Shifting US-Cuba Relations: Perspectives on the US-Cuba Agreement

December 23, 2014 - 4:00 pm

Skylight Room (The Graduate Center, CUNY)

The decision to set US-Cuba relations on a new course is a break from decades of mutual animosities, including US efforts to isolate and transform Cuba through the embargo. As announced, the historic agreements of December 17, 2014, present opportunities and challenges in several areas: diplomatic relations, commerce, migration, remittances, economic reform, travel and tourism, democracy and other areas. This roundtable explores the implications of the new chapter in US-Cuba relations.

“Impact on the Cuban Economy: Agriculture and Self-Employment”
Mario González-Corzo, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

“Diaspora and Cultural Exchange”
Albert Laguna, Yale University

“Normalization: Context and Prospects”
Mauricio Font, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

Hilary Becker, Carleton University

Mario A. González-Corzo (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at Lehman College, CUNY. His research interests and areas of specialization include Cuba’s post-Soviet economic developments, the role of remittances in the Cuban economy, and Cuba’s banking and agricultural sectors.

Albert Sergio Laguna is Assistant Professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration and American Studies. His research and teaching interests include transnational Latino/a literatures and cultures, humor theory, performance studies, and the Cuban diaspora.

Mauricio Font (Ph.D. University of Michigan) is director of the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies and Professor of sociology at the Graduate Center and Queens College, City University of New York.

Hilary Becker (Ph.D., University of Havana) is Assistant Professor of Accounting at Carleton University. He has worked as an analyst with DuPont Inc., and has consulted for various organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Cuban government.