James Shrader: No Way Out? The Crisis of the Cuban Revolution

Cuba is facing one of the worst crises in its history, with regional implications for the United States and beyond. In the last two years alone, 425,000 citizens have abandoned their homeland for opportunities elsewhere, a staggering 4% of the population. The reasons for this mass exodus are many: hyperinflation, food insecurity, fuel shortages, growing inequality, the six-decades-old US embargo, trade government repression, and, for many young people, the lack of a promising future. This talk will explore the roots of this crisis and what may lie ahead. As one of the most sanctioned countries in the world and one of only five remaining communist-led states, Cuba’s troubled relationship with the United States and its fraught domestic reforms have created a perfect storm that has put the survival of the Revolution itself in jeopardy. Ultimately, this talk will attempt to answer this key question: is there any way out of this crisis? James Shrader is a visiting instructor at Lehigh University and a Hollybush Institute Fellow at Rowan University. His research focuses on Latin America’s Cold War, revolutionary movements, and human rights.