SCSU To Host Forum On Post-Fidel Cuba

NEW HAVEN — With the health of Fidel Castro having declined, the future of Cuba is the subject of intense speculation. In light of the potential for significant and impending changes on that Caribbean island, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) will host a forum on March 13 entitled “The Future of Cuba in the Post-Fidel Castro Era.”

The forum, scheduled for 12:15 pm, at SCSU’s Michael J. Adanti Student Center, will feature a keynote speech by Brian Latell. Mr Latell has been a Latin American and Caribbean specialist for more than four decades and served for 35 years in the CIA and on the National Intelligence Council. During his tenure, he advised US presidents and congregational leaders about Cuba and the Castro regime. He is the author of a recent book, After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro’s Regime and Cuba’s Nest Leader.

Mr Latell currently serves as a senior research associate at University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies, where he teaches and writes a monthly column on Cuba. He is also an adjunct senior associate in the Americas Program of Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

A panel discussion and question-and-answer period will follow the keynote. In addition to Mr Latell, panelists will include:

*Shirley Jackson, chairwoman of the SCSU sociology department, who has visited Cuba several times in recent years to conduct research on the socioeconomic, cultural, and youth developments in that nation.

*Leon Yacher, SCSU professor of geography, who has visited Venezuela to conduct research on that nation’s media and attitudes toward its president, Hugo Chavez. (Chavez has made efforts to befriend Fidel Castro in recent years.)

*Celestino Heres, a retired professor from both University of Connecticut at Stamford and Norwalk Community College. A Cuban exile, who fought during the Cuban Revolution alongside Che Guevara and other revolutionaries, Mr Heres has written a book about his experiences, entitled The Reluctant Revolutionary.

*Frank Calzon, executive director of the Washington-based nonprofit Center for a Free Cuba. He has been a guest speaker at more than 30 universities in the United States and abroad. He is frequently tapped by the national media for commentary about Cuba.

Mr Latell will be available for a book signing after the program.

For further information, contact Joe Musante, SCSU assistant director of public affairs, at 203-392-5073.

SCSU is at 501 Crescent Street.