Raúl Eduardo Chao received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and, after a brief stint in the industry, he spent 18 years in the academic world as a tenured professor and Director of the Departments of Chemical Engineering at the Universities of Puerto Rico and Detroit. In 1986, he founded a consulting company focused on helping companies and government agencies simultaneously improve the productivity as well as quality of their services. As President of Systema, Chao has written a dozen books on management, science and history of Cuba along with publishing numerous articles in newspapers and magazines. He and his wife Olga live in Lakeland, Florida and spend long periods of time in Paris.

CUBA IN 1959: Little by little, the Cuban Revolution discarded the pretense of participatory democracy and began to show its Marxist roots more clearly and openly. The executions were extended; the confiscations increased until all the private property on the island was finished; all private schools closed; Religious expressions were confined exclusively within the churches and temples. To leave or enter the island, including those born in it, a government permit was necessary. The possession of foreign currency and the circulation of another currency that was not a new revolutionary currency without exchangeable value outside of Cuba was declared illegal.