The Times They May Be A–Changin’: A Look into Cuba’s Future for Property Rights and Restitution Through 3 Lenses

Authors

Patrick M. Denny, University of Miami School of Law

Abstract

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro took power and instituted a new regime that formed itself into a communist stronghold of the global south. With this new government came curtailment of private property rights, effectuated in government confiscation and limitation in private ownership opportunity. As many Cubans and foreign persons/entities had their residential, rural/agricultural, and commercial/industrial property confiscated, demands for restitution over the years has grown, particularly through US–led efforts. As Cuba has begun to soften to the idea of private property, as evidenced in its new 2019 Constitution, this Note seeks to analyze how property rights in Cuba would be impacted, for restitution seeking parties and current possessors/owners, if Cuba were to shed its current government for one of three potential regimes. First, would be a regime fully adopting Cuba’s 1940 Constitution, the form of government Fidel Castro himself promised to re–institute after Fulgencio Batista’s coup. Second, a government modeled after those of the post–Soviet/Socialist Eastern European nations who were once in a position familiar to modern–day Cuba. Lastly, a regime akin to that of China, rather than a full “regime change” it would be an evolution that would adapt Cuban communist characteristics to modern globalized markets. Though not offering a definitive answer on what would be best, this Note will show what the future may hold for Cuba.

Recommended Citation

Patrick M. Denny, The Times They May Be A–Changin’: A Look into Cuba’s Future for Property Rights and Restitution Through 3 Lenses, 57 U. MIA Inter-Am. L. Rev. 145 ()
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umialr/vol57/iss1/5