Turning over a new leaf? The Havana cigar revisited

Abstract

Discusses the historical and contemporary context of the crisis and reforms in the Cuban cigar sector. Author focuses on developments in the period 1992-94 when Cuba sank to, and pulled out of, the depths of the post-1989 crisis. This was when competition from the post-1992 boom of cigars made with Havana seed leaf grown outside Cuba became fierce. She concludes by considering scholarly interpretations of the 1990s agrarian reforms and emphasizes the need to foreground the interplay between external and internal factors.

Keywords

• Cuba
• tobacco industry
• agriculture