BENIGNO E. AGUIRRE is Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University.
JOSÉ ÁLVAREZ is Professor, Food and Research Economics Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, where he works as the Area Economist at the Everglades Research and Education Center, Belle Glade, Florida. He has been traveling to Cuba in the past few years as one of the principal investigators in two grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study Cuban agriculture and the potential economic impact on the agricultural economies of Florida and Cuba after the lifting of the U.S. economic embargo. He earned a B.A. in Economics (1971) and M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1977) in Food and Resource Economics all from the University of Florida.
NELSON AMARO is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, where he also directs the Master’s Program in Development. He worked for more than ten years for United Nations agencies in El Salvador, Rome and New York and served on missions to Asia, Africa, Latin America and the mid-East. He is the author of Descentralización y Participación Popular en Guatemala (1990), Guatemala: Historia Despierta (1992) and Descentralización, Gobierno Local y Participación Ciudadana, América Latina-Honduras (1994) as well of numerous other professional publications.
ERIC N. BAKLANOFF is Research Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Alabama, where he also served as Dean for International Studies and Programs (1969-74). Before joining Alabama, he directed Louisiana State University’s Latin American Studies Institute (1965-69) and Vanderbilt’s Graduate Center for Latin American Studies (1962-65). He is the author of eight books, among them The Economic Transformation of Spain and Portugal and Expropriation of U.S. Investments in Cuba, Mexico and Chile, as well as of numerous book chapters and articles in professional journals. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University.
ERNESTO BETANCOURT was representative in Washington of the 26th of July Movement during the insurrection against Batista. He joined the Revolutionary Government in 1959 as Director of the Exchange Stabilization Fund at the National Bank of Cuba and was Governor for Cuba at the International Monetary Fund, positions he resigned with Che Guevara was appointed President of the National Bank. He held positions at the Organization of American States and was the first Director of the Radio Martí Program at the Voice of America. He has also been a consultant in institutional development for the World Bank, IDB and the UNDP. He is currently a senior consultant for public sector reform and Cuban affairs at DevTech Systems.
ROGER R. BETANCOURT is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland-College Park. He has been a Visiting Professor and Scholar at the University of Washington and at INSEAD (Fountainbleau, France). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
JONATHAN BENJAMIN-ALVARADO is a Senior Research Associate at the Center for International Trade and Security, University of Georgia, specializing in Latin American security and economic development issues. Since 1992, he has visited Cuba six times for field research on the nuclear energy development program and has conducted interviews with a number of senior officials in Cuba’s nuclear agencies. He has published articles, monographs and commentaries on this subject in both Spanish and English in newspapers, scholarly and policy journals. He received his M.A. in International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 1993, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia in 1998.
FÉLIX BLANCO GODÍNEZ is currently a law student at Case Western Reserve University, School of Law. He received a Master of Philosophy in Politics and Economics of Latin America from the University of Oxford in 1998 and also holds a BA in Political Science (Magna Cum Laude) from Drew University.
PETER G. BOURNE, M.D., M.A., is Chairman of the Board, American Association for World Health, and Vice Chancellor, St. George’s University, Grenada.
MILES B. CAHILL received his Ph.D. in Economics from Purdue University in 1995, where he studied Development Economics, International Trade and Finance, Macroeconomics and Labor Economics. He received his B. S. in Economics from Binghamton University in 1991. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He writes mainly in the area of Macroeconomics.
ROLANDO H. CASTAÑEDA is currently Principal Sectorial Specialist in Chile at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he has held different positions since 1974, mainly in Washington D.C. He is also actively involved in a project evaluating and reviewing sectorial programs supported by the IDB in the 1990s. Before joining the IDB he worked as Senior Economist and Unit Chief at the Organization of American States and Senior Economist at the Puerto Rican Planning Board. He has taught at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, at Interamerican University in San Germán, and with the Rockefeller Foundation at the University of Cali, Colombia. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. candidate at Yale University, concentrating in monetary policy and econometrics.
