Cubans get rare chance to gripe in public
Ex-envoy doubts serious change can result from the forums this month
By FRANCES ROBLES
McClatchy-Tribune
MIAMI — They are griping in Cuba these days about low salaries and high
prices, poor bus service and the maddening dual currency system.
And for the first time in years, Cubans don't have to whisper.
Interim President Raul Castro has called publicly for criticism, saying
that the only way to fix the country's many problems is to air them.
So this month, local branches of organizations such as the Cuban
Communist Party, the island's lone labor union, pro-government
neighborhood watch groups and the University Student Federation are
assembling around the country to debate shortcomings and suggest solutions.
The debate has raised hopes that Castro is on the verge of enacting
significant reforms and permitting more freedom of expression.
But skeptics say such a debate was held before, and was cut off when the
onslaught of grievances was more than the government wished to discuss.
Communism off the table
And despite Castro's cracking open the door long shut to public
criticism, there seems to be one topic that is strictly out of bounds:
ending the island's communist system.
"This is going to be public venting, not serious change," said
Alcibiades Hidalgo, a former Cuban ambassador to the United Nations and
personal secretary to Castro.
"Rather than being a real inventory of problems — which they already
know and don't need — this is an exercise in political propaganda in
order to put on a new, more understanding face," he said.
The meetings were officially called to analyze Castro's frank speech on
the July 26 anniversary of the revolution, when he admitted salaries and
agricultural productivity were too low.
"True democracy," Castro called it last Sunday in his first public
remarks about the meetings.
"We have told everyone they can speak about not just the speech but
everything they want to speak about, with bravery and sincerity, without
a lot of illusions that we are magicians who can resolve problems."
Castro, who took the helm July 31, 2006, after his brother Fidel fell
ill with an intestinal illness, used the annual July 26 celebrations to
announce the first clues of his plans for Cuba's future.
He did not use his hourlong lecture to boast about the country's
advances in health or education, but rather blasted inefficiency and waste.
"All of us, from the leaders to the rank-and-file workers, are
duty-bound to accurately identify and analyze every problem in depth,
within our working areas, in order to combat the problem," he said.
Wide range of complaints
Gatherings of the Communist Party and the Committee for the Defense of
the Revolution began earlier this month to tackle that message. And
Cubans are venting.
The meetings have been off-limits to foreign journalists and the Cuban
media have not reported on the comments heard.
According to news reports from Havana in the European press, complaints
have ranged from high food prices to substandard housing and transportation.
Some have complained about not being allowed to enter Cuban hotels
reserved for foreign tourists, and others have pushed for more small
private businesses.
Chief among the complaints: $15 monthly salaries.
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