Opening Doors to Research in Cuba

摘要

Some three dozen people met in na Washington, DC, hotel last fall nfor an Environmental Defense Fund n(EDF)–sponsored session to discuss nthe challenges and potential for nmarine conservation and research in nCuba. More important than the topic, nhowever, was the presence of four Cu-nbans plus a half-dozen staffers from nNOAA (the National Oceanic and nAtmospheric Administration).n“This would never have happened nunder the previous [Bush] adminis-ntration,” stated David Guggenheim, na marine biologist who has worked nextensively in Cuba since 2000. nGuggenheim, a senior fellow at the nOcean Foundation and president of n1planet1ocean, both Washington, DC, nadvocacy groups, notes that the NOAA nstaffers were not a part of any offcial nnegotiations, but their presence rep-nresented a rare chance for US govern-nment scientists to meet their Cuban ncolleagues in an informal setting. For nmany in the room, it also suggested nthe possibility of future such meet-nings between Cuban and American nscientists.