ABSTRACT
Caudillismo is more prevalent in Cuba than in most Latin American societies; indeed, the caudillo image is probably truer for Cuban now then it has been in its past epoch. A key element permitting Castro a free-hand in forging foreign adventures no less than foreign policies is the remoteness of Cuba from the dorsal spine that links North and South America. External ideas and influences filter in only with difficulty, unlike, for example Poland to Hungary or Hungary to Romania. Cuba is an island society par excellence. Despite all the signs of a coming crisis, the economic collapse of Castro's Cuba is prevented by continuing Soviet support. Dynastic communism as such enters the Cuban equation. While it shares many of the properties of neo-Stalinism, the familial features of the Castro regime has long been recognized as an element of its policy making unto itself.
