UF experts available to comment on Cuban situation

August 1, 2006

UPDATED 11:30 a.m. AUG. 3

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The following experts at the University of Florida are available today to speak to the news media about Fidel Castro’s transfer of power and the impact of his decision in Cuba and the United States:

Terry McCoy is a professor of Latin American studies and political science and director of the Latin American Business Environment Program. As a specialist in the political economy of Latin America and US-Latin American relations, McCoy has taught, conducted research and consulted throughout the hemisphere. He has traveled to Cuba as a scholar on three occasions. He can be reached at 352-392-0375, ext. 808, cell: 352-246-6424 or tlmccoy@latam.ufl.edu

William A. Messina Jr. is an agricultural economist with the Food and Resource Economics Department in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida. He is the founding co-director of the department’s comprehensive research initiative on Cuba’s agricultural sector, which continues to be conducted in collaboration with a team of researchers at the University of Havana, Cuba. He can be reached at 352-392-1826, ext. 308, or wamess@ufl.edu.

Carmen Diana Deere is the director of UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. Before becoming director, she was a professor of economics and director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a past president of the Latin American Studies Association. Her geographic expertise includes Cuba and Central America. She can be reached at 352-392-0375, ext. 801, or deere@latam.ufl.edu.