ABSTRACT
Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have both noted that repression in Cuba tends to occur in cyclical waves, with periods of relative calm followed by periods of harsh governmental crackdown on political dissent.1 This chapter analyzes the different waves of repression that have occurred within Cuba since the 1959 Revolution. As this chapter shows, the variation in the human rights situation after 1959 highlights the special importance of incorporating international factors into the analysis of state violence and state repression. Cuba’s varying human rights record is an especially interesting case to study considering Cuba’s unique and changing position within the international system over the past 40 some years. Yet, internally, Cuba’s domestic political and economic structures have proven to be quite durable and have not changed substantially over time. The case of Cuba highlights the importance of the concepts of external and internal threat as well as the importance of, real or perceived, state vulnerability. Cuba also further illustrates the need to think about human rights abuse along the dual continuums of severity and visibility, as the types of abuses committed within the country have changed markedly over time.
