Cuba stays communist with or without Castro: minister
By Tony Boadle Tue Sep 12, 6:55 PM ET
HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist Cuba will not follow China and open up to
private businesses even if Cuban leader
Fidel Castro is too ill to lead the nation again, Economy Minister Jose
Luis Rodriguez said on Tuesday.
"In the hypothetical case that Comandante Fidel remains ill, would there
be a change in Cuban policy toward a market opening? I can categorically
say that is not foreseen, the Cuban people do not want that," the
minister told reporters during a Non-Aligned Movement summit of
developing nations.
"The U.S. government thinks differently, with its plan for a transition
for the Cuban economy, but they would have to come here first to try
that," he said.
Castro, 80, handed over the presidency temporarily to his younger
brother Raul Castro on July 31 after emergency intestinal surgery for an
undisclosed illness.
Many Cubans are looking for economic reform if not political change
under a successor government headed by Raul Castro, who is see as
favoring the Chinese path of freeing up private enterprise under
Communist Party control.
The U.S. government, Cuba's arch-enemy, has been seeking to undermine
the island's one-party state for decades with sanctions. Two years ago,
the Bush administration drew up a plan for a post-Castro transition to
capitalism.
But Rodriguez said Cuba will continue with predominant state control of
the economy and ownership of property. "That is the model we have
chosen," he said.
Castro opened up to limited private initiative in the services sector,
mainly taxis and family restaurants, in 1993 during the deep crisis Cuba
was flung into after the loss of billions of dollars in subsidies when
Soviet communism collapsed.
But hundreds of small enterprises have been run out of business by high
taxes and government regulations.
Cuba's economy has recovered in recent years with the help of oil
supplies provided by Venezuela on preferential terms and soft loans from
China.
Castro began to roll-back the limited economic opening of the 1990s
three years ago, cutting licenses for services that private individuals
can provide, including clowns and masseurs.
Only Change Can Save Cuba ... If one believes he is still alive, January 1st marked the 49th anniversary of the uninterrupted, uncontested, tyrannical rule of Fidel Castro.... During his tenure as Maximum Leader, Cuba has become an economic sinkhole. ... They doled out billions of dollars annually in hard currency to supplement Fidel's command economy totaling 35% of Cuba's annual GDP. ... It is these elitist communists who make up the bulk of Castro's apologists and they perpetuate the misconception, however ridiculous, that the embargo is the root cause of Castro's monumental failures. ... (soc.culture.cuba)
Castros image to endure, but his policies? Unlikely. ... Even from his sickbed - or what delirious crowds in Miami on July 31 had believed was his deathbed - Fidel Castro was obsessed with how history would judge him. ... With his bushy beard and his booming anti-American rhetoric, Castro, who turns 80 on Sunday, will linger in the Cuban imagination far into the future as a double image - one, the romantic revolutionary of 1958, promising Cuba equality, prosperity and independence; the other, the prisoner of a half-century of confrontation with the United States that kept Cuba from evolving in a way that could deliver on the promises. ... many experts say that any successor loyal to the Castro revolution may have to chip away at his legacy in order to save it. ... But counting on such friends for the long term, rather than reforming Cuba's economy and entering the global markets for trade and capital, seems a risky bet at best. ... (soc.culture.cuba)
Cubas latest lifeline ... Now, as crude prices soar, analysts say the preferential treatment Cuba... only keeping the Cuban economy afloat,...Venezuelan crude sent to Cuba is more than twice that amount. ... As part of the trade agreement Castro and Chávez have negotiated, ... (soc.culture.cuba)
Cuba Perks Up as Venezuelan Foils Embargo ...Cuba Perks Up as Venezuelan Foils Embargo ... The credit goes, in large part, to the economic lifeline thrown to Cuba by the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, who is using his country's tremendous oil reserves to prop up the Castro government and counter Bush administration policy in Latin America. ... To the exasperation of American officials, long determined to force a change of government by choking off the Cuban economy with an embargo, Venezuela's patronage may take some pressure off Raúl Castro at what is otherwise a time of great uncertainty. ... A report issued last month for President Bush said, "The current regime in Havana is working with like-minded governments, particularly Venezuela, to build a network of political and financial support designed to forestall any external pressure to change." ... (soc.culture.cuba)
Castro Touts Rosy Economic Outlook in Cuba ...Castro Touts Rosy Economic Outlook in Cuba... HAVANA - President Fidel Castro said on Monday that Cuba's economy grew at a rate of more than 12.5 percent in the past month, crediting the country's resilience in the face of the U.S. government's long-standing trade embargo. ... A Pentagon spokesman and other military officials have denied the claims by 61-year-old Robert Ferro, who had stashed 1,571 firearms and some hand grenades in hidden rooms and compartments at his home in Upland, Calif. ... (soc.culture.cuba)
