U.S.-Cuban Scientific Relations
Sergio Jorge Pastrana1 and Michael T. Clegg2
In a few years, the two oldest national academies of science in the world outside of Europe--those of the United States and Cuba--will celebrate their 150th anniversaries. Yet despite the proximity of both nations and many common scientific interests, the U.S. embargo on exchanges with Cuba, which began in 1961 and is now based on the 1996 U.S. Helms-Burton Act and subsequent regulations, has largely blocked scientific exchange. It's time to establish a new scientific relationship, not only to address shared challenges in health, climate, agriculture, and energy, but also to start building a framework for expanded cooperation.
1Sergio Jorge Pastrana is the Foreign Secretary of the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba. E-mail: pastrana{at}ceniai.inf.cu.
2Michael T. Clegg is the Foreign Secretary of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine. E-mail: mclegg{at}uci.edu
