Blending economics, development, and human rights: A profile of Carlos Diaz-Alejandro Motivated by a desire to improve the lives of those in his native country, Cuba, the economist became come one of the youngest full professors at Yale, an expert on Latin American economics, and an advocate for U.S.-Cuba relations. The legacy of Carlos Diaz-Alejandro – at Yale and in Latin American scholarship By Lisa Qian March 29, 2021 One of Yale’s most influential and prominent economics professors never intended to become an academic. For Carlos Diaz-Alejandro, a native Cuban, the goal in pursuing graduate study in economics at MIT was to “improve the general standard of living in my country Cuba.” However, just as he was finishing his dissertation, the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and consequent suspension of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations threw a wrench in his plans to return to Cuba. A friend described his choice to stay in the U.S. and become an academic as the “most difficult decision of his life.”