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Now he tells us: Cuba economic model doesn't work, says Fidel
 HAVANA: Fidel Castro has told a visiting American journalist that Cuba's economic model does not work any more, a rare comment on domestic affairs since stepping down from the presidency four years ago.
| Hasn't worked since January 1, 1959, I reckon ... |
The blunt economic assessment by the father of Cuba's 1959 revolution is sure to raise eyebrows, particularly from his younger brother, Raul, the country's President since 2006.
Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, asked if Cuba's economic system was still worth exporting to other countries. Dr Castro replied: ''The Cuban model doesn't even work for us any more,'' Mr Goldberg wrote on Wednesday in a post on his blog.
| Poor Mr. Goldberg then was seen hunched over a stiff drink at the bar down the street from the Atlantic offices, wondering why he'd chosen a career as a progressive journalist and whether he should have listened to his mother and become an accountant ... |
He said Dr Castro made the comment casually over lunch following a long talk about the Middle East and did not elaborate. The Cuban government had no immediate comment on Mr Goldberg's account.
Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert at the Council on Foreign Relations who accompanied Mr Goldberg on the trip, confirmed the former Cuban leader's comment. She said she took the remark to be in line with President Raul Castro's call for gradual but widespread reform, and a comment on too big an involvement of the state in the domestic economy.
The Cuban state controls well over 900 90 per cent of the economy, paying workers salaries of about $US20 ($21.82) a month in return for free healthcare and education, and nearly free transportation and housing.
| We all understand that none of all that is 'free', but the writer at smh has to regurgitate what's been spoon-fed ... |
Since stepping down in 2006 Dr Castro has focused on international affairs and has said very little about Cuba and its politics, perhaps to limit perceptions he is stepping on his younger brother's toes.
Posted by: tipper 2010-09-09 |
