Cabinet official assesses Cuban economy

Cabinet official assesses Cuban economy
By WILL WEISSERT | The Associated Press
October 1, 2007

HAVANA - Cuba needs to produce higher-quality goods more efficiently,
cut graft and reduce reliance on gasoline, a major economic leader said
in remarks published Sunday.

Vice President Carlos Lage delivered a frank assessment of his country's
economic future during a closed-door speech Saturday that was later
reported in state media, saying the communist government has become
accustomed to producing shoddy merchandise and undertaking unsustainable
economic initiatives.

"We live in the conditions of a country facing economic war," Lage told
the leadership of Cuba's central workers union, though he added that
Cuba is "a country that is strong and has the conditions and
possibilities to move forward."

Lage heads Cuba's Cabinet and exercises wide control over administration
and economic policy in the provisional government running Cuba since
Fidel Castro stepped aside due to illness in July 2006.

Lage said Cuba needs to slash the amount of oil it uses and must improve
production of goods that meet basic needs for its population instead of
poor-quality consumer goods.

"The need to produce quality and, moreover, to do it saving energy, has
to be incorporated in the economic culture of every worker," he said.

Lage said Cuba needs labor leaders and administrators who can solve
problems — including rampant employee theft of state materials — instead
of just parroting empty statistics.

"We should not do anything we know we aren't capable of sustaining,"
Lage said, possibly a veiled allusion to the sort of periodic economic
crusades that Castro summoned during his 47 years in power.

Cuba says it is under siege by Washington's 45-year-old embargo, but its
economy has been relatively strong of late, thanks to oil sold at
favorable prices by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as credits
from China.

Castro, 81, has not been seen in public since announcing he had
undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was ceding power to his
younger brother, Raul.

Lage, who turns 56 next month, has been mentioned as a future president
by some foreign analysts.

Both he and Raul Castro have played key roles in reforming Cuba's
economy, encouraging foreign investment and tourism while allowing some
private business to stave off collapse after the Soviet Bloc disbanded
and billions of dollars in subsidies to the island suddenly dried up.

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