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New
leader keeps Cuban life on track
Yahoo!
News. By Will Weissert, Associated Press
Writer, June 2, 2007.
HAVANA - If Fidel Castro is larger than
life, his brother seems almost smaller than
it.
Dour, short and stiff in public, Raul Castro
can't match the charisma of the far-more-famous
Fidel - but he hasn't had to.
Cuba has been little-changed since the
mustached army general, who turns 76 on
Sunday, took control of a provisional government
after intestinal surgery forced his older
brother to step down last July.
Raul has announced no sweeping policy initiatives,
and has given few major speeches, but he
has also kept the communist system running
- avoiding the outright collapse many Castro-detractors
predicted for decades.
"The conventional wisdom is that under
Raul there will be less government by charisma
and more government by procedure and protocol,"
said Louis Perez, a history professor at
the University of North Carolina and author
of numerous books on Cuba. "Raul appears
to shy away from the microphone and cameras,
to prefer to work with (and) through staff."
Whereas Fidel gave hours-long speeches
and turned up in public constantly, Raul
has remained largely unseen, pledging to
share power and listen to criticism.
"The first principle in constructing
any armed forces is the sole command. But
that doesn't mean that we cannot discuss,"
he said in December.
Jose Ramon Fernandez, a vice president
who helped command defending forces against
U.S.-backed exile invaders at the Bay of
Pigs in 1961, wrote a glowing tribute republished
in the Communist Party newspaper Granma
last year.
"Modest but at the same time firm,
Raul teaches the importance of collective
elaboration of ideas," Fernandez wrote.
"Raul is systematic in his work style
and leadership."
Pedro, a security guard in Old Havana,
said Cubans don't need to see Raul every
day to know he is in charge.
"He was no. 2 for so long preparing.
He was ready," said Pedro, who did
not want to give his full name. He later
added that many Cubans are worried about
what might happen if Fidel's health takes
a turn for the worse.
"Fidel is there supporting him,"
Pedro said of Raul. "Someday he won't
be."
If Raul is worried about what might happen,
it does not show. He has suggested, however,
that the system - rather than one leader
- will lead Cuba in the long-term.
"Only the Communist Party, an institution
encompassing the vanguard of the revolution
and safely guaranteeing the unity of all
Cubans at all times, can be the dignified
successor," he said in a speech mere
weeks before Fidel fell ill.
Fidel Castro has not been seen in public
in 10 months and his condition and exact
ailment remain state secrets. He has released
a series of signed essays in recent weeks
and seems in no hurry to resume presidential
duties.
On Saturday, Cuban state television reported
that Fidel Castro met with visiting Vietnamese
Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh. The
station did not broadcast images of the
meeting.
Raul is viewed as likely to embrace limited
free enterprise. In the past, he has expressed
interest in China's model of capitalist
reform with one-party political control.
Many Cubans hope Raul will eventually usher
in modest economic reforms, especially the
easing of restrictions on owning private
businesses. But so far, there's no sign
of that happening anytime soon.
Instead, the new government has simply
spoken more frankly about problems.
In April, Vice President and Cabinet Secretary
Carlos Lage said Cuba's biggest challenge
will be winning over a new generation curious
about "the siren song" of capitalism
and the creature comforts it affords. But
he provided few details on how the government
will pull it off.
Labor Minister Alfredo Morales said recently
that state enterprises were reviewing their
pay scales in an attempt to implement performance-based
compensation and ensure that jobs provide
a living wage - though he did not say how
long that would take.
Few Cubans pay rent, food is heavily subsidized
and health care and education are free.
But the average minimum government salary
is only a bit more than $12 a month.
Raul has lambasted the country's dilapidated
public transportation system, but has done
little to make improvements, and a law that
went into effect in April penalizes state
employees who show up late for work, despite
hardships in getting there.
Then there was a celebrated academic council
charged with studying state-ownership and
private property within the socialist system.
Instead of reaching any conclusions, however,
the commission is expected to prepare a
report years from now.
Brian Latell, a former top Cuba analyst
at the CIA, said the provisional government
has put off its economic reforms while Fidel
recuperates.
"As long as Fidel is on the scene,
however impaired, however reduced politically,
the successors, Raul and the others, are
inhibited in how far they can go in seeming
to abandon or repudiate any of the policies
that he's been associated with," said
Latell, author of the book "After Fidel."
Latell said the provisional government
has been "raising exceptions and hitting
down hard at the same time," cracking
down on government critics.
Dissidents report an upsurge in their number
of detentions recently, but say that many
of those arrested have been released within
a few hours. The provisional government
has also freed a number of inmates considered
by international human rights groups as
"prisoners of conscience," though
most had completed their sentences or were
close to doing so.
"Raul is getting closer and closer
to a crossroads. He's going to have to start
making tough decisions," Latell said.
"I don't think he can play indefinitely
this game which is raising popular expectations
while maintaining a very hard line."
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