C.IAS Spotlight Talks #2

The C.IAS spotlight talks aim at shedding light on pressing sociocultural topics from an Inter-American perspective.

“Cuba Under Siege: Caribbean International Relations in the Shadow of U.S. Power”

Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez (University of the West Indies)

Abstract:

The kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro by United States special operations forces on January 3, 2026, constitutes a watershed moment in global affairs, reconstituting the geopolitical architecture of Latin America and the Caribbean. This operation has placed Cuba in its most precarious position since the “Special Period” of the 1990s. This presentation seeks to explore the matrix of international relations in which Cuba is presently tangled, with a focus on the repercussions emanating from the Caribbean.

Bio:

Dr. Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, campus St. Augustine. She previously served as an Associate Professor at the University of Havana and as a Research Associate at the Cuban Institute for Cultural Research “Juan Marinello.” Dr. Laguardia Martinez has participated in academic conferences, delivered invited lectures, and undertaken teaching engagements across North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. 

“Polarization, Precarity, and Poverty”

Aracely Rodríguez Malagón (Roma Tre University, Italy)

Abstract:

Within the framework of the event on the current severe humanitarian crisis in Cuba —marked by the tightening of the U.S. embargo and its impact on access to essential resources— my intervention begins by acknowledging the polarization that structures the debate: on the one hand, the real existence of sanctions that exacerbate the crisis; on the other, internal political responsibilities linked to economic management and persistent inequalities. These structural dimensions shape differentiated experiences of vulnerability, precarity, and poverty. In this context, the orthodox national-revolutionary socialist discourse is being challenged by a critical left positioned in alternative, non-official spaces, which asserts itself as a legitimate actor demanding political and economic transformations, as well as social and racial justice. 

Bio:

Aracely Rodríguez Malagón is a researcher specializing in gender, race, and decolonial feminisms, with over twenty years of experience in participatory action research. She leads the research group “Disputes between Emancipation and Domination in the Socialist Social Project” at the Institute of Philosophy of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and is a member of several international research networks on social justice and raciality in Latin America. Her work focuses on anti-racist and feminist pedagogy, Black feminisms, and Afro-women’s entrepreneurship.

For participation, please contact centeramericas(at)uni-graz.at