Law Commons^™

Present And Future Of Environmental Law In Cuba, Daimar Cánovas González

FIU Law Review

The environmental legal framework in Cuba is based on constitutional article 75 and Law 81, of July 11, 1997, on the environment, a framework law on the matter, with a series of complementary provisions with the rank of Decree Law or Ministerial Resolution. The adoption of the new constitutional text in 2019 is followed by the updating of all environmental legislation that requires a new framework law, which fills the gaps in the current one and leads to more effective environmental management. The paper addresses some of the areas in which significant changes have occurred or should occur. In particular, …

The Human Environment: Awakening To The Indomitable Cuban Spirit--Government, Culture, And People, Berta Hernández-Truyol

FIU Law Review

My thoughts are to write about The Human Environment. I will address the recent events concerning the increased silencing of dissent and the criminal law reforms that prohibit peaceful gatherings.

Contemporary Crises In Cuba: Economic, Political, And Social, Silvia Pedraza, Carlos Romero

FIU Law Review

In this paper my co-author and I will present the various crises that are taking place in Cuba at present: economic, political, and cultural. We rely on published data, such as the GDP, as well as materials from in-depth interviews and participant observation.

Semi-Presidential Executive Branch Institutionalization And Personalization Under Cuba's 1940 Constitution, Daniel Pedreira

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ratification of Cuba’s Constitution of 1940 ushered hopes for democratic stability, most notably through the implementation of a semi-presidential system. Innovative for its time, semi-presidentialism sought to reduce the “perils of presidentialism” that plagued the early decades of the Cuban Republic. Yet, over the next two decades, the Cuban Republic declined and fell as it devolved into authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

This study analyzes the extent to which Cuba’s executive branch was institutionalized or personalized under the 1940 Constitution. Taking a close look at the presidential administrations of Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar (1940-1944, 1952-1954, and 1954-1959), Ramón Grau San Martín (1944-1948), …

Rice And Beans With A Side Of Queer: Socio-Legal Developments In The Cuban Lgbtq+ Community, Carlos A. Figueroa

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Over the last century, the LGBTQ+ community has occupied a peculiar space in Cuba that has both resisted and acclimated to the ever-changing sociopolitical dynamics on the Island. This Article examines the Cuban queer community’s socio-legal history in pre- and post-Revolution Cuba along with its tumultuous synthesis into U.S. culture.

Popular Consultation And Referendum In The Making Of Contemporary Cuban Socialist Democracy Practice And Constitutional Theory, Larry Catá Backer, Flora Sapio

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

The language of democracy and democratic organization is usually spoken only in the vernacular of liberal democracy. Liberal democracy, mostly of western origin centers legitimacy of a political order on open, full, and free election for representatives, as well as a substantially unregulated civic space in which individuals and others can engage in political discourse. This essentially exogenous form of democratic organization has been increasingly challenged in the 21st century by an alternative model of endogenous democracy more compatible with states organized along Marxist Leninist principles. These emerging forms of endogenous democratic practices have been developed along two distinct lines, …

Book Review, Marcos Zunino, Justice Framed: A Genealogy Of Transitional Justice (2019), Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Transitional justice initiatives, broadly speaking, respond to systematic human rights abuses. These initiatives take multiple shapes and forms. This means that the actual practice of transitional justice is diverse and organic. Transitional justice discourse, however, is aspirational, normative and selective. It is less heterogeneous and far more directive. Marcos Zunino’s eye-opening book, Justice Framed, is about gaps between narrative discourse and tangible practice. It is about the effects of discourse on practice. More pointedly, Justice Framed is about how discourse ‘surfaces’ certain kinds of practices of the past while sidelining and ignoring others. Hence, to come full circle, this book …

America's Past-Time And The Art Of Diplomacy, Alyson St. Pierre

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

As organizations and corporations construct an international reach, they become influential actors in foreign relations between sovereign countries. Particularly, while Major League Baseball continues to recruit players and build a large fan base across the globe, it increases its ability to facilitate civil relations between the United States and other nations. An exploration of how professional baseball provides a useful platform to improve diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba best exemplifies how the League can promote change. Although the United States and Cuba have had a rather tumultuous relationship in recent history, a coordinated effort to improve the …

“Capitalist” Cuba: The Privatization Of The Cuban Economy And Its Unintended Consequences, Christopher Palomo

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of U.S. Claims For Property Restoration In Cuba, Ashley Morales

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Investment Treaty Arbitration In Cuba, Rafael Cox Alomar

