Harsh Self-Assessment As Cuba Looks Within

[MADem]

Victoria Burnett, The New York Times | Updated: July 24, 2013 20:35 IST http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/harsh-self-assessment-as-cuba-looks-within-396549

Trouble in 'paradise?' The economy is in the toilet, now the people are being chastised by Fidel's brother, too?

Cubans build houses without permits, catch endangered fish, cut down trees, gamble, accept bribes and favors, hoard goods and sell them at inflated prices, and harass tourists, Castro said.

And that is just the start: Islanders yell in the street, curse indiscriminately, disturb their neighbors' sleep with loud music, drink alcohol in public, vandalize telephones, dodge bus fares and throw stones at passing trains..."They ignore the most basic standards of gentility and respect," Castro continued. "All this is going on under our noses, without provoking any objection or challenge from other citizens."

"I have the bitter sensation that we are a society that is ever better educated, but not necessarily more enlightened," Castro said.

His scathing assessment resonated with many Cubans, who bemoan the rise in petty corruption and uncouth behavior, nostalgic for the days when a state salary was enough to live on without needing to pilfer and Cuba's education system garnered international praise.

But while Castro rebuked his countrymen for losing their "honesty, decency, sense of shame, decorum, honor and sensitivity to others' problems," many Cubans accused the government of clinging to an unworkable economic system while the country's infrastructure and social services crumbled and, with them, the people's sense of communal duty.

[Bacchus4.0]

1. some of those reflect economic woes and some are petty complaints

of an old fart from a bygone era. Loud music and cursing?? Please. Resign you decrepit old fool, let Cuba evolve.

[MADem]

2. Read on--it's a perfect storm brought on by a survival economy that isn't living up to the utopian

promises. It's not just a little shortage, shared by all, here and there--it's a "Haves and Have Nots" situation:

Many Cubans though, like Miguel Coyula, an expert in urban planning, worry that an entire generation of Cubans has known nothing but the warped economics and privations of the post-Soviet period.

Beyond that, he said, the "inverted social pyramid," in which a doctor earns less than a manicurist, is becoming more pronounced as small-scale entrepreneurs, using the openings Castro has made to introduce some private enterprise, make money selling pizzas or mobile handsets.

"The money is not in the hands of the most educated," Coyula said.

Katrin Hansing, a professor of anthropology at City University of New York, who has studied Cuban youth, said growing up in an environment where cheating and duplicity were a way of living had bred cynicism.

"This cynicism feeds into people's lack of engagement," she said. "Individual responsibility toward the collective is very low."

Youth feel alienated from the aging leadership, she said. "There is a very visual discrepancy between who is running the show and who's living it," Hansing said. Young people "are living in a parallel universe."

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/harsh-self-assessment-as-cuba-looks-within-396549


It's a "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" environment. The leaders are hypocrites, and the people suffer.

[Bacchus4.0]

3. yep, they live the life of aristocracy while imposing a failed ec0nomic system and police state

on the peasantry.

[MADem]

5. And that's exactly how they are treated--as peasants.

Everyone is equal, only some are much more equal than others. And the ones who are "equal-est" of all get the meat and the gravy!

It's a shame they can't get correct on these issues--they are failing a well-educated population that has had, up to now, a decent work ethic, even as they've had to suffer deprivation and minimum standards in many regards as a way of life.

[flamingdem]

4. Miguel Coyula is very honest. I'm glad he's speaking up.

The real way the personal economy is being run is by remittances and the young people simply leave, some not so young do this as well especially if they have relatives in Miami. The most educated find ways to get by, the small business avenues are better than before of course.

It's very cynical. I'll never forget a Christmas Eve visit when I was in Central Havana and a guard was going door to door selling a toilet! Everyone knew he'd taken it from the building where he worked.

It's fairly easy for them to get to the USA where one can get a green card in 366 days. Plus, one gets money to help during the transition to residency - food stamps, etc. Cubans are helping one another and there is an understanding that the Adjustment Act might not last forever.

They need to engage young people more and give them a reason to stay, a stake, this is critical.

[MADem]

6. Ho ho ho---time to flush the reindeer!!!!

I think you have a good sense of what's needed in Cuba...

[flamingdem]

7. The new guy Miguel Diaz-Canal will be less controversial

he's up in 2018. I see the solution as being the blending of Miami and other diaspora cities and Cuba. A Miami-Havana can serve to restore the economy. And when so many are on both sides, and now that travel is much easier it's inevitable.

But it's not going all that fast. Plenty of people in Miami are making out on the delay, especially congress members who get funds. It's the youth that will push this change, they'll marry, family will relocate and before you know it the embargo will cease to make sense.

Probably sometime in 2019! The Castros simply have to be gone from the scene for normalization.

[MADem]

8. Those Castros have some serious "longevity" genetic code.

I wonder, once they are gone, if we will ever know the truth about why USA is so determined to keep them in a vacuum? We forgave Vietnam--what DID these guys do that's so gawdawful that we can't get past it?

[Socialistlemur]

9. They managed to upset 1 million Cubans who now live in Miami

Because Florida is a key sate in presidential politics and Cubans are very engaged, the USA government tends to pander to the Cuban lobby. It's like a mini -AIPAC

[flamingdem]

10. Exactly so, plus there's bad blood over the Bay of Pigs,

confiscations, and the family feud going on, Fidel was married to a member of the Miami Mafia, daughter of Rafael José Díaz-Balart.

Ann Louise Bardach's two book are fun to read - Cuba Confidential and Without Fidel.

She's not always accurate but she knows the gossip. Lately she cannot return to the island.
I think that she discusses her banning in the Without Fidel book.

Hillary has said nothing will change until the Castros are out of power, a kissing of the behinds of the Miami group, but it sure looks like that is what drives policy, sadly. The Cuban people deserve more and the Castros have opened up more than the US in terms of travel, but the US will move the goalposts until the new guy comes in.

[Mika]

11. Sticking with the cover story, I see.

Miami Cubans have as much power as the Castros.

[flamingdem]

12. Did I say that? I think Miami Cubans in congress have the power to

impact the economy in Cuba, yes I do think that.

I don't see them having power on the island, except economically as things open up.

It's inevitable, though the Chinese will be in there first.

What do you think of this article?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/10164579/The-Briton-who-languished-in-a-Cuban-jail-after-being-accused-of-spying.html

[Mika]

14. By "cover story" I mean ...

Laying the "blame" on Miami's Cuban exile diaspora (the RWnut faction - which is minimal, at best) - Dems and Repugs do it. Pathetic that more here don't understand it.

[flamingdem]

15. You mean blame for Cuba policy

sure that is Dem as well of course!

It's easy to focus on the Miami Mafia, I suppose, too much. I think they
give the justification for the policies. And they are in critical positions
to block any changes, no?

But I did mention Democrat republicans feeding at the trough in a post,
so maybe I don't get your point yet.

[bemildred]

13. I'm just amazed they are still cranking this bullshit out 50 years on. nt