ALFRED G. CUZÁN is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Government at the University of West Florida. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1975. His published bibliography includes articles in such journals as Public Choice, Polity, Behavioral Science, Latin American Research Review, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Western Political Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, and The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. In 1996, he received The University of West Florida Research and Creative Activities Award.
SERGIO DÍAZ-BRIQUETS is Vice President of Casals and Associates, a Washington-based consulting firm. He was research director of the Congressional Commission for the Study of International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development, and earlier held appointments with the International Development Research Centre, Population Reference Bureau, and Duquesne University. He is the author of numerous articles and books dealing with Cuba. He received his Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania.
JOSÉ M. HERNÁNDEZ is Professor Emeritus from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., where he was also Associate Dean and Director of Latin American Studies. He is the author of several articles and a book on Cuban history.
ERNESTO HERNÁNDEZ-CATÁ is currently Deputy Director of the African Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Previously, he served as Deputy Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department and of the European II Department (in charge of relations with Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union) and held other positions at the IMF and at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He received a License from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (1967) and M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1974) in economics from Yale University.
ARTIMUS KEIFFER is an Assistant Professor of Geography at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. He focuses on tourism in Cuba and teaches a class on the Geography of Cuba at his institution, where he also heads the Latin America Studies program. He has been to Cuba five times in the last three years and researches land use, architecture, historic preservation and the environmental impact of tourism. He received his Ph.D. in Human Geography from Kent State University in December 1994.
STEPHEN J. KIMMERLING is an attorney actively involved in legal issues surrounding U.S.-Cuban relations. As Cuba Conferences Director at the New York University School of Law, he organized symposia at the Law School on vanguard legal issues in U.S.-Cuban affairs. Mr. Kimmerling was also a principal international law researcher and writer for the American Association for World Health’s March 1997 report, Denial of Food and Medicine: The Impact of the U.S. Embargo on Health and Nutrition in Cuba. Mr. Kimmerling holds a J.D. from the New York University School of Law and is a member of the New York and Florida Bars and of the Cuban- American Bar Association.
ALDO M. LEIVA is a business litigation and transactional attorney in Miami, Florida. Mr. Leiva earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law and also holds an M.S. in Biology from the University of Massachusetts, where he focused his research on environmental science and policy. Mr. Leiva has taught environmental issues in Costa Rica and in the United States and has also researched Mexican environmental law for the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade in Arizona.
HUGO LLORENS is Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, at the U.S. Department of State. He joined the Foreign Service in 1981 and has held diplomatic posts in Manila, La Paz, Asunción, San Salvador, and Tegucigalpa. Following the completion of his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, he received an M.A. in economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. He received an M.S. in National Security Studies from the National War College in 1997.
MANUEL MADRID-ARIS is Adjunct Professor, Department of Economics, at Florida International University. He is an engineer and economist. He is currently an international economic and environmental consultant specializing in Latin America. He holds a Civil Engineering Degree from Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María de Chile and M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in Political Economy and Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
WALLIE MASON, an experienced international human rights and immigration attorney, has handled several high-profile human rights cases arising out of Central America. She was one of the first lawyers to raise the U.S.-Cuban embargo as a human rights issue before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Ms. Mason was also an originator of the idea behind the American Association for World Health’s report, Denial of Food and Medicine: The Impact of the U.S. Embargo on Health and Nutrition in Cuba, a project to which she contributed leading research and writing on the embargo’s international law aspects.
HIPÓLITO MEJÍA DOMÍNGUEZ is an agricultural engineer, businessman and politician. He served as Secretary of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic during 1978-82. He is currently a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Dominican Republic for the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD).
CARMELO MESA-LAGO is Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous books and articles on different aspects of the Cuban economy and on social security issues, among others. His most recent books include Breve historia económica de la Cuba socialista (Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1994) and Are Economic Reforms Propelling Cuba to the Market? (Coral Gables: North- South Center, University of Miami, 1995).
