ASCE and the Cuban Research Institute (FIU)
Announce the Third Cuba Forum
January 13, 2005

Cuba 2005:
International Dimensions of Continuity and Change

Ambassador Carlos Westendorp, Daniel Erikson, Damián Fernández, Jorge Pérez-López, and Kevin Whitaker

January 13, 2005, 4PM to 6 PM
The Brookings Institution
Stein Room
1775 Massachusetts Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036

It will feature several distinguished panelists speaking about the various challenges Cuba will face in the New Year. These panelists will include Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza, the Spanish ambassador to the United States; Daniel Erikson from the Inter-American Dialogue; Damián Fernández from CRI; Jorge Pérez-López from ASCE; and Kevin Whitaker from the U.S. Department of State.

Even though Cuba receives vast amounts of public attention, academia focuses scant attention on the island nation. This disconnect between public interest and academic dialogue has been most visible in the nation’s capital, where a recurring forum for academic discussion on Cuba’s current and future challenges has been largely absent.

To close this gap, the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) at Florida International University (FIU) and the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) recently began sponsoring the Cuba Forum, a two-year public lecture and discussion initiative aimed at encouraging academic dialogue about Cuba from multiple perspectives. The Cuba Forum brings experts on Cuba and U.S.-Cuba relations to the nation’s capital to present policymakers, diplomats, academics, intelligence officials, the media, and the general public with information on key policy issues, aspects of contemporary Cuban life, and other factors affecting the island’s future.
The CRI at FIU, founded in 1991, is the nation’s leading institute for research and academic programs on Cuba and Cuban-American issues.

The forum is free and open to the public.