Castro Reforms: DVDs, Farms for Cubans [View All]

[seafan]

Source: AP

HAVANA (AP) — Shoppers snapped up DVD players, motorbikes and pressure cookers Tuesday as a slew of consumer products went on sale to all Cuban citizens for the first time. Possibly more significant, Cuba announced it will lend unproductive state land to private farmers to boost agricultural production.

Combined with other reforms announced in recent days, the measures suggested that substantial changes are being driven by new President Raul Castro, who vowed when he took over from his brother Fidel to remove some of the more irksome limitations on the daily lives of Cubans.

Many shoppers mourned the fact that the newly available goods were unaffordable on the government salaries they earn. But that didn't stop them from lining up to see electronic gadgets previously sold only to foreigners or companies.

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Tuesday's moves came a day after the Tourism Ministry said any Cuban with enough money can stay in luxury hotels and rent cars, doing away with restrictions that made ordinary people feel like second-class citizens. And soon, Cubans will be able to get cell phones legally in their own names, a luxury long reserved for the lucky few.

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