The Institute of Tropical Geography, a 50-year old organization under Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, has finally published the first issue of its long-anticipated Revista Cubana de Geografía.

The journal, accessible for free at www.geotech.cu/revista/index.html, will focus on publicizing geographic research in Cuba, thereby opening up a space for discussion of fresh ideas on geography and development. Until now, much of this research has been kept quiet, precisely because of the lack of publishing outlets.

In her inaugural presentation, editor-in-chief Marlén M. Palet said the new journal will assess the impact of new investments on Cuba, the development of municipalities, Cuba’s readiness for natural disasters, mitigation plans, the management of protected territories, environmental modeling and the monitoring of natural processes.

The online magazine’s first issue — somewhat of a disappointment — contains eight articles on different subjects, including water availability in the Caribbean, the dilemmas faced by Cuban cities and Cuba’s changing rural landscape. In a departure from Cuba’s usual academic style, the issue includes an article proposing remedial works with costs estimates to improve the water balance on a stressed river basin just east of Havana.

The fledgling journal welcomes contributions from abroad, provided they’re focused on Cuban events and studies. It also includes some results obtained by Cuban scientists in Venezuela, which marks an early attempt — although not the first — to expand the reach of Cuban geographers beyond the island itself.

Geography is a science of development, anticipation and change as well as one of protection and preservation — and this journal has the potential to shed light on the long-overdue due modifications of Cuba’s economic policies and its incipient opening to new investments. It might also bring readers some inside information on the growing autonomy of Cuba’s workforce, which will ultimately test the limits of the Cuban state’s ability to manage the economy.

The unexpected dissolution of the Soviet bloc two decades ago forced some fundamental changes to the island’s geography, the most dramatic of which was Cuba’s massive abandonment of one million hectares of sugarcane lands and the demise of the sugar industry as the engine which had powered Cuba’s culture and economy for 200 years.

Other crucial developments that demand a geographic approach — absent up until now — are the aggressive expansion of mining and tourism on virgin territories; the exodus of over 600,000 mostly young, skilled Cubans in the last 20 years, the emergence of remittances as a key source of hard currency;demographic stagnation; the collapse of traditional agricultural sectors (citrus, coffee, cattle ranching, etc); the economic standstill in some towns and territories and environmental degradation.

Revista Cubana de Geografía may be the instrument to bring together the expertise of geographers and much-needed fresh ideas. We can only hope for growing interest outside of Cuba to hear these voices.