Described as "hapless and stolid but hardworking" by Dr Emily Morris, President Diaz-Canel was re-elected to his post in April 2023 as life for ordinary Cubans remains increasingly difficult. On this episode of The LatinNews Podcast, Dr Morris discusses the political and economic effects of the nation's dual currency system and its end, if there are any possibilities of meaningful political reform there on the horizon and finally, the overwhelming sense of despair being felt by the Cuban population.
Show Notes:
• What is the dual-currency system?
• Impact of the dual-currency on the economy
• 2021 Cuban Protests
• Cuban foreign policy
Dr Emily Morris is a Research Fellow at University College London’s Institute of the Americas (UCLIA). For 13 years she worked for the Economist Intelligence Unit, where she was a Senior Editor/Economist covering the economies of Latin America, and in 2011 she completed her doctoral thesis on Cuban economic policy and outcomes since 1990. As well as lecturing Masters level students, she is now doing consultancy work on Cuban and Latin American economics.
Dr Morris's current research includes studies of Cuban macroeconomic management and performance, climate change mitigation and transport strategies, and emerging currents in Latin American Political Economy. She is lead researcher for a collaboration project between UCL and the Cuban ministry of transport, helping to formulate an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable transport strategy for the city of Havana.
Dr Morris lectures in the Political Economy of Development in Latin America, Latin American Economics, and Economic and Social Transformation in Cuba.
Ten years ago she wrote an article for LatinNews, covering Cuba's dual-currency system. On the latest episode of The LatinNews Podcast she joins Richard McColl to discuss current developments in Cuba.