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Not since the fateful days of the 1962 Missile Crisis, has Cuba commanded as much global attention as it does today. The 2014 diplomatic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, not only did away with the last vestiges of the Cold War in Caribbean waters, but more importantly has coincided with a period of acute ideological effervescence in Havana. Even in the face of President Raúl Castro’s resolute commitment to the principles of the 1959 Revolution, it is more than evident that Cuba is in the midst of a transformational moment. And perhaps in no other area of the …

Son Los Inmigrantes Cubanos Injustamente Favorecidos En Comparacion Con Inmigrantes De Otras Nacionalidades? La Comprension De La Realidad Comunista En Cuba Y La Legitimidad De La Ley De Ajuste Cubano, Leslie Perez Perez

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Creemos que el pueblo cubano ser libre de toda tirania

Cuba: Open For Business, But Media Beware, Jodi Benassi

Jodi Benassi

No abstract provided.

Whither Communism: A Comparative Perspective On Constitutionalism In A Postsocialist Cuba, Jon L. Mills, Daniel Ryan Koslosky

Jon L. Mills

For over fifty years, Cuba has been a source of high-spirited political and policy debates. Its history and geostrategic position make it unique in American diplomatic and socioeconomic history. Interest in the island has not waned with the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. On the contrary, Raul Castro’s assumption of Government has led many to begin asking how and under what circumstances political liberalization and economic transformation may occur in Cuba. This article examines the possible constitutional outcomes of a Cuba transition and introduces a framework for analyzing both Cuban economic reforms and US …

No. 8 - The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook After 50 Years, Rebecca H. White, C. Donald Johnson, Archibald R.M. Ritter, Ray Walser, Ricardo Torres, Timothy L. Meyer, Daniel W. Fisk, Vicki J. Huddleston, Robert L. Muse, José R. Cabañas, Marisa Pagnattaro, Jonathan C. Benjamin-Alvarado, Gary W. Black, C. Parr Rosson Iii, Jorge Mario Sanchez Egozcue

Occasional Papers Series

Organized and sponsored by the Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Policy, The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook after 50 Years was a daylong conference exploring issues related to the impact of trade sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba, pathways to lifting the embargo and potential U.S.-Cuba trade opportunities. Ambassador José R, Cabañas, the chief of mission at the Cuban Interests Section in Washinton, D.C., served as the keynote speaker for the event. The transcript of the conference proceedings has been edited for publication with the consent of the speakers.

Feminism In The Global Political Economy: Contradiction And Consensus In Cuba, Deborah M. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

Much has been written about transnational feminist networks and their impacts on the local condition of women. Transborder feminist organizing has reshaped discourses and practice from the local to the international. Global feminist endeavors have influenced the development of international legal standards affecting the circumstances of women and contributed to the gender mainstreaming of human rights initiatives. At the same time, feminist transnationalism has often been identified as the source of tension as efforts have at times resulted in support for a neoliberal agenda propounding empowerment and self-esteem issues, which in turn, has raised questions about who is defining the …

Harmonization, But Not Homogenization: The Case For Cuban Autonomy In Globalizing Economic Reforms, Heather Shreve

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Since 1959, Cuba has been an anomaly in the Western Hemisphere. From its fierce isolationism to its steadfast commitment to-communism and Fidel Castro, the Cuban model shunned many modern conventions and developments of the increasingly globalized world. However, in the last decade, subtle shifts in Cuban governance and control led some scholars to question if and how Cuba could participate in the modern, global economy. President Razil Castro answered the speculation in late 2010 with an announcement regarding Cuban economic modernization and, again, in 2011, as significant economic reforms were implemented. All of these changes beg the ultimate question: Can …

Heirs Of Martí: The Story Of Cuban Lawyers, Victoria Quintana

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Moral Politics Of Social Control: Political Culture And Ordinary Crime In Cuba, Deborah M. Weissman, Marsha R. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

The Cuban revolution has been described as “the longest running social experiment” in history, and one not well-received in the United States. The U.S. government responded to the revolution first with suspicion, and then hostility. Even while the current administration has acknowledged the failure of U.S. policy, few substantive changes have been announced and the narrative of Cuba in the United States continues to dwell almost exclusively on political repression and economic failure. The Cuban revolution, however, is a complex process, one that defies facile explanations. This article subscribes to the perspective offered by social scientists who urge “a more …

Cuban Private International Law: Some Observations, Comparisons, And Suppositions, Kevin Tuininga

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Real Estate Development In Cuba: Present And Future, Antonio R. Zamora

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

During the last twenty years, the Cuban government has faced two very significant challenges that have seriously threatened its survival.

