José F. Alonso is a Senior Economic Researcher with the United States Information Agency, Radio Martí Program. He has a B.A. degree and an M.A. in Economics from Catholic University of America, where he completed all the academic requirements towards a Ph.D. in International Economics (1974). From 1972 to 1985 he served as international economist and commodity analyst in sugar, gold, metal machinery and other commodities at the International Price Division, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He conducted numerous studies of the Cuban economy, particularly the sugar industry, health sector, and monetary and fiscal affairs. He has published numerous articles and analyses of Cuba’s economy, included in the Free Market Cuba Business Journal and other publications.
José Alvarez is a Professor of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Florida’s Everglades Research and Education Center, where his research and extension programs deal with farm management and production economics. He received his Ph. D. in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida. He is the Principal Investigator of a research project intended to estimate the economic impact (benefits and costs) of future trade between the United States and Cuba on the agricultural economy of the State of Florida.
Amparo E. Avella holds a Ph. D. in Geography from the University of La Habana. She served as Senior Professor at the University of La Habana and worked as a National Researcher for the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT). She is currently working as an Environmental Scientist on the staff of Environmental Site Assessments Inc., a Miami-based environmental consulting company.
Ralph Barba is registered as a Professional Geologist in the State of Florida and is the President and CEO of Environmental Site Assessments , an environmental and engineering consulting firm based in Miami. He has worked with three major oil companies, Gulf Oil, Chevron and Exxon Latin America, and has performed many contamination assessments and remedial systems in several states and Puerto Rico.
Ernesto F. Betancourt is a consultant to the UNDP on institutional development and has done consulting work for the World Bank, IDB, AID and the OAS on that subject throughout Latin America. He also lectures on analysis of revolutionary propensity and is author of Revolutionary Strategy: A Handbook for Practitioners, Transaction Publishers. He has an MPIA from the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in economics and social development. He has been Director of VOA’s Radio Martí program, Director of Organization Development and Director of Finance and Budget at the Organization of American States, and Managing Director of the Cuban Bank of Foreign Trade. He was Castro’s representative in Washington during the revolution against Batista.
Roger R. Betancourt is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland-College Park. He received his Ph. D. from the University of WisconsinMadison. Many of his contributions to analysis of capital utilization and shift-work systems are summarized in the entry on “Capital Utilization” in J. Eatwell, M. Milgate, and P. Newman (eds.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, The Stockton
Press, 1987. He has been a Visiting Professor and Scholar at the University of Washington and at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). His current research interest is the economics of distribution systems.
Evaldo A. Cabarrouy has a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, with concentrations in the fields of macroeconomics, monetary economics, international finance and economic development. He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. A former advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico on economic development, his current research interests are in comparative economic development policy.
Rolando H. Castañeda is currently a Senior Operations Officer working with Chile and Peru at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) where he has held different positions since 1974. Before joining the IDB, he worked as an economist at the Organization of American States; the Rockefeller Foundation at the University of Cali, Colombia; the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras; and the Puerto Rico Planning Board. He has an M.A. and is a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University, majoring in monetary policy and econometrics.
Juan C. Consuegra-Barquín, Esq., is an Attorney at Law with a practice in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico (1989) and received a J.D. from The InterAmerican University Law School of Puerto Rico (1992) . He also holds a Masters degree in International and Comparative Law from the Georgetown University Law Center (L.L.M., 1993).
Néstor E. Cruz, Esq., is Of Counsel to the Washington, D.C. corporate law firm of Carr, Morris & Graeff, P.C. and President of St. George’s Associates, a legal and management consulting firm. He graduated from Malvern Preparatory School (1961), Villanova University (B.A. in Science, 1966), the Cornell Graduate School of Management (M.B.A., 1969), and Cornell Law School (J.D., 1970). He is a member of the Board of Editors of The Florida Bar Journal and has published several law review articles in the A.B.A. Journal and the Labor Law Journal, among others.
Sergio Díaz-Briquets is a 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 (IDRC), Population Reference Bureau, and Duquesne University. A recipient of a Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, he has published numerous articles and books dealing with Cuba and other topics.
Ricardo A. Donate-Armada is an Associate Actuary with Towers Perrin in Rosslyn, Virginia, where he specializes in international benefits issues affecting
U.S. multinationals. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Physics (1992) and has been an Associate of the Society of Actuaries since 1989. He is the author of a study of the Cuban retirement and pension system.
Maida Donate-Armada has Licenciaturas in History (1969) and Sociology (1977) and a Doctorate in Psychological Sciences (1988) from the University of La Habana. During her stay in Cuba, she worked as a Senior Researcher for the Cuban Internal Demand Institute (1983-1993). Her professional experience includes working as a Marketing Researcher for Sigma Dos, S.A. in Madrid (1994-1995). She is the author of the monograph titled Methodology for the Study of Living Conditions (1990). She is currently completing a study of suicide, funded by the CubanAmerican National Council, comparing the suicidal behavior of Cubans and Cuban-Americans.
