Canada's economic relations with Cuba, 1990 to 2010 and beyond

During the Colonial era, from Independence to 1959 and throughout the regimes of Presidents Fidel and Raul Castro, Canada and Cuba have maintained a normal and mutually beneficial economic relationship. During the first half of the 1990s, this relationship was invaluable for Cuba as it adjusted to t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian foreign policy journal 2010-04, Vol.16 (1), p.119-140
Main Author: Ritter, Archibald R.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canada
Castro, Fidel
Castro, Raul
Cuba
Economic Development
Economic relations
Electricity generation
Exports
Foreign investments
Foreign relations
Independence
International Trade
Joint ventures
Migration
Presidents
Recessions
Tourism
United States
United States of America
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Summary:During the Colonial era, from Independence to 1959 and throughout the regimes of Presidents Fidel and Raul Castro, Canada and Cuba have maintained a normal and mutually beneficial economic relationship. During the first half of the 1990s, this relationship was invaluable for Cuba as it adjusted to the loss of Soviet subsidization and to its disconnection from the former Soviet Bloc. In these years, Canadian participants were enthusiastic and optimistic about future economic relations. However, in the 2000s this was replaced by greater realism and some scepticism concerning the possibilities for deepening economic interaction, partly because of Cuba's quick displacement of Canada as a major source of agricultural imports by the United States after 2002. In future, Canadian-Cuban relations will be determined mainly by Cuba's economic performance, the policy environment within which it conducts its international economic relations, and the process of normalizing Cuban-United States relations. The objective of this essay is to analyze and explain the principal features of the economic relationship between Canada and Cuba in the decades of the 1990s and the 2000s, and to explore the major determinants and possible character of this relationship in future. A range of economic dimensions is examined, including trade in goods and services (notably tourism), direct foreign investment, international migration, and development assistance. Following a brief review of the evolving relationship from 1959 to 1990, the nature of the economic relationship between Canada and Cuba is analyzed in more detail for the 1990 to 2009 era. The future economic relationship is then explored, focusing on Cuba's economic recovery and policy environment, and the probable impacts of normalization with the United States. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:1192-6422
2157-0817
DOI:10.1080/11926422.2010.9687298