Cuba, Central African Republic, Iran, Myanmar Extractive Performance

Symbolism

Regulation and Transparency

Distributive Performance

Political Recruitment

Cuba

Caribbean nation, was a Spanish colony for centuries until the Treaty of Paris in 1898. United States military occupied for more than 3 years thereafter

Capital – Havana

Climate - Tropical with trade winds; wet season May to October and dry season November to April

Area 110,860 sq km

World rank in area:107

Pop. 11,147,407

world rank 80

Government: Communist State

UN, UNESCO, WHO,WTO

Heavily dependent on the services industry, currently about 75% of the economy. 21.5% of GDP is in the industrial sector and 3.9% in agriculture. GDP in purchasing power parity is $132.9 billion and climbing, ranked 80 in the world.

Flag : The triangle symbolizes the three components of liberty, equality, fraternity.

The three blue bands are divisions on the island (central, east, west).

The white bands symbolize the purity of independence.

The white star in the red triangle is La Estrella Solitaria (the Lone Star), a direct reference to Texas (CIA World Factbook).

Tree: royal palm

Song: "La Bayamesa"

Not Free, Civil Liberties score 6/7, Political Rights 7/7.

CPI Score 47/100

CPI Rank 62/180

An outlier in terms of not having FDI, and not being a member of the World Bank, Cuba has had restrictive regulatory environments that have only begun to show signs of unraveling (Feinberg, 2012). United States sanctions highly detrimental. Growing private sector. Weak transparency for government monopolies.

Per capita GDP is stagnant at $11,900 (2016 est.), ranked 131 in the world.

Dependency ratio 43.3

Life expectancy 78.8, ranked 57 in the world

Health expenditures ranked 12th in the world at 11.1% of GDP.

Literacy--Male 99.9%, Female 99.8%

110.7 births/1,000 population (rank 184 in the world)

8.7 deaths/1,000 population (rank 74 in the world)

Human rights problems included arbitrary detentions,...

No religious freedom or academic freedom. No freedom of assembly.
Political Rights 1/40

One party system, but citizens vote for national assembly.

Corruption and inefficiencies in government.

15 provinces

Office holders are all PCC party members.

No ethnic/geographic/religious divisionsn but Castro family dominates upper eschelon of politics

Central African Republic

Landlocked in central Africa north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Area: 622,984 sq km

(rank 46 in world)

Borders Cameroon, Chad, DRC, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan.

Former French colony.

Independence in 1960.

Series of corrupt military governments.

Capital – Bangui

Government: Presidential Republic

Climate – Tropical with dry winter and wet summer.

Pop. 5,625,118

world rank 115

Memberships: IMF, UN, WHO, WTO

GDP purchasing power parity: $3.395 billion (ranked 185 in world)

Per capita GDP $700

Lucrative mining industries (gold and diamonds)

Exports: $118.5 million total, mainly coffee, timber, cotton, diamonds.

Flag: Combines French colors (red, white, blue) with pan-African flag colors (green, red, yellow). Red is blood spilled for independence, blue is freedom, white is peace and dignity, green is hope and faith, yellow is tolerance. The star is future aspirations (CIA World Factbook)

National symbol is elephant.

Song: "Le Renaissance"

Not Free, Civil Liberties

Score 7/7

Freedom 7/7

Political Rights 7/7

CPI Score 23/100

Lawlessness throughout, especially in rural areas.

Government controls diamond trade..

Instability, frequent coups.

14 prefectures.

$323-$700 per capita GDP.

Life expectancy 52.8 years (rank 217 in world)

Literacy—Total population 36.8%

Male 50.7%,

Female 24.4%

34.3 births/1,000 population

13.2 deaths/1,000 population

Serious human rights problems. Poverty. Poor…