Posted on Fri, Apr. 04, 2008
Associated Press
HAVANA --
A top Cuban official on Friday publicly acknowledged problems permeating
everyday life on the island, calling them ''war wounds'' of a long
struggle with the United States.
Vice President Carlos Lage's comments came at a gathering of Cuban
intellectuals, who complained about censorship, restrictions on the
Internet and heavy-handed, inept bureaucracy.
The relatively open debate appeared to be part of a guarded opening
under new President Raul Castro, who succeeded his brother Fidel in
February and has urged Cubans to fearlessly voice major complaints
without fear of reprisal.
''Double morality, prohibitions, a press that doesn't reflect our
reality like we want, unwanted inequality, deteriorating infrastructure
are all war wounds, but they are from a war we have won,'' Lage told the
400 members of the Congress of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists.
Cuba has for decades considered itself in an ideological war with the
United States and officials blame many political restrictions and
economic hardships on U.S. threats and embargoes.
Lage offered no promises for improvement in any of the areas he singled
out, but the new leadership has done away with some of the most-despised
restrictions on daily life, dropping bans on allowing Cubans to rent
cell phones, rent cars, stay in luxury hotels and buy appliances and DVD
players.
Relatively few Cubans have the money to take advantage of those openings
and the reforms have not eroded the control of Cuba's Communist Party.
But another prominent official, Havana city Historian Eusebio Leal,
rejected suggestions the new measures were superficial and purely
cosmetic, while insisting more changes were on the way.
A policy ''that until yesterday was not convenient or prudent, today is
necessary,'' Leal, who administers the celebrated revamping of Havana's
colonial center, said Thursday.
Similar gatherings in the past have helped set the tone for Cuban
culture -- sometimes enforcing discipline on writers and artists who had
veered away from communist orthodoxy.
The new congress was closed to international media, but the comments by
Lage and Leal, as well as some other delegates were broadcast on state
television.
''We are preparing ourselves for our country's new direction,'' said
Leal, who is also a member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
He also called for reconciliation between Cubans living on the island
and those in exile, many of whom headed to the United States after Fidel
Castro took power in 1959.
''I'm not embarrassed by those who are outside the country because my
kids are outside the country,'' Leal said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/483654.html
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