Jose Azel Ph.D. left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan-the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security. He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.

Azel is author of Mañana in Cuba: The Legacy of Castroism and Transitional Challenges for Cuba, published in March 2010 and of Pedazos y vacios, a collection of poems he wrote as a young exile in the 1960s.

Azel was one of the founders of Pediatrix Medical Group, the nation’s leading provider of physician specialty services and served as its first Chief Financial Officer. He co-founded and serves as Board Chairman of Children’s Center for Development and Behavior, an organization dedicated to providing therapies for children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Dr. Azel was an Adjunct Professor of International Business at the School of Business Administration, Department of Management, University of Miami and former Senior Researcher at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.

He holds undergraduate and Masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. Azel has a comprehensive general management background integrating broad functional experience in corporate governance, organizational development and finance.

He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba’s economic, social, and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. He publishes extensively on diverse topics, including Cuba, political philosophy and economic theories for various digital platforms.