ROBERTO ORRO FERNÁNDEZ is a Lecturer- Researcher at the Escuela de Economía, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico, a position he has held since 1995. He held a similar position at the Facultad de Economía, Universidad de la Habana, from 1989 to 1993. He received a Master’s Degree in Economics from El Colegio de México in 1995 and a degree in economic planning from the Universidad de la Habana in 1986.
SILVIA PEDRAZA is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. She is the author of Political and Economic Migrants in America: Cubans and Mexicans (University of Texas Press, 1985) and co-editor with Rubén Rumbaut of Origins and Destinations: Immigration, Race and Ethnicity in America (Wadsworth, 1995).
LORENZO L. PÉREZ is Assistant Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Previously, he served in the IMF’s Western Hemisphere, Exchange and Trade Relations, and European Departments, and held positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
JORGE F. PÉREZ-LÓPEZ is an international economist with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor. He is the author of Cuba’s Second Economy: From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage (Transaction Publishers, 1995) and co-editor of Perspectives on Cuban Economic Reforms (Arizona State University Center for Latin American Studies Press, 1998). He received his Ph.D. in economics from the State University of New York at Albany.
JOSEPH M. PERRY is Professor of Economics and Chairperson of the Department of Economics and Geography at the University of North Florida, where he has been a faculty member since 1971. He was previously a member of the economics faculty of the University of Florida. Dr. Perry received his Ph. D in Economics from Northwestern University in 1966, after completing undergraduate studies at Emory University and Georgia State University. His recent research has focused on regional economic development, with specific reference to Central American and Caribbean nations, and their trade relationships with the United States.
CARLOS N. QUIJANO is an economic consultant and visiting professor at the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset in Madrid. He was formerly Senior Advisor to the World Bank.
ARNALDO RAMOS LAUZURIQUE received a Licenciatura in economics from the Universidad de la Habana. He worked at the Ministry of Foreign Trade for 7 years, the Central Planning Board (JUCEPLAN) for 15 years, and the State Committee on Prices. In 1993 he resigned his government position and joined the dissident movement. He has been unemployed since then.
MARIO A. RIVERA is Associate Professor of Public Administration at the University of New Mexico. A consultant and trainer in program evaluation, organizational restructuring, and management systems, he has worked in international projects in Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico and Peru.
JORGE LUIS ROMEU is an Associate Professor of Statistics and Computers with the Department of Mathematics at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland, and a consultant in statistics, operations research and international education. Romeu, who won the 1997 Saaty Award for best applied statistics paper published in the American Journal of Mathematical and Management Sciences, has over twenty publications in refereed journals and proceedings. He has taught or consulted at universities in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and Spain and was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Mexico in 1994. Romeu will retire from SUNY in December of 1998, after 14 years of teaching, and has accepted a position as Senior Engineer with the Engineering and Business Division of IIT Research Institute, in Rome, NY. He is a Chartered Statistician Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and member of ASA and INFORMS.
DIEGO R. ROQUÉ is currently Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at Barry University in Miami Springs, Florida. He was Senior Defense Analyst with the U.S. Army Concepts Analysis Agency (1987-94), an Assistant Professor of Operations Research at George Mason University (1982-87), and a Junior Defense Analyst with the Center for Naval Analysis (1974-77). He earned a Doctorate of Science degree from George Washington University, a Master of Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Miami, Florida.
JOSE MARÍA RUISÁNCHEZ is a consultant on project finance based in Falls Church, Virginia. He is a former Vice President of the IFC (World Bank Group) and a graduate of Georgetown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
JULIA SAGEBIEN is an Associate Professor at the School of Business Administration and an Adjunct Professor in the International Development Studies program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her areas of expertise are marketing strategy, international trade and economic policy development. Her articles have appeared in journals such as Business Quarterly, Cuban Studies, the International Journal of PublicAdministration and the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. She was selected as “Commerce Professor of the Year” at Saint Mary’s University in 1989/1990 and in 1993/1994. Her corporate and consulting experience includes assignments for Fidelity Investments (Boston), Lotus Development Corporation (Cambridge) and Industry Canada (Halifax). She is the Manager of Special Projects for DRM Equities and Advisory, a consulting and investment firm (Halifax). She holds a B.A. (Hampshire College), an M.B.A. (Simmons College Graduate School of Management) and a Ph.D. in Economics/Regional Planning (London School of Economics).
