What are the possible scenarios for Cuba under Raul
Castro? Will Fidel Castro's absence affect American policy toward
Cuba? What will signal real change? What roles do China and Venezuela
play?
For years, professors and researchers at Florida International University have been working on questions such as these. Located in the heart of Miami's Cuban American community, FIU is a hub for research that encompasses all aspects of the exile experience as well developments inside the island. Below follows a list of experts on these aspects of the Cuba question.
Also, for information on a panel discussion scheduled for Aug. 9, 2006, log on to http://news.fiu.edu/releases/2006/08-07_whatsnext.htm.
For assistance reaching experts: Maydel Santana-Bravo: 305-348-1555, santanam@fiu.edu; Jose Dante Parra: 305-348-2716, parraj@fiu.edu -0- Transition Marifeli Perez-Stable Marifeli.Perez-Stable@fiu.edu Marifelie@comcast.net 305-348-1296 305-793-8974 (Mobile) Sociology Professor Marifeli Perez-Stable, chaired the Task Force on Memory, Truth, and Justice, a project funded by the Ford foundation. The task force issued the report Cuban National Reconciliation, in April 2003. She is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue and is an editorial contributor to The Miami Herald and its Spanish language sister paper el Nuevo Herald, El Pais (Spain), El Clarin (Argentina), and Excelsior (Mexico). She is the author of The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. In November she will publish a book on the post-Castro transition. Sebastian Arcos Sebastian.Arcos@fiu.edu 305-348-2675 305-431-4576 (Mobile) Sebastian Arcos, a former Cuban political prisoner, has testified several times before the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. He joined the Cuban Committee for Human Rights (CCPDH), the first independent Cuban human rights organization, in 1987. Arcos is in charge of community outreach at FIU's Department of International Studies. His father, Sebastian Arcos Bergnes, and uncle, Gustavo Arcos Bergnes, were close collaborators of Fidel Castro, and soon after 1959 became prominent leaders of the democratic opposition against his regime. Sebastian Sr. died in Miami in 1997 as a result of an illness developed while in prison. Gustavo still lives in Havana, where he heads the CCPDH. Legal Issues Jose Gabilondo Jose.Gabilondo@fiu.edu 305-348-5943 305-710-5656 (Mobile) Law Professor Jose Gabilondo has done research on the Cuban Central Bank, expropriation claims settlement, and foreign investment in Cuba. Gabilondo has conducted field research in Havana and Santiago, Cuba. He has also worked with the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has studied the impact of the research travel bans to Cuba. Miami Politics Dario Moreno Dario.moreno@fiu.edu 305-349-1251 786-260-1022 (Mobile) Political Science Professor Dario Moreno is the director of FIU's Metropolitan Center. He conducts research on Cuban-American politics, Miami politics and Florida politics. He is a contributing editor to the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy. He has also conducted extensive research in Central America, including the region's relationship with Fidel Castro's regime. He has been a Pew Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Fulbright scholar in Costa Rica. Socio-Economic Issues Hugh Gladwin Hugh.Gladwin@fiu.edu 305-919-4718 305-608-9961 (Mobile) Hugo Gladwin, director of the Institute for Public Opinion Research at FIU's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has conducted polls on the political opinions of Cuban-Americans dating back to 1991. The polls' questions range from whether exiles would consider going back to Cuba, to their attitudes on the United States Embargo on the island. Gladwin is professor of sociology and anthropology and concentrates on statistical analysis of opinions and political trends. His work also includes analysis of sociological impacts of hurricanes and consumer preferences. Guillermo Grenier Guillermo.Grenier@fiu.edu 305-348-3217 305-388-6469 (Home) Sociology Professor Guillermo Grenier has been one of the lead investigators in charge of the Cuba Poll FIU has been conducting since 1991. The poll measures the attitudes and opinions of Cuban-Americans in South Florida in issues raging from their support for the embargo, to their party preference. In addition to the poll, Prof. Grenier is the author of books such as Miami Now: Immigration, Ethnicity and Social Change; Legacy of Exile: Cubans in the United States; and This Land is Our Land: Newcomers and Established Residents in Miami, in which he is a co-author. He has also written numerous articles on labor and ethnic issues in the United States. Damian Fernandez Damian.Fernandez@fiu.edu 305-348-1991 International Relations Professor Damian Fernandez is the director of the Cuban Research Institute at FIU's Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC). Prof. Fernandez's research interests include Cuban politics and international relations of Latin America. He studies the role of emotions in politics. His books include Cuba and the Politics of Passion and edited Cuba Transnational and co-edited anthology on Cuban national identity. In recent years he has conducted research in Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Panama and several Caribbean countries. Antonio Jorge Antonio.Jorge@fiu.edu 305-348-1991 305-335-4872 (Mobile) Economics Professor Antonio Jorge, who also teaches political economy and international relations, is a former vice minister of finance for the Cuban government and chief economist for the Cuban National Association of Manufacturers. Jorge was also president of the Collegium of Cuban Economists in Cuba from 1960-1961. He has written and edited more than 20 books and dozens of monographs and other academic papers on issues ranging from Latin America's external debt, to ethics and economics and the Cuban economy. Jorge Salazar-Carrillo Jorge.Salazar-Carrillo@fiu.edu 305-348-3283 Economics Professor Jorge Salazar-Carrillo is director of FIU's Center of Economic Research. Salazar