The Cuban Revolution at 60

Take one former U.S. ambassador to Cuba, one former Cuban chief negotiator with the U.S. and Canada’s foremost medical expert on the “Havana Syndrome.” Mix in 40 international academic experts on everything and anything Cuba-related — from the intricacies of the Helms-Burton Act, to the role of Russia in Cuba’s economy, to the impacts of climate change, to health care, to disaster preparednesss, to evolving sexual diversity rights — and you have “The Cuban Revolution at 60.”

On the last day of this month, all of those policymakers and policy analysts will gather in Halifax, Canada, for a three-day conference to discuss the Cuban revolution in the context of today.

This is a don’t miss event…

• A Scottish social scientist, who has been making sense of the up-and-down dynamics of the Cuba-Russia/Soviet Union relationship since the revolution, weighs in on the current deepening relationship between the two countries and its implications.
• A Cuban-American scholar, who studies the relationship between Cubans and Cuban Americans, analyzes the role of the Cuban diaspora in Florida.
• An American academic, Gail Reed, who recently delivered a TED talk on the Cuban healthcare system, explains why the Cuban system has better results than its American or Canadian equivalents—despite spending a fraction of their costs.
• A Cuban economist analyzes the challenges facing the Cuban economy as the Trump administration applies increasing pressure, and future prospects.
• An American lawyer, a specialist in US laws regarding Cuba, explains the significance of the Helms-Burton Act.
• A Cuban-American social scientist examines the accomplishments and challenges of sexual diversity rights in Cuba for women.
• A Canadian scholar analyzes disaster preparedness in Cuba, and provides lessons in the post-Dorian world.

The three-day symposium will be highlighted by addresses by two of the key players in the historic 2014 re-opening of relations between Cuba and the United States. Josefina Vidal, now Cuba’s ambassador to Canada and then Cuba’s chief negotiator with the Americans, and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the first US ambassador to Cuba.

Mervyn Bain of the University of Aberdeen, Guillermo Grenier of Florida International University, Gail Reed of MEDICC, Antonio Romero of the University of Havana, Washington trade lawyer Bob Muse, María José Espinosa of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, and Emily Kirk are just a few among the 40 Cuba experts from around the world who will gather at Dalhousie University.

William LeoGrande of the American University will chair the panel on a discussion of “Cuba and the Cuban Revolution: Overview and Personal Reflections.”

The Cuban Revolution at 60 symposium is sponsored and/or supported by the following: by the Ford Foundation, the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, WOLA, Dalhousie University, CUPW, Saint Mary’s University, the Office of the Mayor (Halifax), the Canadian Network on Cuba, Dalhousie Global Health, and NSCuba, among others.

Visit the Cuba60 website to register for The Cuban Revolution at 60 symposium.