Social Reforms In Cuba Only Extend So Far

(CBS)  In much of the world, May First is a day for parades - honoring workers. But in Hamburg, Germany today, anti-capitalist protesters clashed with police - and set fire to cars. In Turkey - police used water cannons on anti-government protesters. It was a lot calmer in Cuba, where May Day celebrates the communist government.

But there's a new leader - and for the first time in decades - a hint of change, as CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports.
The party atmosphere hasn't changed. Nor have the old slogans, but Cuba has.

Its revolutionary hero - now 81, and ill - is only present on the mayday banners. It's his younger brother Raul Castro who's here in person - as Cuba's new president.

On camera the May Day parade still looks impressive - but it's only a shadow of what it was in Fidel's time. It has less revolutionary hoopla - and only half as many marchers. It's one more sign that the page has turned here - and now Raul Castro is firmly in charge, and he's got a pressing agenda - giving Cubans better lives before they give up on him - and the socialist government.

For the elderly - Raul's raised pensions. For commuters - he's replaced decrepit public transport with shiny new Chinese buses. For the young - he's lifted a ban on cell phones, and DVD players. But the most profound changes are taking place in the countryside. Eduardo Diaz farms cows for meat and milk. Under Raul's new rules - Diaz will be paid more for both.

And get more land if he wants to expand.

"Do you see some people getting richer now?" Palmer asked.

"If I work harder, it's logical that I'm allowed to make more money, isn't it?" Diaz responded.

Well no - not under Fidel's brand of socialist agriculture it wasn't. But that inefficient system left Cuba importing 80% of its food. Now rising food prices have forced Raul to expand private enterprise on the land to boost production.

So far, Raul is only liberalizing the economy - not Cuba's political system. And that - says the US - is not enough to justify lifting the American embargo against Cuba - or establishing normal, friendly relations.

[downsteamjim]

There is an article in the science part of CBS about someone paying a grand for some coprilites. Raul and Fidel were the source.

[downsteamjim]

It''s refreshing to see that Cuba now has a younger face. Raul just needs about 20 gallons of botox or better embalming fluid.

[demslie]

Let us see the US try to exist for decades in the face of a withering embargo by an economy that was as large and powerful as the US'''' was. Actually, if we keep invading countries on false pretenses, we may actually find out how it feels.

Posted by brianbwb

Isn''t that just like a Terrorist Democrat. brianbwb denounces the US and wishes America could suffer an invastion to teach this bad old country a lesson. And not one bad word for the Communist Dictatorship of Cuba that has enslaved its people and killed thousands in its work camps.

[brianbwb-2009]

What a supercilious article, it assumes that the US government is more humane, or effective than the Cuban Government.

Let us see the US try to exist for decades in the face of a withering embargo by an economy that was as large and powerful as the US'' was.

Actually, if we keep invading countries on false pretenses, we may actually find out how it feels.

[andylance1]

What is most troubling about the Rev. Wright are certain aspects of his "liberation" Marxist views of the world. He supports almost every third-world terrorist group out there.

Obama has tried to distance himself from some of Wright''s most outrageous statements, but no one has asked him on the record, if he is a Marxist like former brother Wright.

I don''t care what his religion is, but does he advocate the overthrow of American government? Maybe this is what the election is really about. Maybe this is the change he is promising us. Say goodbye to Israel, Colombia ..... poor Bolivia.

Say hello to brother Raul.

[apprxam]

Raul Castro isn''t the only one at fault here. The United States and the four-decade failure of a policy towards Cuba and the Cuban-Exiles need to back off and let free trade happen in Cuba.

The system can change if the exiles forget about the future hope of property they and their families lost during the revolution. That include the Casino owners, the Mob, Bacardi Rum, Domino sugar and various other business and private interest here in the state.

Freedom or not, culturally, the Cuban people will not stand for the right of returned property simply because of the collective burden of national suffering. Cheney/Bush, Clinton, BushI, Reagan, Carter, Ford/Nixon, LBJ, Kennedy and Eisenhower all have contributed to this decades-long line of failed policy regarding Cuba. Hell, we''ve given China a leg-up on the road to capitalism; coached and funded the broken Russian military and its strayed and frayed nuclear weapons program; welcomed and invested heavily in the Vietnamese government and economy. The only thing stopping us is the exiles, pride and that "good ole American resolve" George Bush loves to exploit so much. It is time to quit this bullsh*t policy, which isn''t so foreign; they''re neighbors.

[closethippy1]

The corporate media to the President''s rescue once again. Instead of seeing the reforms in Cuba in a positive light the media wants to make it look as bad as they can so the US can have an excuse to keep its embargo against Cuba going.
I now understand how the press in the former USSR worked.

[ontheleft]

Let''s send Bush over to Cuba and let him be president there. He''s done such a great job with this country I''m sure he''d get Cuba into shape in no time.

[bozworth4]

"If I work harder, it''s logical that I''m allowed to make more money, isn''t it?" Diaz responded.

Also the government will take more!! Kinda sounds like the good old USA. We need to invade to promote democracy, then the rest of the afternoon we can take off and sent our troops home. OPPS! forgot no oil there. Forget it!!

[bgwinnett]

"Do everything to obtain and hang on to power... principles are malleable" -- the mantra for todays politicians worldwide.