is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a consultant for both the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). His areas of interest include economic integration, international trade and finance and labor economics. He has conducted research on Venezuela's oil sector and Latin America's capital markets in the 1990s. Lisandro Perez Lisandro.Perez@fiu.edu 305-348-3344 Sociology Professor Lisandro Perez, founded FIU's Cuban Research Institute in 1991 and served as its director until 2003. From 1991 to 1992 he directed a project funded by the U.S. Department of State on the Cuban transition. He has also served as the editor of the journal Cuban Studies and is the co-author of the book The Legacy of Exile: Cubans in the United States. During the 2004-2005 academic year Perez was a fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, where he carried out research for his current writing project, a book on the Cuban community in New York City during the nineteenth century. Media in Cuba John Virtue John.Virtue@fiu.edu 305-919-5672 305-865-2399 (Home) John Virtue is the director of the International Media Center. One of the center's projects trains independent journalists in Cuba to understand news judgment, journalistic ethics and how to write for an external audience. Virtue has taught some of these courses on the island itself and worked with several independent journalists who since have been jailed for practicing their profession. Virtue is a former foreign correspondent for United Press International in Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. Before joining FIU in 1989, Virtue was executive editor of El Mundo newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Regional Politics Eduardo Gamarra Eduardo.Gamarra@fiu.edu 305-348-2894 Political Science Professor Eduardo Gamarra, director of FIU's Latin American and Caribbean Center, has done research on the regional dynamics of Latin America, including Cuba's role. As an expert in Bolivia and the Andean region, he has followed closely the alliances formed by Fidel Castro, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Gamarra has also studied drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the effects of American policies in the regional dynamics. He has testified in front of the U.S. Congress several times and is the author of more than half a dozen books and more than forty academic articles on Latin America. Havana Architecture Nicolas Quintana Nicolas.Quintana@fiu.edu 305-348-1885 786-263-0111 (Home) Architecture Professor Nicolas Quintana, is the director of the project Havana and its Landscapes, to be executed at FIU's School of Architecture. The project's goal is to create a series of rural, urban, environmental and architectural guidelines that would protect the city's character during the transition period, while still addressing critical issues such as the acute housing shortage the city suffers. Prof. Quintana, who specializes in urbanism, has collaborated closely with architects of the caliber of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, widely known as Le Corbusier, and Walter Adolph Gropius.
For years, professors and researchers at Florida International University have been working on questions such as these. Located in the heart of Miami's Cuban American community, FIU is a hub for research that encompasses all aspects of the exile experience as well developments inside the island. Below follows a list of experts on these aspects of the Cuba question.
Also, for information on a panel discussion scheduled for Aug. 9, 2006, log on to http://news.fiu.edu/releases/2006/08-07_whatsnext.htm.
For assistance reaching experts: Maydel Santana-Bravo: 305-348-1555, santanam@fiu.edu; Jose Dante Parra: 305-348-2716, parraj@fiu.edu -0- Transition Marifeli Perez-Stable Marifeli.Perez-Stable@fiu.edu Marifelie@comcast.net 305-348-1296 305-793-8974 (Mobile) Sociology Professor Marifeli Perez-Stable, chaired the Task Force on Memory, Truth, and Justice, a project funded by the Ford foundation. The task force issued the report Cuban National Reconciliation, in April 2003. She is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue and is an editorial contributor to The Miami Herald and its Spanish language sister paper el Nuevo Herald, El Pais (Spain), El Clarin (Argentina), and Excelsior (Mexico). She is the author of The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. In November she will publish a book on the post-Castro transition. Sebastian Arcos Sebastian.Arcos@fiu.edu 305-348-2675 305-431-4576 (Mobile) Sebastian Arcos, a former Cuban political prisoner, has testified several times before the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. He joined the Cuban Committee for Human Rights (CCPDH), the first independent Cuban human rights organization, in 1987. Arcos is in charge of community outreach at FIU's Department of International Studies. His father, Sebastian Arcos Bergnes, and uncle, Gustavo Arcos Bergnes, were close collaborators of Fidel Castro, and soon after 1959 became prominent leaders of the democratic opposition against his regime. Sebastian Sr. died in Miami in 1997 as a result of an illness developed while in prison. Gustavo still lives in Havana, where he heads the CCPDH. Legal Issues Jose Gabilondo Jose.Gabilondo@fiu.edu 305-348-5943 305-710-5656 (Mobile) Law Professor Jose Gabilondo has done research on the Cuban Central Bank, expropriation claims settlement, and foreign investment in Cuba. Gabilondo has conducted field research in Havana and Santiago, Cuba. He has also worked with the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has studied the impact of the research travel bans to Cuba. Miami Politics Dario Moreno Dario.moreno@fiu.edu 305-349-1251 786-260-1022 (Mobile) Political Science Professor Dario Moreno is the director of FIU's Metropolitan Center. He conducts research on Cuban-American politics, Miami politics and Florida politics. He is a contributing editor to the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy. He has also conducted extensive research in Central America, including the