What has the Cuban Revolution brought Cuba—peace prosperity, and a respected place in international society? Or economic problems, regimentation, and dependence on the Soviet bloc? How have the people reacted to the revolution—are thousands of immigrants pouring into Cuba or have hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled to seek a new life in another land?
After 30 years of communism, is Cuba a more open and free society or is it so closed that it has even rejected glasnost and perestroika? Has the revolution produced leaders who place the concerns of the people before their own or is still led by an aging caudillo who cannot abandon his dreams of personal power?
In this month's Special Report, leading Cuban and American experts examine Cuba after 30 years of socialist revolution, and their findings make somber reading. They recount what has happened and speculate about what might have been. They look at the reasons for Cuba's present plight and consider what can be done to restore freedom and hope to a nation and a people that now have neither.
Professor Jaime Suchlicki of the University of Miami is not optimistic about Cuba's future as long as Fidel Castro remains the maximum leader. Michael Mazarr of the Center of Strategic and International Studies describes the historical ups and downs of the U.S.-Cuban relationship. Constantine Menges of the American Enterprise Institute details the many foreign expeditions of Cuban military forces in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Wayne Smith, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, and Jose Fernandez of Georgetown University debate how to improve U.S. relations with Cuba, with
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