Yakkin’ With Castro
Is there hope in Cuba?
Cuba’s acting president Raul Castro asserted his leadership on Thursday a year after his ailing brother Fidel handed over power, by promising economic reforms and offering talks with the United States once the Bush administration is gone.
He said in a speech that Washington had kept up efforts to undermine Cuba since Fidel Castro was sidelined by life-threatening surgery last July. He expressed hope that the next U.S. administration would dump a failed policy.
“If the next U.S. government puts arrogance aside and decides to talk in a civilized fashion, that is welcome. If not, we are prepared to continue facing their hostile policy for another 50 years,” he said during a Revolution Day holiday speech.
So, what kind of reforms?
He said salaries were too low—a major complaint by Cubans—and called for critical and constructive debate to rid Cuba’s 90-percent state-owned economy of bureaucratic inefficiencies.
“Pay is clearly insufficient to cover people’s needs,” he said.
I’m astounded that in a country of 90% inefficient state-owned bureaucracies, where people can’t make enough to live, that they’re able to provide such world-class medical care for free to everyone. Perhaps once Bush is gone, and talks begin with Cuba, the secrets of their economic miracle will be made available to lesser nations like us.
Comments
"Sure, we’d be really happy to cooperate with the US. Just so long as that cooperation consists of them giving us everything we want and us having to give nothing. We’re pretty sure the Democrats are the ones to give that to us.”
RSS (Subscribe)
I was thinking the same. Maybe Cuba just gives everything back to the People in form of free, world-class healthcare?
I cant wait to get another tour of the island paradise courtesy of Michael Moore. Just imagine Windows OS being re-written by Cubans - no more viruses. And free.