Oscar A. Echevarría is Chairman and CEO of Czarnikow-Rionda, a New York-based sugar trading house, and of EISCA, a consulting firm based in Venezuela. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University.
Juan Carlos Espinosa is a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Miami and currently holds the Emilio Moreau Bacardí Fellowship for Cuban Studies. He was previously the recipient of a North-South Center Fellowship (1993-1995). Espinosa holds an M.A. in International Studies (1995) from the University of Miami, a B.A. in International Relations (1981) from Florida State University, and a Certificate in Slavic Studies (1981) from the University of Zagreb. He is presently co-editor of The Journal of Latin American Affairs, editor of the Boletín del Instituto Cubano de Economistas Independientes (ICEI), and main editor of the Occasional Paper Series of the Cuban Studies Association at the University of Miami.
Robert E. Freer, Jr., Esq. is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Virginia and of the District of Columbia. He is the Senior Partner of Freer & McGarry, P.C., an international law firm in Washington D.C.
Ralph J. Galliano is the President of the Institute for U.S. Cuba Relations in Washington D.C. As Editor of the U.S.*Cuba Policy Report, he provided comprehensive Capitol Hill coverage of the passage of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act. A graduate of The George Washington University’s School of Public and International Affairs, he has written on the issue of expropriated properties, U.S.-Cuba claims, and the settlement process. Galliano provided assistance in the area of U.S. Cuba claims to the Atlantic Council’s Road Map for Restructuring Future U.S. Relations with Cuba and is a member of the Council’s Task Force on Claims and Standing Group on the Western Hemisphere.
Antonio Gayoso has a Licenciatura in Economics from the University of Villanueva (Havana) and received a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.A. in International Trade and Finance from the University of Florida. He is also a Ph. D. candidate in Agricultural Economics at the University of Florida. He has held several positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and at the U.S. Department of State, having served as Director of the Human Resources Directorate in the Bureau of Science and Technology at USAID. He is currently the Director of the North American Regional Bureau of the World Council of Credit Unions. His academic experience includes serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Florida, and as Professor at American University. Earlier he worked as a Junior Economist in the Cuban Ministry of Finance.
Ernesto Hernández-Catá is currently Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department. Previously he served as Deputy Director of the IMF’s European II Department, in charge of relations with Russia and several other states of the former U.S.S.R. He received a Licence from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland (1967), and both a Masters Degree (1970) and a Ph.D. (1974) in Economics from Yale University. Has held numerous positions in the IMF, ranging from Desk Economist for Mexico, and later the United States in the Western Hemisphere Department: Chief of the North American Division; Senior Advisor of the Research Department; and Deputy Director of the Research Department, in charge of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook. He also served as an Economist in the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and held teaching positions at American University and School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He was the recipient of a Yale University Fellowship (1967-71) and a National Science Foundation Grant (1969-70).
Armando M. Lago has a Ph.D. (1966) and an M.A. (1964) in Economics from Harvard University, where he served as a Teaching Fellow (196365) and as a Brookings Fellow (1963-65). He was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Regional and Urban Economics at Catholic University of America (1968-76) and an economic consultant with Stanford Research Institute (1965-1967) and Operations Research, Inc. (1967-1971). He was a Vice-President of Resource Management Corporation (1972-1975), and since 1975 has been President of Ecosometrics, Inc. One of the four original incorporators of ASCE and its Treasurer from 1990 to 1994, he was elected to a two-year term (1994-1996) as President of ASCE. Dr. Lago has been the Chairman of the Greater Washington Ibero-American Chamber of Commerce (1986-89) and a member of the Board of Director OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1974-1994). He is also coauthor of The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba (Transaction Publishers, 1991).
Manuel Lasaga, an international economics and finance consultant, is the President of STAT-INFO, an international consulting company headquartered in Miami. His professional experiences include assignments with Southeast Bank in Miami, Citicorp in New York City, and with Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates in Philadelphia. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and has been President of the Economic Society of South Florida and member of the Board of Economists of The Miami Herald. He holds an M.A. and a Ph. D. degrees in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and is an Adjunct Professor of International Economics and Finance at Florida International University.
José Carlos Lezcano graduated with a Licenciatura in Physical Geography from the University of La Habana (1984). His specialty is in Coastal and Oceanic Climatology. His experience includes working for ten years at Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology (Instituto de Meteorología), which is part of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. He has worked for Clima-Centro, Inc. and for International Consulting and Training for Productivity (INCAT), and is also the Coordinator of The Caribbean Environmental Group in Miami.
Luis Locay received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1983. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Miami. He was previously Assistant Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His areas of specialization include development, economic demography, and applied macroeconomics.
