AP
Cuban President Raul Castro drew a line in the Caribbean sand across
which Cuba's economic reforms must never go, telling delegates to a key
Communist Party summit on Saturday he has rejected dozens of suggested
reforms that would have allowed the concentration of property in private
hands.
But he also strongly backed a line-up of economic changes which together
represent a sea change for Cuba's socialist system, including the
eventual elimination of the ration book and other subsidies, the
decentralisation of the economy and a reliance on supply and demand in
some sectors.
In a long speech, Mr. Raul Castro said the country had ignored its
problems for too long.
He made clear Cuba had to make tough decisions if it wanted to survive.
"No country or person can spend more than they have," he said. "Two plus
two is four. Never five, much less six or seven as we have sometimes
pretended."
Speaking forcefully to 1,000 delegates, the Cuban leader alternated
between reassurance that the economic changes were compatible with
socialism, and a candid assessment of what has not worked in the past.
Inaugurating the four-day meet, Mr. Raul Castro announced a series of
reform proposals, including abolishing the decades-old food rationing
system and allowing residents to buy and sell cars and real estate.
He said the monthly ration book of basic foods, perhaps the most
cherished of subsidies, represented an "insupportable burden ... and a
disincentive for work". — AP, Xinhua
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article1704527.ece
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