Cuba's Revolution Of Rising Expectations

Ordinary Cubans Press Raul Castro For A Higher Standard Of Living

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum in Havana.

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"How can I afford $90 for a pair of glasses?” That’s the question Matilde, a retired school secretary threw at me. The glasses in question are for her 83-year-old mother, whose myopia makes it impossible for her to read without prescription lens.

The old pair fell off the table, shattering the glass lens. When bought just five years ago they cost only 54 Cuban pesos or just over $2. But today, the cost of the glasses reflects the dual economy that plagues nearly every aspect of Cuban life and is one of its most irritating factors.

The Cuban government, the dominant employer, pays workers in ordinary Cuban pesos that can be exchanged at official exchange houses at a rate of 26 to 1 for Convertible Cuban pesos or CUCs.

While it has no value outside of Cuba, the CUC is the only currency accepted at many supermarkets, shops, restaurants and nightspots across the island. Needless to say, these places offer goods not available anywhere else.

This is the system that produced $90 eyeglasses for Matilde's elderly mother. Stores selling eyeglasses in regular Cuban pesos are badly stocked with limited ability to make lens. It is not uncommon to be turned away or put on a long waiting list if your eyeglass prescription is anything special.

Only stores selling frames and lens in CUCs are fairly well stocked with imported products and the markup on these as well as on any imported goods in Cuba can be as high as 200 percent.

The government explains the markup as a way to redistribute income. That is, take hard currency away from those who have it and plow it back into the economy so that the have-nots benefit from it.

Today, as never before, Cubans are voicing their dissatisfaction with the hardships they face. Surprisingly they’ve been encouraged to do so by none other than Raul Castro, who officially blessed opening the floodgates during a speech last July.

According to Castro, who has now officially replaced his older brother Fidel as president of the country, some two million different complaints were culled from the debate.

Topping the list: the inadequacy of wages, the housing and transportation crisis and the deterioration of the health and education systems, once the pride and joy of the Revolution.

Rafael Hernandez, editor of the sometimes polemical Cuban magazine Temas, says the demands coming out of this nationwide discussion “are very clear in terms of creating a new tempo, a new timing for political change and I think that anyone…in charge of the Cuban government must be aware of this.”

Julia Sweig, Director of Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., agrees. She believes encouraging the discussion has put Raul Castro under “pressure to deliver and to do so quickly.”

She says that while it’s possible this was not anticipated, in her view, “Raul Castro seems to be acutely cognizant of the bread-and-butter issues the population is demanding and of the demands for greater autonomy from the heavy handedness of the State.”

Hernandez and Sweig both see the roots of today’s inquietude as lying in the past. Says Hernandez, “I think that the economic situation in Cuba, the way Cubans perceive their own future has changed throughout the last 15 years. That our own perception about what is socialism has changed tremendously throughout the last 15 years and I think that the future depends on that redefinition of socialism.”

Sweig says the very survival of the revolutionary values and goals depend on how the government responds to the issues that everyone is talking about.

“The groundwork for the process Raul is now overseeing was laid before Fidel Castro’s illness was announced,” she points out. “In that sense the transition began even before the summer 2006 with the top leadership of the regime talking about the revolutionary project itself being on the line.”

By suggesting the possibility of change, Sweig adds, “Raul has demonstrated that he has built and aims to continue building a political consensus within the government and [Communist] Party to appreciably enhance the quality of life.”

In a speech before parliament following his election last month, Raul Castro declared, “We are examining, for instance, everything related to the timely implementation of comrade Fidel's ideas on ‘the progressive, gradual and prudent revaluation of the Cuban peso,’ …. At the same time, we keep delving into the phenomenon of the double currency in the economy.”

It was what the Cuban public wanted to hear. Rumors of the “imminent” upward revaluation of the Cuban peso spread in some neighborhoods.

“I walked past long lines at CADECA [money exchanges] on my way to the bus stop this morning,” says Marbelis, who makes her living working for foreigners as a private nurse. “People were exchanging CUCs for Cuban pesos because they believe the value of the CUC is going to drop and are trying to get the possible deal while they can.”

The scene she described in the Havana municipality of La Vibora was repeated around the country reflecting Cubans’ hopes for an easing of the daily grind.

In 1993, when the Cuban economy hit bottom, the government legalized the use of the U.S. dollar by Cubans, which gave them access to what at that time was a very small number of special shops patronized mainly by diplomats and foreign residents.