Alberto Luzárraga has a Ph.D. in Civil Law from the University of Villanova (Havana), a CPA degree from the University of Havana and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami. With more than 30 years of experience in the commercial and investment banking business he has specialized in the Latin American area and particularly in investments related to privatizations as well as investments in emerging companies in those markets. Presently, he is Chairman of the Amerinvest Group Inc., a merchant banking concern specialized in equity investment in the Americas. President of the Cuban American Research Group (CARG), a not for profit organization, whose membership consists of professionals from different industries; CARG’s purpose is to contribute to the study of Cuba’s problems and future solutions.
Ambassador Alberto Martínez Piedra is Professor of Economics at The Catholic University of America. He received a degree in Political Economy at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (1957) and a Ph. D. in Economics from Georgetown University (1962). He was Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (1982-1984), U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala (1984-1987) and Special Assistant to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations (1987-1988). His research interests include economic development and business ethics.
George Plinio Montalván, currently an international economic and management consultant working principally with the Inter-American Development Bank, was Chief Economist at the Organization of American States, where he was employed for almost 20 years. Prior to that, he did economic research at Brookings Institution. He is a founding member of ASCE, served on its Executive Committee during the 1990-92 period, and has edited the Papers and Proceedings of ASCE’s Annual Meetings, Cuba in Transition. Other recent publications include Latin America: The Hardware and Software Markets (INTERSOL, 1991), and Promoting Investments and Exports in the Caribbean Basin (OAS, 1989). He has a B.A. and M.A., and is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics from the George Washington University.
Richard Nelson is the Director of the International Security Program at the Atlantic Council of the United States. He taught international relations at George Mason University and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and served in the Army. He has an M.A. in Far Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan and a Ph. D. in International Relations from Kansas University.
Silvia Pedraza is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the author of Political and Economic Migrants in America: Cubans and Mexicans (University of Texas Press, 1985), as well as of an edited collection of readings with Ruben G. Rumbaut, Origins and Destinies: Immigration, Race and Ethnicity in America (Wadsworth, 1985). She is presently a member of the Council of the American Sociological Association, and was previously Chair of its Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities. She is also the author of “Immigration Research: A Conceptual Map,” Social Science History (1990) and “Women and Immigration: The Social Consequences of Gender,” Annual Review of Sociology (1991)
Lázaro Peña Castellanos is Assistant Researcher in the Department of Global Macroeconomics Issues at the Centro de Investigaciones de Economía Internacional (CIEI) of the University of La Habana. Professor Peña is researching problems associated with the structural transformations of the Cuban economy, especially in the agricultural sector. A graduate in Economics from the Universidad de La Habana, he has conducted graduate work on international development and the agricultural sector in Milan, Italy.
Lorenzo Pérez is currently Assistant Director at the Western Hemisphere Department (WHD) of the International Monetary Fund in charge of Maritime Division (covering Barbados, Jamaica and Venezuela). He has been at the IMF since 1978, where he has worked in the Exchange and Trade Relations Department, the European Department covering various Latin American and European countries. Previously he held positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He also taught economic development at George Washington University. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a founding member of ASCE and served on its Executive Committee from 1990-1992 and 1994-1996.
Jorge F. Pérez-López is an international economist with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor. His writings on international economics issues –especially on the Cuban economy-have appeared in professional journals and several edited volumes. He is the author of The Economics of Cuban Sugar (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), The Cuban Second Economy: From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage (Transaction Publishers, 1995), and editor of Cuba at a Crossroads (University Press of Florida, 1995). He received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany. He is a former President of ASCE.
Joseph M. Perry is Professor of Economics 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 focussed on regional economic development, with specific reference to Central American and Caribbean nations, and their trade relationships with the United States.
Joaquín P. Pujol is currently Assistant Director in the Exchange and Trade Relations Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with responsibility for the evaluation and review of all macroeconomic programs supported by the IMF. He served previously in various capacities in the Western Hemisphere Department (WHD) of the IMF including as Chief of the Mexico Latin Caribbean Division and Assistant Director to the WHD Department. He is a graduate of the Wharton School and pursued post-graduate studies in economics and Regional Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the IMF he taught economics at the Wharton School and did research on economics and econometrics for the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Regional Science Institute and the Economic Research Unit of the University of Pennsylvania. He was the recipient of various fellowships from the University of Pennsylvania and the Organization of American States. He is one of the founders of ASCE and has served as its secretary since its inception.
Carlos N. Quijano is currently a consultant on international economics. He studied at the Universidad of Villanueva (Havana) and the University of Miami (Florida); subsequently pursued graduate studies in economics at Columbia University. He was an Economic Advisor and Special Assistant for International Economic and Monetary Affairs to the Ministry of Finance in Cuba (1959-60); Economic Advisor at the Central Planning Board and the Ministry of Commerce of Cuba (1960-61); Economic Analyst for W.R. Grace & Co. (1962-66); and Senior Economist at the Organization of America States (1966-67). He joined the World Bank in 1968 where he served as Senior Economist for several Latin American countries (1968-73); Resident Representative in Colombia (1973-76); Special Representative for Interamerican Organizations (1976-78); Senior Advisor Office of the Vice-President for Latin America and Caribbean Region (1980-93). While on leave from the Bank, he was Director of the Cooperation Centre at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland (1979-80). He has been a Research Fellow at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Miami; and Senior Associate at Saint Anthony’s College, Oxford University.
Mario A. Rivera is an Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, University of New Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
José Antonio Rivero is President and CEO of Amerop Sugar Corporation, as well as President and CEO for Sugar Import and Distribution of Amerop Chile, S.A. He served as President of Industria Azucarera Nacional in Santiago, Chile (1988-1991), and President and CEO of Aguirre Sugar Company of Puerto Rico and New York (1970-1980). In addition to his extensive consulting practice, he served as Manager of Central Manuelita Cía. Azucarera S.A. and Compañía Agrícola Palmira, S.A. in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He received B.S. degrees in both Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami (1953) and an MBA from the University of Miami (1963).
Jorge Luis Romeu is an Associate Professor of Statistics and Computers in the Department of Mathematics of SUNY-Cortland (NY). He is also an Adjunct Professor of Operations Research in the Manufacturing Engineering Program of Syracuse University. He worked as a Research Engineer with the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (IITRI) in Rome (NY), where he analyzed software engineering and reliability data. He taught simulation modeling in Mexico, as a Fullbright Fellow, and in Spain and the United States. He received a Ph. D. in Operations Research from Syracuse University and has published over twenty papers dealing with applied statistics in engineering and social sciences in refereed journals and proceedings. Romeu is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a member of the American Statistical Association and the Operations Research Society of America.
Jorge A. Sanguinetty is founder and President of DevTech Systems, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based international and domestic economic consulting firm. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the City University of New York. He has over thirty years’ experience in research, teaching, management, and consulting in economic policy design and implementation at the macro and sector levels. Dr. Sanguinetty is a founding member of ASCE and a frequent guest speaker and writer on Cuban affairs and transitional economies.
Rafael E. Saumell-Muñoz is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He holds an MA degree in French language and literature from the Universidad de la Habana (1978) and a Ph.D. in Spanish from Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. (1994). From 1975 to 1981, he served as screenwriter, TV producer, and adviser to the President of the Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión. In 1988, he left Cuba after serving a five year sentence for political activities. While in Cuba, published articles on literature and mass media in El Caimán Barbudo and Unión. Recently, published in the United States in the following publications: Revista Iberoamericana, Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, Revista Monográfica.
Joseph L. Scarpaci Jr., is an Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies of Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia. He received an M.S. in Geography from Pennsylvania State University (1978) and a Ph. D. in Geography from the University of
Florida (1985). He was a Director of Latin American Studies at the University of Iowa (1987-1989). He is the co-author of a forthcoming book titled Havana: Two Faces of an Antillian Metropolis (Wiley, 1996, with Roberto Segre and Mario Coyula).
Jeffrey W. Steagall is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of North Florida. Dr. Steagall received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1990). His undergraduate studies were completed at St. Norbert College. He is an international trade and finance specialist, with particular interest in the trade relationship of developing countries.
Matías F. Travieso-Díaz, Esq., is a partner in Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge. He received a B.S. (1966) and an M.S. (1967) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami, a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University (1971) and a J.D. from Columbia Law School (1976). Between 1966 and 1973, he worked as an electrical engineer at Florida Power and Light Co., the Ohio State U. Electroscience Lab., and the North American Rockwell and Martin Marietta Corp. Mr. Travieso-Díaz joined Shaw, Pittman in 1976, concentrating on civil litigation with a particular emphasis on administrative and judicial proceedings involving nuclear power plants. He has been involved also in international transactions and currently heads the Cuban Project started by that firm to monitor events in Cuba as it moves to a free market economy. He is a member of the D.C. Bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District, the U.S. District Court for DC, the American Bar Assoc., the International Bar Assoc., the Federal Bar Assoc., the Inter-American Bar Assoc., and the Hispanic Bar Assoc.
Roberto J. Vichot received his Ph. D. in Political Science from Purdue University (1984). He has been a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&I University (Kingsville), and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Florida International University. Vichot is the author of journal articles on international law, philosophy of law and human rights, philosophy of science, and of book chapters on the works of José Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno. He is currently conducting research on Latino political culture, Cuban nationalism, and the Post-modernist interpretation of sovereignty and power.
Louis A. Woods is Associate 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 (1972) after completing undergraduate studies in Geography at Jacksonville University. He also 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. He has also written widely on the economic development of Belize.
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