Our position: New policies in Cuba are finally starting to amount to something significant
This
editorial appeared in the April 17 edition of the Orlando Sentinel.
There
is a tale of two Castros going on in Cuba. Fidel, the old boss, was
bombastic, full of fire. Raul, the new one, is low-key and
pragmatic.
It’s obvious which Castro has the strongest
influence in Cuba now. It is Raul’s country, and he will run it as he
sees fit.
By slowly rolling out a series of reforms over the
past few weeks, Raul has made it clear that incremental capitalism is
welcome in Cuba. At first blush, some of the changes didn’t seem to
matter much. Offering the opportunity to buy a CD player and other
products comes off as a symbolic slap in the face to the average
Cuban worker who makes 19 bucks a month.
But now, Mr. Castro
is providing the means to attain such goods. Putting uncultivated
state-controlled land in the hands of private farmers will allow them
to plant cash crops such as coffee and tobacco. State workers will
have opportunities to own their homes and pass them on to their
children. Ceilings on wages have been removed, rewarding workers for
productivity instead of trying to promote economic equality.
More
changes are anticipated.
So what does this mean? Life becomes
better for Cubans as the country moves to a free-market system
similar to what has happened in China and Vietnam. Mr. Castro isn’t
about to let loose on a one-party Communist political system, but
those economic reforms hadn’t been possible for nearly 50 years under
Fidel’s reign.
Cubans are still under the Castro thumb, but
Raul offers a looser grip. Cuba can feel the difference.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed17208apr17,0,7306836,print.story