The senior Castro, then firmly in control, described the measure as the first inequality to be instituted by the Revolution. It elevated the standard of living of those who possessed dollars while leaving the vast majority of the population in the dust.

But just what would happen if the peso was revalued overnight or a single currency was declared?

“Declaring a single currency which is valid everywhere in Cuba is not going to solve anything,” says Michael, a doctor on duty in the recovery room at Havana’s Frank País orthopedic hospital.

“Let’s say we all get paid in CUCs. In just two weeks, the shelves in all the hard currency stores will be bare,” he told the nurses sharing the night shift with him.

Many people agree with him. Shelves at the special supermarkets are often sparsely filled. Many times shoppers confront row after row of cookies and sweets, rather than the basic products they’re seeking. Reportedly the instability in the supply of imported goods is a product of the government’s cash shortage.

[libsrweak]

IS IT SAFE TO SAY THAT JOHN F KENNEDY FU CKED UP ON THIS ONE??????

[downsteamjim]

Why aren''t millions of peole trying to move to this utopia? What % of Cuba''s popultion has risked their life to escape heaven on earth?

[mglesne]

RG, Cuba has improved in nearly every way since 1999. Visit again, but this time stop over in any comparable regional country first - Jamaica, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, etc. Tell me which one you would want to walk around at night in? Tell me what capital city has more culture, more beauty, more educated and interesting citizens? What city has fewer street kids, fewer homeless, fewer desperate?

Still, it is also true that Cubans have few modern products, their food situation remains poor (but much better than 99) and many things we take for granted continue to be a struggle. But now that they''ve fixed their energy problems, they were able to lift restrictions on many electronic appliances, including PCs. A big agricultural reform is in the pipeline next...

[rgmiron]

I got to study in Cuba, a cross cultural study program out of spain, it was back in 1999 so it has been some time. mglesnel1- I am not sure what country you are talking about, but it sure wasn''t the Cuba I remember!
The people were wonderful, smart, creative, they could be very hard workers, when motivated.
There form of government was the problem, at least they are all starving equally.

[walt1944-2009]

With Fidel Castro "retired" and his brother running Cuba, Cubans are starting to demand a better standard of living.

Apparently, they have heard of the treatment that the North Koreans are getting , particularly, the "secret" deals between North Korea and the Great Emperor Bush II involving thousands of porno DVDs and the prospect of a "Hannah Montana" concert in Pyongyang, and now the Cubans want part of the action!

Since the North Koreans are being treated with greater respect since getting THE BOMB, Raul Castro has ordered what scientists he has to concentrate on a "crash course" of getting THE BOMB for Cuba as well, or at least a close facsimile of it.

It is hoped by Raul Castro that this would lead the Great Emperor to open negotiations with the Cubans which might lead to several baseball games between Cuban teams and the New York Yankees, the opening of a Chevrolet dealership in Havana, and the opening of the country to tourism, which has such attractions as the battle field at the Bay of Pigs, Fidel Castro''s mountain hideouts, and relics from the 1962 Soviet missile crises!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, McCain????

[mglesne]

Nacho, I was in Cuba in 2003, when I experienced blackouts and the overcrowded transport problems. Today, blackouts are virtually a thing of the past through increased efficiency and the purchase of state of the art generators. Cubans are very glad. As for the claims about water in Baracoa, I think these problems were related to the drought in the East the last couple years and the problem has been solved. Also, to convert what Cubans make in dollars is not relevant, as everything they buy is in 25/1 pesos. But the $10/month figure is also out of date (or perhaps refers to minimum wage). Soap is available for a few pesos as part of the ration book. The $1 price is for a Western brand at the dollar store. Cuba has its problems but at least it is able to solve them. What problem in the US have we solved??

[sheila1346]

I have read all of the comments and I am still confused as to the article as I know for a fact (as does a previous writer) they have one of the best health care system in the world along with a first rate educational system. Yes there are real problems all brought on by the US embargo, but the so called news article makes no sense as to the real reality in Cuba. Neither do the totally misinformed who write stories of horror and injustice. The us has a propaganda machine that churns out garbage about Cuba every single day. Sadly people are so willing to believe the lies. CUBA is a country with problems just like any other but unlike here in the US where we deny the problems and continually make cuts in human services so the rich can get richer they really do work for every single man woman and child to have a better life.

