to make timely adjustments in order to be prepared for, and to capture the benefits of, impending changes?
A crucial motivating factor for undertaking this study has been the absence of comprehensive research, from an academic standpoint, which analyzes the changing engagement between the United States and Cuba, and its impacts on CARICOM member states. Moreover, to our knowledge, no research has been undertaken utilizing a Caribbean investigative lens to examine the potential implications of this engagement. From a Caribbean perspective, national governments as well as the private sector and the CARICOM secretariat would benefit from access to comprehensive analyses of this important development in order to advance appropriate responses and strategies. This pioneering research is intended to provide such knowledge to the various stakeholders. It identifies potential areas for enhancing relations between Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean based on the implications of the former’s changing relationship with the United States.
The desk review for this research study benefited from approximately 300 sources, including official communiqués, press releases, policy briefs, statistical databases, scholarly journal articles, books, opinion-editorials, and blogs by reputable institutions and contributors. The research also benefited from in-depth elite interviews, which sought the views of experts in the domestic policies and international relations of the three actors under investigation: the United States, Cuba, and CARICOM. Profiles of these interviewees are provided in the Appendixes.
The book is divided into 11 chapters. This brief Introduction (Chap. 1) is followed by Chap. 2, which examines the evolution of regionalism at the global level and thus provides the context for discussing how the recent changes in Cuba-U.S. relations could impact on the CARICOM Caribbean. Chapter 3 then focuses on regionalism in the Caribbean context. It outlines some of the key characteristics of CARICOM and how the regional organization functions, and also explores some of the challenges it faces. Chapter 4 offers an extensive examination of the political and economic history of Cuba and the United States until December 17, 2014 (17D) . This chapter provides the background information important for understanding the significance of 17D. Next, Chap. 5 looks at advancements in the Cuba-U.S. relationship and Chap. 6 at the limits on the relationship. In so doing, the two chapters highlight some key developments that have occurred since 17D––including the response of the Trump administration to the Cuban policy adjustments made under President Barack Obama––and evaluate them in terms of whether they are fostering, or obstructing, changes in the bilateral relationship between Havana and Washington. Chapter 7 examines the factors and actors that have been driving the changes in Cuba-U.S. bilateral relations, as well as the limits to these. Chapter 8 presents a historical overview of the relationship between Cuba and CARICOM, and its challenges; and an analysis of the causes of these challenges. Chapter 9 outlines cooperation between Cuba and CARICOM in key sectors such as health, education, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and cultural exchanges. In so doing, it includes data for other Caribbean territories as well. Chapter 10 takes a close-up look at Cuba-CARICOM trade and economic relations and considers the strategies that the two partners have employed in their striving for economic growth and regional development. Chapter 11 concludes with some broad reflections and recommendations for the Caribbean, with the aim of capitalizing on the changing regional dynamics.
The book aims to contribute to the knowledge of Cuba’s relations with CARICOM and understanding of the ways in which the Obama administration’s efforts to “normalize” relations with Havana may have affected Cuba’s role in the Caribbean. It is written from the distinctive perspective of Caribbean stakeholders, who see these developments as part of an ongoing process of shifting geopolitics, not only within the region but globally. We have sought to fill a gap in the literature available in the English language, as Cuba’s ties to its neighbors have not been extensively written about by scholars. The book is mainly intended to serve as a resource for university courses offered by institutions in the Caribbean, as students at these institutions are not adequately served by the existing array of publications on Cuba’s role in the international arena. Bearing this in mind, we have made a concerted effort to compile the changes that have occurred in Cuba-U.S. relations, not only to facilitate a better understanding of their impacts on the Caribbean, but also to provide accurate information on what has been effectively transformed (e.g. the Caribbean public wrongly believes that the U.S. embargo on Cuba has been lifted and that U.S. tourists can now visit Cuba). It is also hoped that the usefulness of the findings presented here will extend beyond students to a wide and diverse range of scholars, policymakers and strategis...