Cuba's Continued Crisis
05 May 2008
Is change finally coming to Cuba?
One might think so from this year's May Day rally in Havana, presided
over by Raul Castro, not Fidel. Reforms were announced to reduce central
planning in the island nation's farm sector, and gone were the former
strongman's fiery -- and windy -- speeches that once kept the ceremonies
going most of the day. This year the celebration was over in a
business-like two hours.
Since taking over for his ailing brother in February, Raul Castro has
made other changes too. He formally ended government restrictions on
Cubans having cellular telephones and other consumer electronics, and
staying in hotels once reserved for foreign tourists. But many Cubans
already had these things through the black market, and for a vast number
of others they remain out of reach. Wages for the average Cuban remain
pitifully small, under twenty dollars per month, thanks to the
government's continued tight control of the larger economy.
The recent changes, and others hinted to be coming soon such as inviting
more foreign investment and allowing Cubans to freely travel abroad,
fall far short of the fundamental reforms needed to bring Cuba into the
21st century. And Raul Castro has shown no sign of loosening the
political grip that his older brother and the repressive system he built
have held on the island nation for fifty years.
True change will begin when Mr. Castro's government releases the over
two-hundred political prisoners now held in Cuban jails, and when it
stops harassing those who demonstrate their sup****t for such men and
women. It also requires that Raul Castro start a process that leads to
free speech, free access to media, as well as free and fair elections
that allow Cubans to choose their own president, not see the office
handed down like a family heirloom.
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2008-05-06-voa2.cfm
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