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Welcome To Cuba
Country number
156
Selected MR Agencies

An Introduction to Cuba

Just 90 miles from the Florida coast, and surrounded by parliamentary democracies, Cuba is an island in every sense. The largest and most populous island nation in the Caribbean, it has been ruled by Fidel Castro's Communist Party since the overthrow of the authoritarian rule of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. See full country profile.

Latest Research News from Latin America

Mar 6
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Feb 23
Ipsos North America has appointed former Worthix and GfK exec Rogerio Monteiro as SVP / Senior Client Officer Feb 23 2024


1 current Latin American job:

Survey Research Manager, Remote Working - Worldwide, $ Competitive salary - (posted Feb 27 2024)
Know of an MR agency based in Cuba? We don't - please get in touch


Fast Facts
Map of Cuba
CAPITAL: Havana
GOVERNMENT: Unitary Socialist Republic
AREA: 110,860 sq km
POPULATION: 11,241,161 (2010 Census)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Spanish
Cobbled street and car, Cuba
Cobbled street and car, Cuba


End of an Era In Cuba today there's a sense of waiting. The communist dictatorship has always been pinned on the two Castro brothers, especially since the disappearance / death of fellow conspirators Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara in 1959 and 1967 respectively. Fidel has now withdrawn from public life due to illness, and his brother Raul, who has introduced a number of liberalising economic reforms in the last four years including moves towards recognition of private property, is also unwell and also in his 80s. There's no apparent succession plan and Cuba may be a very different place in five years' time.

Rational choice
Cubans get a quota of rationed goods each month - a couple of dozen essential items, including enough food to live on for something like ten days - a good start for impoverished families. Also among this short list of vital supplies however are separate quotas for no fewer than three products of the island's flourishing tobacco industry - cigarettes, 'strong' cigars and 'aromatic' cigars...

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Cuba in Profile

Just 90 miles from the Florida coast, and surrounded by parliamentary democracies, Cuba is an island in every sense. The largest and most populous island nation in the Caribbean, it has been ruled by Fidel Castro's Communist Party since the overthrow of the authoritarian rule of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

Spanish for 400 years until 1898, and only briefly a democracy in the early twentieth century, Cuba faces a very uncertain future (see below).For the moment, communism has meant control of many areas of life, rock bottom income, isolation and high levels of (illegal) emigration - but also healthcare that's the envy of many other states, law and order that's rare in other populous Caribbean states, almost 100 percent literacy, and an old world charm that's popular with tourists. In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the worl' which met the WWF's definition of sustainable development, having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007. Cuba and the USA - and more particularly the CIA - are officially bitter enemies but American cars, films and much of its culture are highly popular among ordinary Cubans. As an outsider it's hard to weigh up the pros and cons - sources suggest more than a million will look to leave if emigration controls are relaxed and perhaps that's the bottom line - but will they find the grass greener?

Some Business and General Info

GDP: $114.1bn (2010 est.); per capita $9,900 according to Wikipedia - less according to other sources

Religions nominally Roman Catholic 85% (pre-Castro)

Currency: Cuban Peso (CUP) - local use only; Cuban Convertible Peso - 1 CUC = 1 $US

Telephone Code: +53

Research Industry

Market Research bodies? In Cuba?

Overview of Trade and Industry

Since the revolution in 1959 Cuba has had a socialist economy in which most of the means of production are owned by the state and most citizens are employed by the state. After the revolution Cuba became very dependent on Soviet subsidies of $4-6bn annually. When these ceased in 1990 with the disintegration of the USSR, the economy went into a decline. Cuba also suffers from US trade embargos which have been in place since 1961.

On coming to power Raul Castro made promises that some of the restrictions that limit daily life in the country would be eased, and Cubans now have small ways of generating income which are not overseen by the state. However this is still not enough to stop them attempting to leave the country - last year (2011) the US coastguards intercepted 1,000 people trying to enter the USA illegally.

Exports ($2.46bn in 2009) include: sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus and coffee. These go mainly to China (26%), Canada (23%), Venezuela (10%) and Spain (6%). Imports ($8.96bn in 2009) include: petroleum, food, machinery and equipment and chemicals coming mainly from Venezuela (35%), China (12%) and Spain (8%).

My view
from...
Cuba
Researchers Talk!
Have your say!
If you are a researcher based in Cuba, in whatever capacity, then we would love to hear from you!

Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com

Views from...

If you have any revolutionary ideas on research in Cuba, let us know and we'll be your Ches forever. [Mr Guevara's first name was of course Ernesto - 'Che' means 'pal'].