Good-Bye Che?: Scope, Identity, and Change in Cuba’s South–South Cooperation

Abstract

The chapter offers an analysis of the scope, identity, and changing features in Cuba’s SSC from the 1960s until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean and employing a sociohistorical and international political economy approach, the authors argue that Cuban health cooperation has been gradually shifting from a political and humanitarian approach to an economic market-driven policy reflected in Cuba’s earnings from medical export services. The chapter further shows that the close relationship between Cuba and Venezuela represents a milestone that has reinforced this shift in the past years.