Desarrollo Immobilliario En Cuba: Presente Y Futuro, Antonio R. Zamora

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Durante los filtimos veinte afios el gobierno de Cuba se ha enfrentado con dos importantes retos que amenazaron seriamente su supervivencia.

Whither Communism: A Comparative Perspective On Constitutionalism In A Postsocialist Cuba, Jon L. Mills, Daniel Ryan Koslosky

UF Law Faculty Publications

For over fifty years, Cuba has been a source of high-spirited political and policy debates. Its history and geostrategic position make it unique in American diplomatic and socioeconomic history. Interest in the island has not waned with the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. On the contrary, Raul Castro’s assumption of Government has led many to begin asking how and under what circumstances political liberalization and economic transformation may occur in Cuba. This article examines the possible constitutional outcomes of a Cuba transition and introduces a framework for analyzing both Cuban economic reforms and US …

A Cuban Connection: Edwin F. Atkins, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., And The Former Slaves Of Soledad Plantation, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

Edwin F. Atkins and Charles Francis Adams, Jr., stand out on this stage not as major players but as a particularly intriguing Boston connection. Among the truly major players, planters like Juli?n Zulueta and the Count of Casa More owned hundreds of slaves and shaped Spanish policy. On the Cuban nationalist side, few could equal the impact of Antonio Maceo, the mulato insurgent general who insisted on full emancipation at the end of the 1868-1878 war, or the thousands of rebels who fought under the orders of rebel generals Maceo and Maximo Gomez. As the master of some ninety-five patrocinados …

Public Rights And Private Commerce: A Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Creole Itinerary, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

Tracing the history of a family across three generations, from enslavement in eighteenth-century West Africa through emancipation during the Haitian Revolution and subsequent resettlement in New Orleans, then France, then Belgium, can shed light on phenomena that are Atlantic in scope. A business letter written in 1899 by the cigar merchant Edouard Tinchant to General Máximo Gómez in Cuba frames an inquiry that opens out onto a family itinerary that spanned the long nineteenth century. Rosalie Vincent’s achievement of freedom in the shadow of slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793–1803 can be seen as linked to her grandson Edouard Tinchant’s participation …

The Nuclear Terrorism Convention: Will Detainees Be Classified As "Enemy Combatants" By The United States?, Heather R. Demner

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

As images of recent bombings in subways and buses in London on July 7, 2005 make their way across newspapers and news stations internationally, the international community relives the atrocious images of the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and is reminded that the threat of terrorism has not vanished

El Convenio Terrorism Nuclear: Seran Clasificados Los Detenidos Como "Combatientes Enemigos" Por Los Estados Unidos?, Heather R. Demner

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Mientras las imigenes de los recientes bombardeos producidos en ferrocarriles subterfineos y autobuses en Londres el 7 de julio del 2005 aparecen en peri6dicos y estaciones de noticias alrededor del mundo, la comunidad intemacional revive las imigenes atroces de los atentados terroristas del once de septiembre contra las torres gemelas de Nueva York hacidndoles recordar que la amenaza del terrorismo no ha desaparecido.'

The Provincial Archive As A Place Of Memory: The Role Of Former Slaves In The Cuban War Of Independence (1895-98), Rebecca Scott

Book Chapters

Prof. Scott focuses on the study of the role of former slaves in the Cuban War of Independence, in light of the avoidance of the theme of race within this war in Cuban historiography. She discusses reasons for the silence on race issues, and for the historic construction of the "myth" of racial equality in this era.

Grados De Libertad: Democracia Y Antidemocracia En Cuby Y Luisiana, 1898-1900, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

This comparative study between the quest for political racial inclusivity in 1890s Louisiana and the fight against state-sanctioned racialized violence in Cuba in the early 1900s exposes similarities, tensions, and differences between the two systems. The article traces the evolving contests for citizenship and suffrage in each climate at the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the twentieth, juxtaposing the expression of race, suffrage, and citizenship in the constitution and political climate of each locale. In 1898, the new Louisiana state constitution disenfranchised African-Americans, while in 1900 Cuba was positioning itself for a grant of universal …

Cuba And Good Governance, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

The idea of “good governance” embraces the concept that economic success is inextricably linked to democratic and just governance. This essay explores how Cuba fares in light of good governance standards. At the outset, an overall observation is appropriate: if one considers the traditional criteria, to talk about Cuba and good governance might simply be an impossible task-- indeed an oxymoron--if we use as the starting point of analysis the existing definitions of governance. Therefore, in order to engage this thesis, I will deconstruct the idea of good governance into two parts--processes and outcomes. First, I explore the theoretical origins, …