“Bowling for Dollars”: Economic Conflicts and Challenges in Contemporary Cuba

This paper has two primary and interrelated objectives. The first is to examine how the very nature of Cuban society has been instrumental in the fractured perseverance of socialism in Cuba. The second objective is to assess the impact of “dollarization” (the legalization of the US dollar) on social and political relations. The social relations that were fostered during the “high period” of socialism in Cuba have been challenged like never before during the “Special Period,” placing extreme pressures on the Socialist state. Oddly enough, capitalist-inspired remedies such as the hyper-development of tourism, the legalization of the dollar, and an emergent self-employment sector have dramatically altered the social landscape of the country while providing economic stability and, in turn, helping to preserve the government. In addition to providing stability, these policies have also generated new social conflicts or divides such as those between people who possess or can access dollars and those who cannot. While this paper avoids any hasty predictions about the future of Cuba, it does hope to broaden the dialogue by incorporating certain societal elements that are unique to this island nation and often absent from discussions about the future of Cuba.