Cuba 2008: Opportunities and Challenges
Fewer than 100 miles from the United States, Cuba is on the verge of a new era with challenges and opportunities for Cubans and Americans alike. Cuba after Fidel Castro may see a wide range of changes, including an end to international political and economic isolation. However, fundamental change within Cuba will depend on Cuba’s new leadership and whether it will afford the Cuban people individual freedoms and the needed economic reforms. Cuba’s ability to institute change, and the degree of the changes put in place, likely will determine how the United States will respond, if it even responds at all, with substantive policy engagement. U.S. policy-makers from both sides of the aisle and the American people have the power to influence and foster change during Cuba’s transition.
On February 6, the Brookings Institution hosted a conference to provide the insights critical to confronting the challenges and seizing opportunities as a new Cuba emerges. A distinguished panel of experts on Cuba and Latin American discussed whether Cuba’s leaders will be up to the challenge of managing the succession and beyond.
>> Read the uncorrected transcript:
- Panel One
- Panel Two
-
Panel Three
- Panel Four
Agenda
9:00 – 9:30 A.M. Welcome Remarks
Carlos Pascual
Former U.S. ambassador to Mexico
Senior Vice President for Global Energy - IHS Markit
Former Brookings expert
9:30 – 10:45 A.M. Panel One – Cuba and the World: Succession to Transition
Peter Hakim
President Emeritus - Inter-American Dialogue
Vicki Huddleston
Former Brookings Expert
Jaime Suchlicki
Director, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami
11:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. Panel Two – After Fidel: Political and Social Change
Marifeli Pérez–Stable
Vice President, Democratic Governance, Inter-American Dialogue
Andy S. Gomez
Assistant Provost, University of Miami
Phil Peters
Vice President, Lexington Institute
Raj M. Desai
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development
1:45 – 3:15 P.M. Panel Three - It's the Economy: Contraints and Incentives to Reform
Carlos Saladrigas
Chairman
Robert L. Muse
Attorney, Law Offices of Robert L. Muse, Washington, D.C.
Daniel P. Erikson
Director, Caribbean Programs, Inter-American Dialogue
Kirby Jones
President, U.S. Cuba Trade Association
3:30 – 5:00 P.M. Panel Four – Why Cuba Matters to the U.S.
Ann Louise Bardach
Author/Journalist, Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (Moderator)
Francisco J. (Pepe) Hernandez
President, Cuban American National Foundation
William LeoGrande
Dean, School of Public Affairs, American University
Jorge Pinon
Senior Research Fellow
John McAuliff
Executive Director, Fund for Reconciliation and Development
5:00 P.M. Closing Remarks
Vicki Huddleston
Former Brookings Expert
More Information
To subscribe or manage your subscriptions to our top event topic lists, please visit our event topics page.