Researchers from FIU and Vanderbilt will present preliminary findings from the AmericasBarometer's special report on Cuba, carried out in Cuba during July and August 2026. The results offer a unique window into the attitudes, concerns, and views on democracy, as well as perceptions of current social, economic, and political conditions among a significant segment of the Cuban population.
Additionally, FIU’s Security Research Hub will release the first visual dashboards mapping protests, repression, and key infrastructure across the island such as ports, hospitals, transportation nodes and internet penetration.
FIU’s Security Research Hub
The Security Research Hub at FIU is led by the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, harnessing publicly available information to promote shared understanding about Latin American and Caribbean security issues. Created in partnership with U.S. Southern Command, the SRH focuses on a wide range of topics such as Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUUx) activities, foreign investment, and transnational crime.
ABOUT FIU’S CUBA DESK AND TRANSITION INITIATIVEÂ
Based in the heart of Miami, Florida International University serves as the premier academic hub for scholarship and research focused on Cuba. The Cuba Desk series is an extension of the university's collaboration across sectors and seeks to convene consequential voices and decision makers in Washington and elsewhere for timely programs relating to the potential for transition in Cuba. The university recently launched a transition initiative to harness the talents across the university to support any US Government Initiatives by leveraging its research strengths in humanitarian support, infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, population health, human capital needs and so much more. Â
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This year, the university also broke ground on CasaCuba at the Benjamin Leon Jr. Building — a first-of-its-kind cultural, academic and convening center on its main campus in Miami which is envisioned to be an active, collaborative hub for these activities. FIU is ranked  a Top 50 Public University by US News and World Report and FIU in Washington, D.C. showcases the impact of FIU research; provides students with engaged academic experiences and internships; and convenes national partners for meaningful conversations across a broad range of issues as it brings the magic of Miami to the nation’s capital.Â
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The university is honored to host the largest concentration of Cuban-American students, faculty and also courses focused on the Island. The university recently launched a transition initiative to harness the talents across the university to support any US Government Initiatives focused on a Democratic transition in Cuba.
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