NICOLAS SÁNCHEZ is currently Associate Professor of Economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1972. His specialties are Property Rights Analysis and Development Economics. His writings have appeared in The Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Explorations in Economic History, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, and many other journals and books. He has been elected to public office at the local level, enjoys writing popular articles for the local press, and has also lectured in Mexico, Spain and Puerto Rico.
MANUEL SÁNCHEZ HERRERO received Licenciaturas in economics, economic control and accounting from the Universidad de la Habana. He is also a painter and calligrapher. He worked for the Central Planning Board (JUCEPLAN) as an auditor in the area of agriculture and as a specialist in transportation. He was jailed in 1985 for producing political materials and fired from his job. Currently in ill health, he has been unemployed and a member of the dissident movement since 1985.
JORGE A. SANGUINETTY is founder and President of DevTech Systems, Inc. a Washington, D.C.-based international and domestic economic consulting firm. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from City University of New York and has worked as a planner, researcher or teacher of economics at the Central Planning Board and the Ministry of the Sugar Industry in Cuba, and after migrating to the U.S. in 1967, Merrill Lynch, National Bureau of Economic Research, Yale University, Brookings Institution, United Nations, and American University.
CARLOS SEIGLIE is a Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.
STEPHEN L. SHAPIRO is Professor of Economics at the University of North Florida, where he has been a faculty member since 1972. Dr. Shapiro received his Ph. D. Degree in Economics from the University of South Carolina in 1972, after prior graduate study at the University of Utah. He has published extensively on the impact of state lotteries on education and taxes. His most recent research has been focussed on regional economic development.
KIRBY SMITH is a U.S. government economist whose recent responsibilities at the State Department’s Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination, included regional services trade, such as aviation and telecommunications, and various other trade and financial issues. Currently, he is completing his graduate studies in economics at George Mason University. He received a B.S. degree in economics from Louisiana State University in 1989.
MAURICIO SOLAUN is a Professor of Latin American social and political institutions at the University of Illinois. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua from September 1977 to February 1979, the first Cuban-American to serve as U.S Ambassador. Among his published books are Sinners and Heretics: The Politics of Military Intervention Latin America, Discrimination with Violence: Miscegenation and Racial Conflict in Latin America and Politics of Compromise: Coalition Government in Colombia. He holds degrees in law, economics and sociology from the Universidad de Villanueva, Cuba, Yale University and the University of Chicago, respectively.
JEFFREY W. STEAGALL is Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the International Studies in Business Program at the University of North Florida. Dr. Steagall received his Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1990. His undergraduate studies were completed at St. Norbert College. Dr. Steagall is an international trade and finance specialist, with a particular interest in the trade relationships of developing countries.
DEMETRIA TSOUTOURAS holds an MBA degree with a concentration in International Development Management from St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada. The subject of her graduate thesis was Mexican-Cuban commercial relations, which she researched while working at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City in 1997-98. Ms. Tsoutouras also holds a BSc degree, with a major in Biochemistry from Carleton University in Ottawa. She currently works in the area of export development at DayLight Technologies in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
SARAH K. WAGNER, is a Junior Analyst for Geographic Information at the POLIS Center. She is interested in historical perceptions and education and is starting graduate school majoring in Public History. She has a degree in History from Indiana University.
LOUIS A. WOODS is Professor of Geography and Economics at the University of North Florida, where he has been a faculty member since 1972. Dr. Woods received his Ph. D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972, after completing undergraduate studies in Geography at Jacksonville University. He completed postgraduate work in Economics at East Carolina University. His recent research has focussed on the determinants of regional economic development, and the constraints imposed by environmental concerns.
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