Hopes tempered as Cubans wait for post-Fidel changes

Hopes tempered as Cubans wait for post-Fidel changes
Filed under: HAVANA , ANITA SNOW , Cuba Change on Hold
Mar 24, 2008 5:33 AM (8 hrs ago) By ANITA SNOW, AP

HAVANA (Map, News) - Cubans expecting their new president to transform
their strained lives are tempering their hopes as they gradually accept
him at his word: Small improvements will come with time, but nothing
will happen overnight.

Hopes for at least modest economic reforms sprang up 20 months ago when
Raul Castro took over provisionally from his ailing older brother,
Fidel. When he became president last month, the hopes blossomed.

But beginning with his Feb. 24 inauguration speech, Castro has tried to
lower expectations. While promising generally to eliminate an "excess of
prohibitions and regulations," he said any change would be slow and
require hard work by all Cubans.

Since then, there have been no overt changes in the state-controlled
economy, and many Cubans are coming around to the idea that - once again .

"Raul says we have to work hard, and we have to work well," said
Orestes, a retired military man. He smiled, but politely refused to
answer, when asked for his last name; ordinarily chatty Cubans often
clam up around foreign reporters, worried they could get into trouble.

Privately, many Cubans express hopes that the near-worthless pesos they
get on their government paychecks will increase in value, that their
pensions and salaries will increase, that they will be allowed to travel
abroad without government permission.

Although few could afford the luxury, many also talk about getting
unlimited Internet access, and regaining access to hotels now restricted
to foreigners.

Life over the past year has been a string of disappointments.

International news reports said microwave ovens and DVD players would
soon be in stores, but none have materialized. Rumors that ordinary
Cubans would be allowed to buy cell phone service have proven unfounded.
There was speculation that people would be allowed to buy homes and
cars. They still can't.

One concrete improvement is public transport. Thousands of new
Chinese-made buses ordered on Fidel Castro's watch are finally plying
new routes, eliminating commuter bottlenecks.

"Transportation is a marvel!" exclaimed Niola Prieto, a flower vendor at
the farmers' market, pointing to a huge red bus rumbling by with more
than 100 passengers. "Hopefully Raul can do the same with the food
situation."

The new president has made food a priority, taking steps to increase
farm production. He has also acknowledged the need to improve salaries
and resolve a dual-currency system that severely limits Cubans' buying
power.

The question is, how long will they wait? Older Cubans are used to
waiting hours for a bus, months for their children's school uniforms, or
years for telephone installation in their home. Younger Cubans, eager
for computers and iPods, may be less patient.

"Raul and his government, like the Comandante before them, act as if
time were on their side," Marifeli Perez-Stable, vice president at the
Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, told a U.S. House of
Representatives foreign affairs subcommittee on March 5. "Will the
one-step-at-a-time pace be enough to satisfy the citizenry?"

Perez-Stable said Cuban leaders fear what happened to Soviet leaders who
lost control of quickening change.

But so far, Havana shows no signs of widespread restlessness.

The last spell of profound, generalized discontent in the capital was
felt during hours-long power cuts in the heat of summer, 2005. A
scattering of public protests and anti-Fidel graffiti had authorities
worried, but a renovation of the electrical grid ended the blackouts.

Hal Klepak, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada who
studies Raul Castro, said the government should be able to maintain
political control by making minor economic improvements at a measured pace.

"The challenge for the younger generations will be to have patience,
while keeping up their demands," Klepak said in Havana. "For
authorities, it will be to give the green light and show the people
there is hope - but they are not going to lose control."

http://www.examiner.com/a-1297851~Hopes_tempered_as_Cubans_wait_for_post_Fidel_changes.html