The post-1989 collapse of communism in Eastern Europe led many observers to believe that a comparably rapid transition to democracy and economic liberalization was imminent in Cuba. After the onset of a crisis brought the Cuban economy down by at least 35-40 percent in 1990-1993, it seemed that the need for reinsertion into the capitalist international economy would induce reformist responses leading to a fundamental transformation of the island's traditional state socialism. This paper will examine the changes made to the Cuban economy and the affects of the changes during the 1990s. An assessment will be made of the extent to which Cuba has moved from state socialism to a free-market capitalist economy. 11 pgs. 28 f/c. 14 b.