region's relationship with Fidel Castro's regime. He has been a Pew Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Fulbright scholar in Costa Rica. Socio-Economic Issues Hugh Gladwin Hugh.Gladwin@fiu.edu 305-919-4718 305-608-9961 (Mobile) Hugo Gladwin, director of the Institute for Public Opinion Research at FIU's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has conducted polls on the political opinions of Cuban-Americans dating back to 1991. The polls' questions range from whether exiles would consider going back to Cuba, to their attitudes on the United States Embargo on the island. Gladwin is professor of sociology and anthropology and concentrates on statistical analysis of opinions and political trends. His work also includes analysis of sociological impacts of hurricanes and consumer preferences. Guillermo Grenier Guillermo.Grenier@fiu.edu 305-348-3217 305-388-6469 (Home) Sociology Professor Guillermo Grenier has been one of the lead investigators in charge of the Cuba Poll FIU has been conducting since 1991. The poll measures the attitudes and opinions of Cuban-Americans in South Florida in issues raging from their support for the embargo, to their party preference. In addition to the poll, Prof. Grenier is the author of books such as Miami Now: Immigration, Ethnicity and Social Change; Legacy of Exile: Cubans in the United States; and This Land is Our Land: Newcomers and Established Residents in Miami, in which he is a co-author. He has also written numerous articles on labor and ethnic issues in the United States. Damian Fernandez Damian.Fernandez@fiu.edu 305-348-1991 International Relations Professor Damian Fernandez is the director of the Cuban Research Institute at FIU's Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC). Prof. Fernandez's research interests include Cuban politics and international relations of Latin America. He studies the role of emotions in politics. His books include Cuba and the Politics of Passion and edited Cuba Transnational and co-edited anthology on Cuban national identity. In recent years he has conducted research in Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Panama and several Caribbean countries. Antonio Jorge Antonio.Jorge@fiu.edu 305-348-1991 305-335-4872 (Mobile) Economics Professor Antonio Jorge, who also teaches political economy and international relations, is a former vice minister of finance for the Cuban government and chief economist for the Cuban National Association of Manufacturers. Jorge was also president of the Collegium of Cuban Economists in Cuba from 1960-1961. He has written and edited more than 20 books and dozens of monographs and other academic papers on issues ranging from Latin America's external debt, to ethics and economics and the Cuban economy. Jorge Salazar-Carrillo Jorge.Salazar-Carrillo@fiu.edu 305-348-3283 Economics Professor Jorge Salazar-Carrillo is director of FIU's Center of Economic Research. Salazar is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a consultant for both the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). His areas of interest include economic integration, international trade and finance and labor economics. He has conducted research on Venezuela's oil sector and Latin America's capital markets in the 1990s. Lisandro Perez Lisandro.Perez@fiu.edu 305-348-3344 Sociology Professor Lisandro Perez, founded FIU's Cuban Research Institute in 1991 and served as its director until 2003. From 1991 to 1992 he directed a project funded by the U.S. Department of State on the Cuban transition. He has also served as the editor of the journal Cuban Studies and is the co-author of the book The Legacy of Exile: Cubans in the United States. During the 2004-2005 academic year Perez was a fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library, where he carried out research for his current writing project, a book on the Cuban community in New York City during the nineteenth century. Media in Cuba John Virtue John.Virtue@fiu.edu 305-919-5672 305-865-2399 (Home) John Virtue is the director of the International Media Center. One of the center's projects trains independent journalists in Cuba to understand news judgment, journalistic ethics and how to write for an external audience. Virtue has taught some of these courses on the island itself and worked with several independent journalists who since have been jailed for practicing their profession. Virtue is a former foreign correspondent for United Press International in Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. Before joining FIU in 1989, Virtue was executive editor of El Mundo newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Regional Politics Eduardo Gamarra Eduardo.Gamarra@fiu.edu 305-348-2894 Political Science Professor Eduardo Gamarra, director of FIU's Latin American and Caribbean Center, has done research on the regional dynamics of Latin America, including Cuba's role. As an expert in Bolivia and the Andean region, he has followed closely the alliances formed by Fidel Castro, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Gamarra has also studied drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the effects of American policies in the regional dynamics. He has testified in front of the U.S. Congress several times and is the author of more than half a dozen books and more than forty academic articles on Latin America. Havana Architecture Nicolas Quintana Nicolas.Quintana@fiu.edu 305-348-1885 786-263-0111 (Home) Architecture Professor Nicolas Quintana, is the director of the project Havana and its Landscapes, to be executed at FIU's School of Architecture. The project's goal is to create a series of rural, urban, environmental and architectural guidelines that would protect the city's character during the transition period, while still addressing critical issues such as the acute housing shortage the city suffers. Prof. Quintana, who specializes in urbanism, has collaborated closely with architects of the caliber of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, widely known as Le Corbusier, and Walter Adolph Gropius.
© 2006 Business Wire
