Directory of Cuba–Related Organizations and Websites Ted Henken Cuba Project Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies The Graduate Center, CUNY 365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5209 New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212.817.2096 | Fax: 212.817.1540 | Email: [email protected] Directory of Cuba-Related Organizations and Websites Ted Henken Baruch College, City University of New York iii Table of Contents Introduction v A. Educational/Academic 1 B. Art and Cultural 9 C. Business and Economic 18 D. Government, NGOs, and Think Tanks 21 E. Democracy and Human Rights 30 F. Diaspora and Exile Organizations 32 G. Travel and Tourism 35 H. Religious 37 I. News Sources 39 J. Miscellaneous sites, Organizations, Information, and Links 42 v Introduction The primary purpose of this directory is to help build bridges between Cuba, its people, and the outside world – especially the United States. Having traveled to the island more than a dozen times over the past decade (1997-2007), I have had the privilege of meeting people and working with institutions on the island (both within the government and, more commonly, independent of it) who have much to teach (and are always hungry to learn from) the world outside. These individuals and institutions have normally received this curious and pesky yuma (American) with graciousness and generosity, sharing their wealth of ideas, experiences, and information on a basis of mutual respect and reciprocity. It is hoped that this directory can facilitate this kind of fruitful dialogue and collaboration between Cuba and the world beyond its shores in the future. When I first traveled to Cuba in the summer of 1997, it was as a graduate student at Tulane University. Unfortunately, since 2000, and especially since new travel restrictions were imposed in 2004 by the Bush administration, the ease of traveling to Cuba even for the limited number of Americans like me who can still do so legally has been greatly constrained. This directory is written with the conviction that such travel restrictions (especially those aimed at family and academic travel) are fundamentally at odds with the ideals of a free, democratic society and opposed to the interests of the people of the United States and Cuba. Since 2004, the U.S. government has routinely denied virtually all visas for Cuban scholars, artists, and musicians to present their work in the United States, prevented all but a tiny handful of Ameri- cans from traveling to Cuba, discontinued most student study-abroad programs on the island, and placed wrenching limitations on the right of Cuban émigrés in the U.S. to travel to visit family in their homeland. Of course, the Cuban government has long imposed travel restrictions of its own, preventing the vast majority of its citizens from traveling abroad and forcing those who choose to leave to make their exit definitive. Ironically, while Cuba has gradually liberalized its emigration con- trols and opened the island up to most émigrés who want to return for brief visits over the past decade, the U.S. government had moved in exactly the opposite direction in an attempt to deny funds to the Cuban government and provoke hardship, desperation, unrest, and rebellion on the island. However, current U.S. policy has only had the effect of further isolating the Cuban people from the freer flow of ideas and strengthened the Cuban government’s monopolistic control over Cuban society. Furthermore, Cuba is able to deflect criticisms of its own restric- tions on the free movement of its people, by pointing to the American hypocrisy that celebrates freedom in the abstract while cynically manipulating the fundamental right to travel for politi- cal purposes. This directory is organized into the ten thematic sections listed below. Within each section, I have listed organizations and websites in order of importance (based on my personal, some- what arbitrary criteria), not alphabetically. Thus, inclusion on this list (or exclusion from it) should not be taken as an endorsement (or repudiation) of any particular organization or view- point. Each entry includes a title, web address, brief description, contact name and e-mail, and address and phone/fax number (if available). I have tried as much as possible to list well- established organizations that represent a wide variety of political and ideological perspec- tives. If your organization is not listed or if you’d like to correct the information contained herein, please send a message to me at: [email protected] Apart from years traveling to Cuba, searching the web for information on the island, and sub- scribing to a number of Cuban-related list serves, two publications were most helpful in pre- paring this directory. They are, Cuba and U.S. Nonprofits: Resource Guide and Directory (Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University, 2002), compiled by Grisel San- groniz and edited by Lisandro Pérez, and the final section of Louis A. Pérez’s extensive biblio- graphic essay at the end of his, Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution (3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2006). An