By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 12, 2008; Page A08
ZACATECAS, Mexico, April 11 -- Cuba's government quietly enacted new
regulations Friday that clarify the rights of state workers to live in
their state-owned homes long-term and transfer the dwellings to family
members after death.
The decision seemed to inch property rights forward, but it stopped well
short of allowing the unfettered purchase and sale of private homes. The
measure was published in the official gazette of the Cuban Justice
Ministry but went unmentioned in state media, and was only beginning to
be discussed in public late Friday following reports by international
wire services based in Havana.
In theory, the Cuban government has long controlled where its citizens
live, requiring government approval of any proposed moves and forbidding
real estate transfers or sales. But in practice, there is an active
black market in which Cubans openly bribe government officials so they
can move into roomier apartments or homes.
Cubans lucky enough to live in the crumbling mansions that dot Havana
and other cities frequently convert their homes into illegal apartment
buildings and collect rent from tenants, though they must pay bribes to
ensure they are not cited.
A cryptic law passed in 1987 is interpreted by many Cubans as giving
them the right to a limited form of home ownership, though some legal
experts on the island say the law is more akin to a "right of use"
rather than full ownership.
But the question of inheritance rights has always been fuzzy, and Cubans
who considered themselves quasi-owners of their homes feared that if
they died, their children could be forced out. They also feared being
kicked out of their homes if they retired or lost their jobs. The
regulations published Friday seemed to ensure that they could keep their
homes even if they left their jobs.
Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a dissident economist who like most Cubans has not
read the new regulations, said in an interview that he was "cautiously
optimistic" after hearing news reports.
"It's a step in the right direction. It's something," Espinosa Chepe
said in a telephone interview from Havana. "But what we're asking for is
that we are given our property and that we have the right to sell it if
we want to."
The property decision is the latest in a series of measures enacted
since February, when Fidel Castro officially ceded power to his brother,
Raúl. The younger Castro has also legalized the ownership of cellphones
and lifted a ban on the sale of computers. A commentator on state-run
television said this week that Castro will also lift the ceiling on
state salaries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041102976.html?hpid=sec-world
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