Buena Vista Solidarity and the Axis of Aid: Cuban and Venezuelan Public Diplomacy

Abstract

Eager to capitalize on the sensationalist appeal of a new anti-U.S. “axis,” the international press often perpetuates a perception that Cuba and Venezuela are, in spirit and in deed, inseparable. Such depictions diminish the significant differences in the ways and the success with which each country promotes its image abroad. Although Cuba and Venezuela employ many of the same public diplomacy tactics to advance their related anti-U.S. worldviews, the Cuban regime has proven much more successful at playing the role of the victim and using this position as a way to increase its international legitimacy. Likewise, Cuba is far more sophisticated at employing cultural products to support diverse political, diplomatic, and economic ends—many of which arguably serve a market-oriented purpose rather than a strictly anti-imperialist or antiglobalization agenda.