abbreviated version of this directory is being published as an appendix to my forthcoming book, Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook (ABC-CLIO Publishers, Inc., 2007). February, 2007 New York City A. Educational/Academic Latin American Network Information Center - LANIC http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/ Description: Likely the best maintained, most extensive, academically impartial, and up-to- date list of links on Cuba. Cuban Research Institute (CRI), Florida International University http://lacc.fiu.edu/cri/ or http://www.fiu.edu/~lacc/cri Description: The CRI’s mission is to disseminate knowledge on Cuba and Cuban-Americans. The Institute builds on the University’s wealth of Cuba experts and has developed strong relationships with scholars in Cuba through a variety of academic exchange programs. The CRI holds a major multidisciplinary conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies every 18 months. The CRI also organizes a wide variety of lectures, community events, symposia, concerts, and exhibitions. Contact: Damián Fernández E-mail: [email protected] Address: University Park, DM 363, Miami, FL 33199 Telephone: (305) 348-1991; Fax: (305) 348-3593 Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies, University of Miami http://www.miami.edu/iccas/ Description: Part of the School of International Studies at the University of Miami, ICCAS is a center for research and study of a wide range of Cuban and Cuban-American topics. Its website contains many useful research reports and links on Cuba and its diaspora. The Institute also runs the Cuba Transition Project (http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/), a searchable “Cuba on- line” database (http://cuba.sis.miami.edu/), is linked to Casa Bacardí (http:// casabacardi.iccas.miami.edu/), and recently launched the on-line journal, Cuban Affairs, http:/ /www.cubanaffairsjournal.org/. Contact: Jaime Suchlicki E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Address: PO Box 248174, 1531 Brescia Ave., Coral Gables, FL 33124-3010 Telephone: (305) 284-CUBA (2822); Fax: (305) 284-4406, (305) 284-4875 Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Library http://www.library.miami.edu/umcuban/cuban.html Description: One of the most extensive and well preserved collections of Cuba-related archives of records, manuscripts, photographs, etc. much of which is available in digital format and accessible on-line at: http://digital.library.miami.edu/chcdigital/chcdigital.shtml. Contact: Esperanza B. de Varona, Head of the Cuban Heritage Collection E-mail: [email protected] Address: 1300 Memorial Drive, PO Box 248214, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0320 Telephone: (305) 284-4900; Fax: (305) 284-4901 2 Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies The Cuban Rafter Phenomenon: A Unique Sea Exodus http://balseros.miami.edu/ Description: From 1991 through July 1994 numbers of citizens leaving Cuba for the U.S. in small groups on rafts rose steadily year by year until 500 were arriving daily during the first two weeks of July 1994. As a result, President Castro instructed the Cuban Coast Guard to discontinue enforcing laws against leaving. In response, 32,385 Cubans left from all parts of the island. Using the U.S. Coast Guard to intercept the rafters, President Bill Clinton refused them entry, sending them to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba where they stayed until finally admitted to the United States in 1995. This website documents these events. Contact: Holly Ackerman, PhD. – Asst. Professor, Otto G. Richter Library, University of Miami E-mail: [email protected] Cuba and Cuban Americans on the Internet, Univeristy of Miami http://www.library.miami.edu/netguides/cubanet.html Description: An extensive list of Cuba and Cuban-American related links. Cuba Section – Latin American Studies Association http://www.cubasection.org/index.php Description: The activities of this Section are oriented by three broad goals: strengthening scholarly relations between the U.S. and Cuba; providing a structure for the association of scholars whose research focuses on Cuba and U.S.-Cuban relations; and facilitating the integration of Cuban scholars and scholarship on Cuba in LASA Congress programming. Contacts: Co-Chairs - Rolando García Quiñones (in Cuba); Sheryl Lutjens (outside Cuba) E-mail: García – [email protected]; Lutjens – [email protected] Telephone: Cuba – (011-537) 870-8360 or 879-8666; U.S. – (928) 523-6918 Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute, Tulane University http://cuba.tulane.edu/ Description: The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute, a part of Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, evolved out of several years of sustained effort in developing relations with Cuban counterpart organizations for the purposes of academic collaboration and exchange, curricular development, cultural exchange and international development and dialogue. The Institute organizes lectures, performances, courses, symposia, etc. aimed at promoting a true academic and cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States.