| Cuba's New Mantra: Viva Private Business
Two self-employed florists prepare bunches of flowers in Havana last year. Chavez offers the island with two-thirds of its oil on favorable terms, as well as more than $5 billion a year in exchange for the Cuban doctors and other professionals working in Venezuela. The new approach was evident in this year's May Day parade in Havana, which was a little different from the Soviet-style processions of the past. Between the drumming and the dancing girls writhing around on floats in tightfitting tops, it was hard to hear Cuban officials exhorting workers to greater efficiency and more discipline. Despite Changes, More Openness Needed Still, the possibility is putting pressure on Raul Castro to broaden the reforms. Now, with Chavez so ill he has prayed on national television for Jesus to spare his life, Cuban economist Pavel Vidal says it's clear the economic reforms must move faster. A Havana car wash is one example of Cuban entrepreneurs learning to diversify beyond selling snacks or renting rooms to tourists. Hildelisa Cespedes says her family is waiting to see if local officials will let them rent out a rundown garage around the corner that is owned by the state, the sort of arrangement Cuban authorities say they're still studying. Venezuelan Lifeline In Jeopardy? As Cubans marched and chanted "Long live the revolution," the island's biggest financial backer, Venezuela's Chavez, was in a Havana hospital for another round of cancer treatments. "If we had a bigger place, we may have more customers and hire more workers," Cespedes says. The state workers, duty-bound to attend the parade, were making the most of it, even if there wasn't a lot to celebrate. Vidal and others say the damage to Cuba's economy wouldn't be as severe as the sudden demise of the Soviet Union a generation ago. But that is changing fast. Cuba's uncertain economic outlook may find a brand new lifeline even if Venezuelan support dries up. "This is a whole new way to create jobs for our country," said Enciso, who runs a snack bar, a clothing shop and another business selling religious items. Still, there was a growing contingent of new Cuban workers on the march this year: self-employed entrepreneurs and private business owners like Lazaro Enciso. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (right) speaks with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, during a military parade earlier this year in Caracas, Venezuela. "Cuba's economy is small, and from a political-economic standpoint, it's closed, with a high degree of dependency on access to hard currency for growth," says Vidal. Those plans signal a new urgency to Cuban President Raul Castro's economic reforms, and one reason is that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the island's biggest benefactor, is battling cancer and facing re-election in October. |
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Cuba's New Mantra: Viva Private Business
