R.I.P.
"Cuba announces it will lay off at least 500,000 state workers; Government to ease limits on private sector; Castro wants role of state reduced" by Will Weissert, Associated Press | September 14, 2010
HAVANA — Cuba announced yesterday that it will lay off at least half a million state workers by early next year and reduce restrictions on private enterprise to help them find new jobs, the most dramatic step yet in President Raul Castro’s push to radically remake employment on the communist-run island....
The state employs 95 percent of the official workforce. Unemployment last year was 1.7 percent and hasn’t risen above 3 percent in eight years, but that ignores thousands of Cubans who aren’t looking for jobs because wages are so low.
The labor overhaul comes less than a week after Fidel Castro caused a stir when he was quoted by Jeffrey Goldberg, an American magazine writer, as saying Cuba’s communist economy no longer works.
Related: Two Castros Are Better Than One
The former leader later said that although he was not misquoted, his words were misinterpreted, and that he meant to say capitalist reforms could never work in Cuba.
Goldberg said yesterday he was surprised by Fidel Castro’s claim, since he has made similar statements before. He said economic reforms such as the one announced yesterday prove the Cuban government realizes the need for change....Castro has long complained that Cubans expect too much from the government, which pays average monthly salaries of just $20 but provides free education and health care and heavily subsidizes housing, transportation, and basic food.
Yeah, how DARE THEY TAKE CARE of their PEOPLE!!??
And if THAT POOR COUNTRY can cobble together a top-notch health care system why can't you, AmeriKa?
Because unemployment is anathema in a communist society, state businesses have been forced to carry many people who do almost nothing....
Oh, like state government!
I read that statement and I wonder how AmeriKa really differs at this point -- other than the unemployment thing over which our leaders have failed.
Workers caught off guard by the announcement said they worried whether the tiny private sector could support so many new jobs, a sentiment echoed by some analysts....
Layoffs will start immediately and continue through April 2011, according to a statement from the nearly 3-million-member Cuban Workers Confederation, which is affiliated with the Communist Party and the only labor union allowed by the government. Eventually the state will employ people only in “indispensable’’ areas such as farming, construction, industry, law enforcement, and education.
To soften the blow, the statement, which appeared in state newspapers and was read on television and radio, said the government would increase private-sector job opportunities, including allowing more Cubans to become self-employed.
Doing what?
People also will be able to form cooperatives run by employees rather than government administrators, and increasingly lease state land, businesses, and infrastructure.
The announcement was short on details of how such a major shift could be achieved, but its intent appeared to deal a blow to the decades-old social safety net upon which the island’s egalitarian society is built....
It was a nice dream and maybe it could have been a paradise had it not been for 50 years of U.S. assault on the place.
Even before the announcement, interviews with scores of workers in several government sectors showed layoffs are already underway, with many complaining the state is not doing enough to find them new jobs....
Does that ever sound familiar or what, Americans?
Some Cubans also said they support the changes, hoping that even a small dose of private enterprise will go a long way in a country where state mismanagement has led to frequent shortages of everything from potatoes to toothpaste....
Isn't it time to lift the sanctions?
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They even have ideas on how we can help:
"Cuba suggests 19 ways for easing US embargo; Nation’s criticism more conciliatory than in past years" by Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press | September 17, 2010
HAVANA — Cuba is offering a series of small but specific steps the administration of President Obama can take to soften the United States’ 48-year-old trade embargo, including expanding flights and establishing ferry service between both countries and dropping bank bans that keep US credit cards from working on the island.
Then he can't do 'em. Not if the Cubans say he should.
The 19 suggestions are a new and perhaps conciliatory addition to the communist government’s annual report criticizing Washington’s trade sanctions. Cuba produces the report every year ahead of an annual United Nations vote in which the world overwhelmingly condemns the embargo.
I'm still waiting for their throats on Palestine -- governments, not people.
The 56-page report acknowledges that Obama cannot scrap the full embargo without approval from Congress, but uses pages 4 through 7 to discuss steps his administration can take unilaterally.
The political howls are not worth it.
Among them are doing away with rules that prohibit Cuban-Americans and other authorized US visitors from carrying home Cuban gifts — such as the island’s famous rum and cigars — and dropping restrictions that limit such travelers from spending more than $179 per day on lodging, food, and transportation.
These sanctions are silly.
Also included is a suggestion that Obama increase “people-to-people’’ exchanges with Cuba, expanding opportunities for American students, educators, and researchers.
Doing so would ease travel restrictions back to levels prior to the administration of George W. Bush, and officials in the Obama White House have said for weeks they expect an announcement expanding “people-to-people’’ travel to come soon.
It's been five days so far.
Cuba’s suggestions are specific enough to suggest the island’s communist government may be adopting a more conciliatory tone in its criticism of US policy.
Whether the list will lead to anything concrete was unclear, however. US officials are likely to ignore it, especially because island leaders routinely bristle at any suggestions about economic or policy changes on the island that may come from Washington....
That last bit is so junior high!
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