Cuba is poor, but who is to blame – Castro or 50 years of the US blockade?

Fidel Castro has often been blamed for the state of the Cuban economy, but the longstanding US embargo and the question of what constitutes real economic success make the issue far more complex than that, argues Helen Yaffe

The world rediscovers Cuban medical internationalism

As coronavirus has spread around the world, the global public has been surprised to see Cuban medicines being used in China and Cuban doctors disembarking in northern Italy. But Cuba’s solidarity-based medical internationalism has been going strong since the 1960s, writes Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow)

If the US really cared about freedom in Cuba, it would end its punishing sanctions

Critics often dismiss Cuba as a failed state, but without accepting how badly the country is hamstrung by the US blockade, writes Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow). •n.b. republished courtesy of The Guardian; Creative Commons does not appl

Cuba’s five COVID-19 vaccines: the full story on Soberana 01/02/Plus, Abdala, and Mambisa

Despite its limited material resources, Cuba is responsible for developing two of only 23 coronavirus vaccines to have entered phase III trials anywhere in the world – and it has another three on the way. Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow) explains how the Soberana, Abdala, and Mambisa vaccines work; how they will roll out at home and abroad; and how Cuba managed to produce them against the clock and against the odds

Day zero: how and why Cuba unified its dual currency system

With the pandemic raging and a global recession just beginning, unification of the national peso and the convertible peso may alarm Cubans. But once the adjustment filters through the economy, and with the state’s promise that no one will be left behind, it could prove to be a vital step for Cuban development, writes our ... Continue

Las cinco vacunas de Cuba contra el COVID-19: la historia completa sobre Soberana 01/02/Plus, Abdala y Mambisa

A pesar de sus limitados recursos materiales, Cuba es responsable de desarrollar dos de las tan solo 23 vacunas contra el coronavirus que han iniciado ensayos de fase 3 en el mundo, y tiene otras tres en camino. Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow) explica cómo funcionan las vacunas Soberana, Abdala y Mambisa; cómo se iniciará el proceso de vacunación en Cuba y en el extranjero; y cómo el país logró elaborarlas contra el tiempo y contra todas las adversidades

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: socialist political economy and economic management in Cuba, 1959-1965

The problem facing the Cuban Revolution after 1959 was how to increase productive capacity and labour productivity, in conditions of underdevelopment and in transition to socialism, without relying on capitalist mechanisms that would undermine the formation of new consciousness and social relations integral to communism. Locating Guevara's economic analysis at the heart of the research, the thesis examines policies and development strategies formulated to meet this challenge, thereby refuting the mainstream view that his emphasis on consciousness was idealist. Rather, it was intrinsic and instrumental to the economic philosophy and strategy for social change advocated. Analysing the evolution, impact and institutionalisation of his ideas, this thesis fills several gaps in the history of economic thought, Cuban economic history and the literature on Guevara. Highlighting his study of Marx's Capital, recourse to the technological and managerial advances of capitalist corporations and critique of Soviet political economy, the research offers a stimulating new contribution to the field of socialist theory. It examines the organisational structures and control mechanisms Guevara created, demonstrating how they link to his Marxist formation. It provides the first record of Guevara's role in several critical areas: promoting education and training; establishing accounting, investment and supervision systems; forging workers' participation in management; founding research and development institutions; formulating policies to raise consciousness and integrating psychology as an economic management tool. The research is based on new archival and interview sources. The thesis concludes that Ernesto 'Che' Guevara made an indispensable contribution to socialist political economy and played a vital role in industrial organisation and economic development in Cuba. It connects these two contributions, demonstrating how Guevara's analysis of the law of value was integral to the economic management system he created as Minister of Industries

Che as Minister: the promotion of science and technology for Cuba’s socialist development

As Minister of Industries in Cuba between 1961 and 1965, Che Guevara addressed the challenge of increasing production and labour productivity in conditions of underdevelopment and in transition to socialism, without relying on capitalist mechanisms that undermine the formation of new consciousness and social relations integral to socialism. Under capitalism, Guevara noted, competition for private profit drives the application of science and technology to industrial development, revolutionising the productive forces. Socialist governments must find alternative methods. To these ends, Guevara set up nine research and development institutes, focussing on sugar cane derivatives, minerals and metals, the chemical industries, agricultural by-products, the mechanical industry, technological innovations, and automation. He established an institutional framework to begin experimentation at different ends of the production chain simultaneously. The short-term results were inevitably limited, but more significant than the productive achievements attained was the methodology introduced, the application of science and technology to production