Cuban Communism, 1959-2003, 11th Edition (review)

The present eleventh edition of this collection of articles and essays on Cuba's history, economy, politics and society proceeds along the path laid out by the previous ten. Much more emphasis, compared to the previous editions, is placed on the problematic of transition to a post-Castro, post-communist Cuba from a perspective deeply rooted in "regime change." The new edition continues to present the cream of scholarship in this vein, and is thus an indispensable addition to any library that wishes to provide access to current work on Cuba being done in the United States.

As the editors point out on the back cover, they wish to emphasize the continuing embargo of Cuba by the United States "in the aftermath of a major change in the [U.S.] Presidency" and "how the nature of Cuban Communism has once again become a core issue for [the] American people," who remain seemingly oblivious to increasing and obvious interests by U.S. businesses in trading with Cuba, and to the rejection of the U.S. blockade-embargo of Cuba by overwhelming majorities of the world community. (In 2003, the vote on a Cuban-sponsored resolution in the General Assembly of the United Nations condemning the embargo was 179 to 3, with 2 abstentions.)

Conspicuously absent are any contributions by Cuban scholars in Cuba and by less stridently "anti-Castro" voices in the United States. Also, the value of the collection as a scholarly reference text is somewhat diminished by the presence of several contributions without references and/or a bibliography, including articles that consider eminently "empirical" areas such as health-care or labor conditions. However, the volume's 700+ pages make it one of the most complete compendia of current work done on Cuba, mostly by Cuban-American and Cuban exile scholars in the U.S., and almost all from a perspective of hostility towards the current Cuban government and societal system.