For an afternoon Champlain Abroad Dublin students in the COM 350, conflict management class, were on Cuban soil as we received a briefing on the Cuban-USA conflict from the Cuban Ambassador to Ireland. Going into the visit, many of us students were aware there was a tension between Cuba and the United States, but we were still unaware of all of the underlying detail that went into past hostilities and the state of relations between the two countries today.
For many of us, the idea of this visit brought back memories of the films we had seen on the Cuban missile crisis as we realized that after all these years, and now well into the 21st century, this long-standing conflict was still only being crudely managed by political threats and mutual hostility. It was interesting to see this conflict from both sides, and the Ambassador was the very first Cuban most of us had ever seen even though his country is only a short flight away from the USA. However, despite the facts that us students and the Ambassador are from two countries with a somewhat rough history, we were welcomed into the headquarters with open arms, and the Ambassador was able to explain in great detail the past, present, and possible future of the rocky relationship between countries separated by just over 200 miles. This visit was really able to expand our knowledge of Cuba-American relations and provide detail into conflict few seem to be fully informed about.
Zach Dolan
Champlain Abroad Dublin Spring’14
Champlain College, Communication’15