Canadian author and academic, Keith Bolender, pays a welcome return visit to Ireland this month.

His previous speaking tours in 2013 ad 2010 were well attended and those who heard him speak know of his authorative views on matters of US/Cuban relations.  His latest focus is on the normalisation process going on in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

And, not surprisingly, he sees a very different picture than that propagated in the media.

Join Cuba Support Group Ireland in welcoming Keith to Connolly Books on Monday next, 21 September 2015, where he will give a public talk on the diplomatic normalisation process currently in train and its chances of success.

He will reveal the landscape of US/Cuban relations, the legacy of disconnection and the need to construct a shared view of their histories before any real progress can be made in normalisation.  He explains the depth of misunderstanding of Cuba that has been deliberately inculcated in the US mindset and the long and difficult road that US governments will have to travel to begin to understand the nature of the Cuban Revolution.

He will also look at the internal reconfiguration of the Cuban economy with the widespread emergence of private sector employment in the service industry.  Over 500,000 jobs have been created through self-employment in Cuba in the last 5 years, the economy is predicted to expand by 6% this year and the tourist industry is experiencing record growth.

With hotel bedrooms now in short supply, what effect can be expected from the return of US tourists, banned by their own government for over half a century from setting foot in Cuba? What are US visitors finding when the visit Cuba?  How different is from the picture of Cuba painted by their stenographic media for all that time?

These are just some of the issues Keith will address at 7pm on Monday 21 September 2015 in Connolly Books, Dublin.

Media interviews can be arranged through Cuba Support Group Ireland 087 2360234