Cuba Was Different: Views of the Cuban Communist Party on the Collapse of Soviet and Eastern European Socialism

In Cuba Was Different, Even Sandvik Underlid explores the views of Cuban authorities and their reactions to the collapse of Soviet and Eastern European socialism. In so doing, he contributes to a better understanding as to why the Cuban system - often associated with Fidel Castro's leadership - did not itself collapse. Despite the loss of its most important allies, key ideological referents, and even most of its foreign trade, Cuba did not embrace capitalism.

The author critically examines and analyzes Cuban press coverage of events in the USSR and Eastern Europe through the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma, both as they unfolded and subsequently through the lens of additional interviews. This focus on Cuba's little studied political Party provides new perspectives on how these events were seen from Cuba and on the notable resilience of party members.