AFP News brief
Cuban-American group proposes fund to help private enterprise in Cuba
by Juan Castro Olivera
Cuban-American business leaders on Friday called for the creation of a
300 million dollar fund to help build private enterprise in Cuba once
the communist-run state adopts what they called "inevitable" reforms.
The proposal, presented at a conference in Miami, is based on the
Enterprise Funds that invested US grants in small and medium sized
corporations in eastern European countries when they emerged from
communism in the 1990s.
The Cuba Study Group, an organization made up of Cuban-American business
and community leaders, suggested that the US government, the European
Union and private companies should each provide 100 million dollars for
the "Cuban Enterprise Fund."
The group made it clear the money would only be available once Cuba
adopts reforms. US laws currently would not allow for the funds to be
sent to the island, and Cuban legislation prohibits such private
investments.
But the group said the transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his
younger brother Raul "represents a genuine window of opportunity" and
called for the fund to be set up "in anticipation of the inevitable
change that will occur in Cuba."
It said the proposal will be sent to members of the US Congress.
Cuba currently has a tiny private sector made up of entrepreneurs
running small restaurants, stores repair shops or other small businesses.
The businesses were first allowed to operate after Cuba lost billions of
dollars in subsidies following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the
1990s.
As Cuba slowly recovered from the post-Soviet crisis that crippled its
economy, authorities have cut back on the number of business licenses
they hand out.
But with ailing president Fidel Castro looking increasingly unlikely to
return to power, there are rising expectations of gradual economic reforms.
The 80-year-old veteran revolutionary leader handed power to his brother
Raul, 76, on July 31, 2006 after undergoing gastro-intestinal surgery.
"Fidel Castro doesn't consider the economy a priority, but Raul does,"
said political analyst Marifeli Perez-Stable, of the Inter-American
think-tank.
"Opinion polls we receive from the island, and that the Cuban government
also has, show there is a strong expectation of economic changes. The
economy is a priority for the majority of Cubans, and there is strong
pressure on Raul Castro in this sense," she told AFP during a three-day
conference of Cuba experts.
Most Cuba-watchers believe change will be slow and gradual at best and
that major reforms are unlikely as long as the older Castro still has a
say in government affairs.
Even though he has been convalescing in seclusion, Fidel Castro said in
a article published by Cuban state media this week that he is still
consulted on every major government decision.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario