On July 30, Miami’s Florida International University sponsored an event to examine FIU’s potential future role in Cuba. More than 150 people attended the conference, moderated by Luís Salas, director of FIU’s Center for the Administration of Justice.

“Given our deep linkages with the Cuban-American community in Miami, we have a sincere interest in being a force for good and a source of solutions in Cuba,” he said.

Panelists included:

* Mike Hampton, dean, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

* Amir Mirmiran, dean, FIU College of Engineering and Computing.

* Frank Mora, director, FIU Latin American and Caribbean Center.

* Marifeli Pérez-Stable, FIU professor of global and sociocultural studies.

* Monica Tremblay, associate professor, FIU College of Business.

* Ines R. Triay, director, FIU Applied Research Center.

* Fernando Valverde, chief executive officer, FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s Health Care Network Faculty Group.

* Jorge Duany, director, FIU Cuban Research Institute.

In his opening presentation, FIU consultant and Cuba expert Carmelo Mesa-Lago said that Cubans are well-trained in the basic disciplines and are competent in their fields.

However, despite the country’s excellence in some scientific fields Cuba’s major challenges are the lack of access to updated knowledge, equipment and literature both in digital and printed form.

Mesa-Lago stressed the idea that “future academic and technical exchanges will be mutually beneficial” thereby dismissing any patronizing or colonizing attitudes.

“Currently, FIU’s involvement in Cuba is barred by U.S. federal and state restrictions and consequent university policies, as well as obstacles imposed by the Cuban government,” he said.

Mesa-Lago added: “When restrictions are lifted, FIU should be ready to help with Cuban needs. We should start now, with steps that are within the law, to develop academic contacts that will set the foundation for relations.”

In 2006, Florida lawmaker David Rivera aggressively sponsored a controversial state law, which later passed unanimously, that banned professors at all state universities from traveling to Cuba for research purposes.

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged that Florida law, which was eventually declared unconstitutional.

Despite the restrictions, universities and colleges have cooperation agreements and various other legal arrangements with scores of U.S. public and private educational institutions. Thousands of students and professors from the United States are now visiting Cuba thanks to these programs. Long before such restrictions come to an end, said Mesa-Lago, FIU should build contacts and relationships with various people and institutions in Cuba.

Once they’re gone, the university ought to share expertise with its Cuban counterparts especially experience acquired in Latin America and China. Eventually, the idea is for FIU to establish a campus in Cuba itself.

Necessary funding would come from various sources including international organizations Cuba chooses to join; U.S. government agencies; the State of Florida; the private-sector, including hotel chains, cruise-ship companies and banks; private foundations, and finally Cuban-Americans who choose to donate and/or invest in Cuba.

“At FIU we foresee change in Cuba and want to have a thoughtful and collaborative approach to guide our reaction,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “When all of this will become a reality, we don’t know. But it will.”

Areas in which mutual cooperation could take place with benefits for both parties include tourism, business administration, accounting, banking, environmental studies, oil and nuclear energy, engineering, computer science, architecture, disaster mitigation and management, public health and medicine, biotechnology, genetics, neurology, agriculture, law, economics, social sciences, art, music and library science.

But Mesa-Lago said FIU can’t afford to wait until the embargo is lifted, “because other U.S. universities not bound by state restrictions are already positioning themselves in Cuba, placing FIU at a disadvantage five or more years into the future.”

Only two members of the audience rejected the panel’s recommendations: prominent anti-Castro hardliners Ninoska Pérez Castellón and Remedios Díaz Oliver.