Cuba to Cut Workers and Relax Business Rules

Cuba to Cut Workers and Relax Business Rules
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 1, 2010

HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government will scale back controls on small
businesses, lay off unnecessary workers and allow more self-employment,
President Raúl Castro said Sunday, major steps in a country where the
state dominates nearly every facet of the economy.

But Mr. Castro, speaking at the opening session of Parliament, also
scoffed at what he said was media speculation that Cuba planned sweeping
economic changes to dig itself out of a financial crisis. "With
experience accumulated in more than 55 years of revolutionary struggle,
it doesn't seem like we're doing too badly, nor that desperation or
frustration have been our companions along the way," he said.

About 95 percent of all Cubans work for the government, a sector Mr.
Castro called "considerably bloated." Those who are laid off, he said,
will be retrained or reassigned.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/world/americas/02cuba.html