[nacho_london]

when was the last time mglesne1 visited Cuba? How has Cuban resolved its energy problems? Public transport is almost non-existent and unbearably overcrowded
There''s thousands without proper running water and hygiene. Baracoa in Oriente, a town nearly 82 000 people has running water every other day.
mglesne1 if you love Cuba so much, you should move there with the Castro, see how you can survived with a low paid job, making 10 dollars a month and with a bar of soap costing 1 dollar. And, without freedom of expressing yourself in publications such as this one
Regarding Portia''s article, it merely touches the tip of the iceberg of the problems faced by the real Cubans every day. Check this out regarding the dual currencty system http://preview.tinyurl.com/2jutqd

[mglesne]

It is far from clear what nation is "ruined" and why. Russia''s low human development (HDI) ranking is exactly because they went capitalist and had a huge increase in human poverty. Cuba, by the way, scores the second best country in the WORLD in their HDI ranking, when compared to their GDP (GDI).

The education system in Cuba is still stellar - with kids scoring nearly twice as high on UNESCO tests than other in the region. As for health, Guantanamo Province just recorded a less than 1.0 infant mortality rate - the best ever seen in Cuba. Sending 30,000 volunteer doctors abroad to help the truly needy is something Cubans are pround of (and it brings in hard currency).

Cuba has solved their energy problems and have recently bought thousands of Chinese buses to aleviate their transport. The Cuban state has built more 150,000 homes in 2 years (on par as total US home construction/per capita). Many went to the most needy - hurricane vitims, those doubled up, etc. There are no homeless and very few without proper hygeine and water.

And Portia, I did not understand the glasses intro to your story. If 2$ glasses are available in Cuba (albeit with a sometimes waiting list), why lead the story with a quote that seems like she had to pay $84? If the US offered cheap glasses, I''m sure few here would complain. But I thank you for mentioning the redistributive aspects of Cuba''s currency policy - and other often denied things like that.

[mglesne]

It is far from clear what nation is "ruined" and why. Russia''s low human development (HDI) ranking is exactly because they went capitalist and had a huge increase in human poverty. Cuba, by the way, scores the second best country in the WORLD in their HDI ranking, when compared to their GDP (GDI).

The education system in Cuba is still stellar - with kids scoring nearly twice as high on UNESCO tests than other in the region. As for health, Guantanamo Province just recorded a less than 1.0 infant mortality rate - the best ever seen in Cuba. Sending 30,000 volunteer doctors abroad to help the truly needy is something Cubans are pround of (and it brings in hard currency).

Cuba has solved their energy problems and have recently bought thousands of Chinese buses to aleviate their transport. The Cuban state has built more 150,000 homes in 2 years (on par as total US home construction/per capita). Many went to the most needy - hurricane vitims, those doubled up, etc. There are no homeless and very few without proper hygeine and water.

And Portia, I did not understand the glasses intro to your story. If 2$ glasses are available in Cuba (albeit with a sometimes waiting list), why lead the story with a quote that seems like she had to pay $84? If the US offered cheap glasses, I''m sure few here would complain. But I thank you for mentioning the redistributive aspects of Cuba''s currency policy - and other often denied things like that.

[clifden6]

Not sure exactly what destroyed the Soviet Union, but if Flint, Michigan in Michael Moore''s Fahrenheit 9/11 and his Sicko are these examples you are citing, well we have plenty of our own to export.

In the 2007/2008 Human Development Index rankings, Iceland #1, Norway #2, Autralia #3, Canada #4, Ireland #5, Sweden #6, Switzerland # 7, Japan #8, France #10, and the US #12, Cuba is #51, the Russian Federation #67. It would appear that perhaps the Russian Federation may need to look to Cuba.

and this is what the Democrats want to bring to the US, the same old *** that destroyed the Soviet system. Posted by lorinkundert

[clifden6]

Reads like the United States:

Topping the list: the inadequacy of wages, the housing and transportation crisis and the deterioration of the health and education systems, once the pride and joy of the Revolution.

[dignorsign]

I''m Cuban, I liked this article, it have a lot of data and some research. There''s always a lot more to say but this is the very best one written in these days about Cuba, in regards of neutrality and even optimism.
Regarding previous comment by ''lorinkundert'', well, it''s not very advisable to turn to Cuba looking for examples; you can look for bare good intentions in the Bible. However, look to other socialist countries and to European nations and they aren''t doing that bad, the EE.UU. people deserves better things in the social sphere.

[lorinkundert]

and this is what the Democrats want to bring to the US, the same old *** that destroyed the Soviet system.