Why Cuba’s new Castro is loosening up
Posted: Thursday, March 13, 2008 12:47 PM
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Havana, Cuba
By Mary Murray, NBC News Producer
On Thursday,
Cuba authorized the unrestricted sale of computers, DVD and video players and other appliances in a move that’s being seen as an effort by Cuba’s new leader, Raul Castro, to appease some of the grumbling by residents of the island.
Cuban consumers have complained for years that there is not much here to buy.
The sale in government-run stores of most electrical appliances and electronics have been carefully controlled for years – in many cases restricting their sale to foreigners and Cuba's diplomatic community.
That hasn't meant, of course, that people didn’t get their hands on electronic goods. Almost anything here can be bought – mostly at exorbitant prices – on Cuba's flourishing black market.
This move continues a trend Raul Castro began implementing nine months ago, when he was still acting as Cuba’s "temporary" leader for his brother Fidel. He eased customs regulations in June 2007 that permit imports of car parts, some electrical appliances and desktop computers destined for family members on the island. Basically this was an invitation to Miami and the rest of the Cuban diaspora to help out relatives still on the island.
At the time the government said it was studying the repeal of prohibitions on items such as microwaves and freezers.
People, though, continued to complain, demanding the right to buy locally and at fair prices.
Thursday’s measures list computers, video and DVD players, 19-inch and 24-inch television sets, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwaves as items that Cubans will now be allowed to buy.
While some people here will rejoice in the changes, you have to remember that most working people earn the equivalent of about $25 a month and can barely make ends meet. All retail is run by the government and averages a 240 percent markup as legislated by Cuban law.
