WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
Event

Political Developments in Cuba

Friday, 4 November 2016
1666 Connecticut Ave N.W., Suite 400

AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

WOLA and the Inter-American Dialogue are please to invite you to:

Political Developments in Cuba

Featuring

Rafael Hernandez, editor, Temas

Comments:

Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue

Moderator:

Geoff Thale, Program Director, WOLA

Friday, November 4, 2016
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
WOLA
1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009

Space is limited. To RSVP, please complete the form to the right.

Seven months ago, President Barack Obama made a historic visit to Cuba, becoming the first U.S. President to visit the island since 1928. He met with Cuban President Raul Castro, and with a range of groups in Cuban society, and made a historic, nationally televised speech to the Cuban people. The Obama visit followed the December 2014 agreement between President Obama and President Castro to pursue normal relations and the subsequent opening of embassies in both countries in 2015. In the normalization process, the Administration has conducted six rounds of U.S. regulatory changes intended to sharply reduce obstacles to travel and commerce between the U.S. and Cuba

These changes take place in the context of a slow process of economic change in Cuba, with the emergence of a small private sector, and modest increases in foreign investment. They also come in the context of possible leadership changes, as Castro has announced his intention to step down as President in early 2018.

How are the ongoing changes in Cuba proceeding? What is likely to happen when Raul Castro leaves office? And how has the new relationship with the United States, and the easing of the embargo, affected developments on the island?

Join WOLA and the Inter-American Dialogue for a discussion on these topics with Cuban scholar Rafael Hernandez. Hernandez is the founding editor of Temas, acclaimed Cuban journal writing about political analysis and social policy, and has been a professor and researcher at the University of Havana, as well as a visiting scholar at Harvard, Columbia, the University of Texas, and other U.S. institutions.