Solidarity, Counter-Hegemony, and Development: Exploring New Dimensions of Cuba's Sport-Based Internationalism

Abstract

Cuban internationalism has been recognized as a unique foreign policy approach that merges “soft power” with comprehensive development. While much has been written about the country's programs of cooperation, outreach, and solidarity, notably within the health sector, little has been mentioned to date about the extensive cooperation Cuba seeks with other nations in the global South through sport and physical education. This is a significant gap given the recent attention paid to sport within international development. In this article we explore Cuba's sport-based internationalism by illustrating how EI Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educación Física y Recreación (INDER) employs hundreds of Cuban personnel to engage in sport programs in three unique streams. First, Cuban sport professionals work alongside other Cuban health and social workers in marginalized communities throughout the global South; second, INDER trains hundreds of students from other parts of the global South as coaches and physical trainers; and third, elite Cuban athletes fulfill for-profit coaching contracts with elite sport teams in the global North. We argue that Cuba's international sport programs are representative of a commitment to sport that is grounded in national discourses of both universal participation and international solidarity; as such, Cuban sport policy should be further recognized as a notable process within the burgeoning Sport for Development and Peace sector.