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Changing Cuba- U.S. Relations Implications for CARICOM States Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez Georgina Chami · Annita Montoute Debbie A. Mohammed Changing Cuba-U.S. Relations “This book provides an insightful analysis of the evolving relations between Cuba and the United States. Its uniqueness lies in the contributors’ presentations from a Caribbean international relations perspective and the book is a valuable contribution to the IR literature.” —Mark Kirton, Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago “This should be an intriguing study on U.S.-Caribbean relations. Since the end of the Cold War, the geopolitical importance of the Caribbean has changed from an arena of East-West confrontation to a “third frontier” that presents a dual security problem: migration and drug traffic. Twenty-first-century geopolitics present new challenges and this book is an attempt to tackle them.” —Emilio Pantojas García, Senior Researcher and Professor, Center for Social Research, University of Puerto Rico “A well-researched geopolitical must for understanding recent US-Cuba relations, its impact on the Caribbean and international relations of SIDS.” —Andrés Serbin, President, Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES); and former Chair, Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez Georgina Chami • Annita Montoute Debbie A. Mohammed Changing Cuba-U.S. Relations Implications for CARICOM States Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez Georgina Chami Institute of International Relations Institute of International Relations University of the West Indies University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago Annita Montoute Debbie A. Mohammed Institute of International Relations Institute of International Relations University of the West Indies University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago ISBN 978-3-030-20365-8 ISBN 978-3-030-20366-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20366-5 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland P reface This book was motivated by a desire to explore the current features of the relationship between Cuba and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), considering the major changes that Cuba’s relations with the United States (U.S.) have undergone since December 17, 2014 (17D). It was born from a project initiated, in 2016, at the Institute of International Relations of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus. We dedicated two years to the research for, and writing of, this book. Our aim was to fill a gap in understanding of the potential impact on CARICOM of recent changes in relations between Cuba—the largest Caribbean island—and the United States—a global superpower with vari- ous interests in the Caribbean region. Indeed, this had become critical to do in view of the key transformations initiated, in 2014, by the normaliz- ing of Cuba-U.S. relations; and it became an intriguing and exciting research project for us. The idea for the research project originated from Debbie Mohammed, senior lecturer at the UWI Institute of International Relations (IIR), who invited the other three of us to collaborate on the project with her. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Mohammed had to step away from the project. Special mention must be made of her late hus- band, Nizam Mohammed, who provided great moral support to her. Our hope is that this book is useful and will stimulate discussions on how to understand the Caribbean—from a Caribbean perspective—as a key hemispheric actor that continues to explore avenues for integration v vi PREFACE and socio-economic development. We also hope that this book results in the promotion of informed debates and policy responses for the benefit of the Caribbean. St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez February 2019 Georgina Chami Annita Montoute Debbie A. Mohammed a cknowledgments We are extremely grateful to the interviewees who willingly gave their time and shared their knowledge of the subject matter under study. Our gratitude goes to the School for Graduate Studies and Research of the University of the West Indies, campus St. Augustine, for providing the funding for fieldwork and for the publication of this book. The research assistance of PhD candidate, Samantha Allahar, deserves special mention. She provided substantial support to the research project. Her work was consistently of high quality from the inception of the project to its very end. The project could not have been completed without her help. Samantha, we are very grateful. Special thanks are owed to Professor Jessica Byron, Director of the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, for her support of this research. Many thanks also go to Dr. Kudrat Virk for her assistance with the copy editing of this manuscript, which improved the text significantly. Also, we are grateful to the many scholars in the Caribbean region and beyond who contributed in one form or another to the completion of this book. Finally, we offer our deepest gratitude to Palgrave Macmillan for work- ing with us to ensure that this book became a reality. vii c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 Interrogating Regional Integration Worldwide 5 3 Regional Integration in the Caribbean 19 4 The History and Background of Cuba-U.S. Relations (Until December 17, 2014) 37 5 Advancements in the Cuba-U.S. Relationship 61 6 Limits on the Cuba-U.S. Relationship 93 7 Factors and Actors Impacting Cuba-U.S. Relations 111 8 Background: U.S. Impact on the Cuba- CARICOM Relationship 143 9 Cuba-CARICOM Cooperation 157 10 Cuba-CARICOM Trade and Economic Relations 177 11 Conclusion 195 ix x CONTENTS Appendix A: Interviewee Profiles 215 Appendix B: Interviewees by Region of Operation 217 Appendix C: Interviewees by Areas of Work 219 Index 221 a a bout the uthors Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez is a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations at The University of the West Indies (UWI) since 2014. She teaches courses on small states in the global system, the international relations of the Caribbean, and the international relations of Latin America. Previously, she was an associate professor at the University of Havana and a research associate at the Cuban Institute for Cultural Research Juan Marinello in Havana, Cuba. Her research areas include Cuban studies, small island developing states (SIDS), Cuba-Caribbean relations, cli- mate change and sustainable development, and creative industries. Laguardia Martinez was the project leader, in charge of coordinating fieldwork, the production of the final research report, and the internal editing of the manuscript. She also contributed to the conceptual direc- tion of the project and wrote several of the chapters contained in this book, while contributing to others. Georgina Chami joined the UWI Institute of International Relations as a research fellow in 2014. She lectures on international diplomacy at the diploma and master’s levels. She is also the faculty advisor for the Harvard National Model United Nations and the Model United Nations (Model UN) Club at the UWI St. Augustine campus. Chami was the recipient of a Central America/Caribbean Fulbright Visiting Scholars Award in 2010. Her research interests include peace and security, international organiza- tions, global governance, and civil society. Beyond the writing of substantive chapters and her contribution to others, Chami’s knowledge of the academic publishing industry was key to xi