Cuba will stay socialist, insists Raul Castro

Cuba will stay socialist, insists Raul Castro

President says softened US stance will not lead to radical change

Mark Tran

theguardian.com, Sunday 2 August 2009 11.50 BST



Raul Castro yesterday acknowledged that the US has softened its rhetoric

towards Cuba under Barack Obama but insisted that the island would

remain a socialist country even after the death of its revolutionary

leaders.



The former defence minister, who succeeded his ailing brother Fidel as

president last year, repeated his willingness to discuss all issues with

the US but vowed that Cuba would not see fundamental change even after

he and his older brother were gone.



"I was elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism,

not destroy it. We are ready to talk about everything, but … not to

negotiate our political and social system," Castro told the Cuban

national assembly to a long standing ovation.



As for those who thought that Cuba's political system would crumble

after "the death of Fidel and all of us", Castro said: "If that's how

they think, they are doomed to failure."



Obama has said he wants to improve relations with Cuba – as with Iran.

He has relaxed the 47-year-old US embargo by allowing Cuban-Americans to

travel and send money freely to the island 90 miles from Key West,

Florida, and has reopened immigration talks with the Cuban government

that were suspended by his predecessor, George Bush.



In another conciliatory gesture, the US recently turned off a news

ticker on the US interests section in Havana that Cuba viewed as a

constant provocation.



But Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, have said further

improvements depend on Cuba making progress on human rights.



In much of yesterday's speech, Castro gave a bleak overview of the

economy, saying the government had cut its budget for the second time

this year because of the country's worst financial crisis since the

1990s. Conditions are so bad that the authorities on Friday postponed a

Communist party congress that would have been the first of its kind in

12 years.



Castro said the economy, hit by the global financial crisis and three

hurricanes last year, grew just 0.8% in the first half of 2009. He said

growth of 1.7% was expected for the full year.



As combined economic shocks reduced income from exports and boosted

spending on imports of food and other items, Castro held out the

prospect of cuts in Cuba's admired healthcare system. Healthcare, along

with free education through university, subsidised housing and food

provided on a monthly ration system, forms the basis of Cuba's socialist

model.



Castro's biggest reform has been the decentralisation of decision-making

in agriculture and putting more land in the hands of private farmers to

increase food production. He has also pushed for Cubans to be paid based

on their production, to create incentives for them to work harder.



In the fight against corruption which he says is choking the Cuban

economy, Castro has created a comptroller general's office, with powers

to audit and control all government and economic activities.



Source: "Cuba will stay socialist, insists Raul Castro | World news |

theguardian.com" -

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/02/raul-castro-us-cuba