Current Economic and Political Situation
Joaquín Pujol, IMF (ret.)
Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Independent Economist, La Habana
Juan del Aguila, Emory University
Marifeli Pérez-Stable, Florida International University and Inter-American Dialogue
Cuba-U.S. Relations
Carlos Saladrigas, Cuba Study Group, “Creating an Enabling Transitional Environment in Cuba”
Ambassador James Cason, Center for a Free Cuba, “The Case Against Unlimited Travel to Cuba as an Agent for
Democratization”
Maria C. Werlau, “Promoting Reform in Cuba: A Bold U.S. Policy to Foster Multilateral Support”
Dan Erikson, Inter-American Dialogue, “The Cuba Wars: An Update”
Discussants: Gary Maybarduk, Foreign Service Analytics; Alfred Cuzan, University of West Florida.
Current and Future Economic Reforms
Rolando Castañeda, “Why Raúl is Half Right but Completely Wrong”
Enrique Pumar, Catholic University of America, “The Arduous Path for Political Liberalization in Cuba”
Antonio Gayoso, “The Art of Doing Nothing: Agricultural Policy Making in Cuba”
Chris Baker, “Financial Reforms and Small Entrepreneurs”
Discussants: Lorenzo Pérez, IMF (retired); Rafael Romeu, IMF
Labor Issues
John Thornton, de Campo & Thornton, “The Curacao Dry Dock Case-A Case of Forced Labor”
Joel Brito, International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba, “Update on Complaint to the International Labor Organization regarding Violations by the Government of Cuba of the Forced Labor Convention”
George Plinio Montalván, “Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice: The Case of Cuba”
Discussants: Gerald Becerra, ILA; Efrén Córdova; Tomás Bilbao, Cuba Study Group
The Gobal Financial and Economic Crisis
Luis R. Luis, “Cuban External Finance and the Global Economic Crisis “
Lorenzo Pérez, “The Potential Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis on Cuba”
Rafael Romeu and Andrew Wolfe, International Monetary Fund, “Caribbean Tourism, OECD Recession, and Three Degrees of Unrestricted Travel”
Roger Betancourt, University of Maryland, “Democracy’s Dimensions and Cuba’s Development in the Aftermath of
the Global Financial Crisis”
Discussants: Ricardo Lago, FIU; Rolando Castañeda. IDB (retired)
Recovering Cuba’s Looted Artwork
Tania C. Mastrapa, Mastrapa Consultants, “Identifying and Locating Looted Art from Cuba”
Mari-Claudia Jimenez, J.D., Herrick Feinstein, LLP, “Legal Alternatives for Cuban Art Restitution”
Discussant: Ray Zamora, Art Collector and Dealer
Measuring Cuban GDP/Consumption
John Devereux, Queens College/Graduate Center CUNY, “The Road not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living
Standards in Comparative Perspective”
Luis Locay, University of Miami, “Cuba’s Socioeconomic Indicators Before the Revolution”
John Devereux, Queens College/Graduate Center CUNY, and Luis Locay, University of Miami, “An Alternative Consumption Estimate for Cuba in the Communist Period”
Jorge Pérez-López and Carmelo Mesa-Lago, “Cuba’s GDP Statistics Under the Special Period: Discontinuities, Obfuscation, and Puzzles”
Discussants: Roberto Orro; Mario A. González-Corzo, Lehman College, City University of New York
Legal Issues
Matías Travieso-Díaz, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, “Lifting the Cuban Embargo: The New Labors of Hercules”
Larry Catá Backer and Augusto I. Molina, Pennsylvania State University, “Globalizing Cuba: ALBA and the Construction of Socialist Trade Systems”
Michael Strauss, Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques, Paris, France, “Perspectives on the Future of Guantanamo Bay”
Discussant: Stephen Kimmerling, Office of the President, The New School; José Pallí, World Wide Title; Manuel Supervielle, Navigant Consulting, Inc.
Agriculture and Sugar
G.B. Hagelberg and José Alvarez, “Cuban Agriculture: The Return of the campesinado”
Willard Radell, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, “Economic Logic in Cuba’s 2002 Sugar Industry Restructuring?”
Juan Tomás Sánchez, “Inputs for an Efficient Cuban Agriculture: Sugar Cane, Rice, Beans and Corn Production”
Discussants: José Alvarez; Antonio Gayoso
Student Papers
Ana Cristina Maldonado, St. Thomas University, “Legal Dissent: Constitutional Proposals for ‘Cambio’ in Cuba”
Silvia Dreher, University of Basel, Switzerland, “Monetary Policy in Cuba”
Brenden M. Carbonell, University of Pennsylvania Law School, “Cuban Corporatism: Batista’s Three-Year Plan and
a Nation Betrayed”
Karen Kajder, University of Miami, “Conceptual Design of a Wastewater Treatment Plant for the Municipality of
Cotorro, Province of Havana, Cuba”
John M. Barrios, Cornell University, “Operation Truth Revisited: An In-Depth Review of Fidel Castro’s First Trip to
the United States”
Discussants: María Dolores Espino, St. Thomas University.
