Diaspora and Development

Credit for banner image above: Leandro Soto, Diaspora, 2004.

The website Diaspora and Development (D&D) was part of the project on "The Cuban Diaspora and the Development of the Entrepreneurial Sector [in Cuba]," of the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) at Florida International University; and was implemented in cooperation with the Cuba Study Group. The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Initiatives (CLACI) of Miami Dade College joined the project in September 2012. D&D was funded by the Ford Foundation.

D&D sought to contribute to the success of Cuban entrepreneurs on the island, and of family and friends that support them from the diaspora. On the other hand, with D&D the Cuban government could also take a closer look at the migratory experiences of countries like China and Vietnam, as well as others nearby, such as Mexico, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin American countries in reference to their diasporas, remittances, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and national development. At the same time, the Cuban diaspora could benefit from the experience of other transnational communities in the development of their countries of origin, and of proposals that Cuban experts have published in various media.

The purpose of this website was to gather all this information that was scattered in many different parts of the Internet. D&D brought together documents and articles in English or Spanish, as they appeared in their original sites, organized in several categories: publications, subdivided into those that relate to the Cuban diaspora, other diasporas, remittances, SMEs, and other topics of interest; laws regulating these activities and migration in Cuba and in other countries; and documents issued by the Cuban diaspora, or by governmental and nongovernmental institutions in Cuba, as well as by institutions in other countries on the above-mentioned issues.

The sites included in D&D represented a wide range of ideological and political perspectives. D&D did not necessarily share the views expressed in these sites, nor was responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in them. D&D's goal was to encourage communication and the free flow of information between Cubans everywhere on the issues already mentioned.