Posted on 02/01/2018 6:05:13 AM PST by Brilliant
Two years after taking office, President Raul Castro widened the niche for private enterprise in Cuba's state-dominated economy. Capitalism came pouring in.
Slowly at first, then gaining speed, spare rooms for rent became rental homes, which became boutique hotels. Backyard cafes became elegant restaurants and bustling nightclubs, backed with millions in capital from the prosperous Cuban diaspora in Miami, Latin America and Spain. English tutors started citywide private after-school programs. And the booming private economy reached into the Communist-led bureaucracy - paying off inspectors, buying stolen state goods and recruiting talented employees with salaries dwarfing those in the public sector.
Eight years later, on the verge of leaving office, Castro has thrown the brakes on private enterprise in Cuba again, warning of the rapid pace of change and criminal activity. The decision has raised fundamental questions about the nation's economic path.
The Cuban government proclaimed in August that it was putting a temporary halt on new licenses for bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants and other businesses until it could issue new regulations to control illegality. Entrepreneurs whispered about new regulations coming in a month, maybe two. But summer stretched into fall, fall into the new year, and six months later, Cuba's private economy remains frozen.
The state-run economy responsible for 70 percent to 80 percent of GDP is stagnant...
The freeze has led to a slowdown in private investment in Cuba at a time of economic fragility and uncertainty. The flow of subsidized oil from Venezuela is dropping as its economy collapses. In 2016 Cuba had its first recession in 20 years and growth last year was 1.6 percent, meaning the economy has remained essentially flat for two years...
(Excerpt) Read more at customwire.ap.org ...
The problem they've got is that they've already opened Pandora's Box. It's not so easy to close it, they will find. The Cuban people are getting tired of this, and it's just a matter of time before they take control, I think.
Castro is in his 80s. It's not clear who his successor will be. In a dictatorship, succession is a problem. There will no doubt be a power struggle. Better to have that power struggle just at the same time they are dealing with the question of whether they will be capitalist or socialist. I suspect that Castro just realized the confluence of those issues with his succession makes the succession question much more difficult. He had previously planned to retire this year. I don't know if that's going to happen, given that he's just made this momentous decision.
I’m sure there is some Cuban bus driver, somewhere, ready and willing to assume power and continue the wonderful Castro ‘revolution.’
Wait, what? They were driving cars made in the 50's and 60's. If they had any kind of prosperity in 1996, they wouldn't have been so bad off.
Don Raul wasn’t getting a big enough share of the payola so he clamped down until the numbers can be rejiggered.
Castro: “All your property r belong to me.”
Capitalism will not be an improvement, unless there is a spiritual conversion to the living God. More money in a corrupt culture means more capacity for trouble.
I agree. Cuba has had a stagnant economy for almost 60 years.
Wait for the Venezuela oil collapse. Cuba is screwed.
I’ll wait for dan rather’s report on the glowing economy in Cuber.
Sean Penn would be perfect for the job.
That sounds wonderful!
Too bad our lovely and corrupt Demonrats can’t do the same.
That would be paradise.
its all about control. Every communist learned a lesson from Russia’s collapse - and China’s rise.
go slowly with reform to ensure the party remains in control of everything.
In spite of the atheist government, the house church movement in Cuba is undergoing tremendous growth.
That’s his plan, I’m sure. But he obviously now realizes that this capitalism thing is something he can’t easily control. That’s why I said in my post that I favor some resumption of relations with Cuba. He may try to control it, but ultimately, it will control him.
Substitute The Art of the Deal.
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