Official ASCE Luncheon
Keynote Speaker: Tom Gjelten, “The Bacardi Story and Cuba’s Future”
Investment, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Policy
Eric Baklanoff, University of Alabama, “A Bountiful Legacy: U.S. Investment in Cuba During the 1950s”
Roberto Orro, “Petrolism in Cuba and Implications of U.S. Investment in the Cuban Oil Sector”
Joseph Scarpaci, Virginia Military Institute, “Fifteen Years of Entrepreneurship in Cuba: Challenges and Opportunities”
Andrew Wolfe and Gabriel Di Bella, IMF, “Challenges for Economic Measurement and Policies in a Bimonetary
Economy”
Discussants: Maria Werlau; Juan Belt, USAID
Social and Economic Issues
Carmelo Mesa-Lago, University of Pittsburgh, “Fifty Years of Revolution in Cuba: Economic-Social Balance”
Pete Martinez, The Quantum Group, “A Profile of Cuba’s Controversial Healthcare System”
Elaine Scheye, The Scheye Group Ltd., “The World Economic Crisis and its Impact on Cuba’s Healthcare and
Biotechnology Sector”
Rolando Castañeda, “La ayuda económica de Venezuela a Cuba”
Discussants: Lorenzo Pérez, IMF (retired); Sergio Díaz-Briquets; Juan Calvo, U.S.-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce
Island-Diaspora Interactions
Manuel Orozco, Inter-American Dialogue, “The Cuban Condition: Migration, Remittances and Its Diaspora”
Joaquín Pérez, Campol Group, “El futuro de las remesas en Cuba”
Mario A. González-Corzo, Lehman College, City University of New York, “Review of ASCE’s Contribution to the
Literature on Remittances to Cuba: 1991–2008”
Discussants: Jorge Pérez-López; Ricardo Puerta
Narcotics and Migration in the Caribbean: The Cuban Problem
Capt. Peter J. Brown, 7th Coast Guard District (Caribbean), “Narcotics and Illegal Immigration: The Current Situation”
Randy Beardsworth, Olive and Edwards, former Assistant Secretary for Strategic Plans and Acting Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security, Department of Homeland Security, “The Importance of Growing Functional Relationships with Cuba”
Gary H. Maybarduk, Foreign Service Analytics, former Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs, US Interests
Section Havana, “Can Cuba Avoid Becoming a Narco-State?”
Discussant: Daniel Erikson, Inter-American Dialogue
The Effects of Disasters in Cuba
William Messina, University of Florida, “Cuban Agriculture and the Impacts of Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes
Gustav and Ike”
Sergio Díaz-Briquets, “The Deepening Housing Crisis: The Impact of Hurricanes”
José Luis Batista Silva, Instituto de Geografía Tropical, Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente,
“Magnitud y frecuencia de los ciclones más dañinos para Cuba durante la temporada del 2008”
B.E. Aguirre, University of Delaware, “Cuba’s Emergency Management and the Need for a Holistic Interpretation of
Risk”
Discussants: Alnunfo Carrandi; Joseph Scarpaci, Virginia Military Institute
Infrastructure: Water/Wastewater/ Transportation
Jorge Rodriguez Ruiz, Consultant, former Executive President of Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), “Privatization or Self-Strengthening for the Water Sector in Cuba? Lessons from the Water Sector in Puerto Rico”
Armando I. Perez, Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.; Roberto Cardona, Wolfberg Alvarez; Luis Locay, University of Miami; and Helena Solo-Gabriele, University of Miami, “Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Priorities for Cuba with Emphasis on Havana, Including Some Benefit-Cost Considerations”
Sergio Alfonso, Jr. P.E., Executive Vice President, Marlin Engineering, Inc. and Carlos A. Penin, P.E., Principal, C.A.P. Engineering, Inc., “Transportation Infrastructure in a Free Cuba: How to Meet Demands in a Challenging Economic Environment”
Discussants: Joanna Gutierrez, SouthCOM
Society and Politics
Dagoberto Valdés, Revista Convivencia, Pinar del Río, Cuba, “Sin solidaridad no hay libertad” (presented by Silvia
Pedraza, University of Michigan)
Berta Mexidor, Bibliotecas Independientes Inc. and Latin American Network for Democracy, “El papel de las bibliotecas independientes en la incipiente sociedad civil cubana”
Simone Grant, University at Albany, “Cuban Civil Society Revisited: An Examination of the Theory and Reality”
Discussant: Soren Triff, University of Massachusetts/Bristol Community College; Maria Aristigueta, University of
Delaware
The Electric Power Sector in Cuba: Coping with a Changing World
Adam Chambers, International Resources Group, “Modeling the Power Sector of Cuba: Potential for Lower Costs
and Lower Emissions”
Manuel Cereijo, University of Miami, “The Power Sector: Coping with Natural Disasters”
Ronald Soligo and Amy Myers Jaffe, Rice University, “Energy Balances and the Potential for Biofuels in Cuba”
Discussants: Discussant: Roger Betancourt, University of Maryland; Jorge Sanguinetty, Dev Tech
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