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'Fidel without a beard'
25/02/2008 13:59 - (SA)
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| Raul Castro gestures after he was elected president of the State Council, Cuba's governing body, replacing his 81-year-old brother Fidel Castro. (Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina, AP) |
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Havana - After nearly half a century under Fidel Castro's rule, Cubans expressed hope that new president Raul Castro would usher in long-sought economic reforms to improve their daily lives.
While some Cubans said they were wistful about the end of the Fidel era, many harboured hopes that his brother could make good on promised economic modernisation, with the country beleaguered by continued shortages in food and housing.
"This is the best that could have happened to Cuba," Carlos Muguercia, a 78-year-old craftsman said, after the Cuban parliament on Sunday elected Raul Castro, 76, to the country's top job.
"Raul already knows the situation. He knows how to solve problems, in any case the most serious ones," said Muguercia, who makes a living selling carved wooden figures in the historic centre of Havana.
"I followed Raul's speech on television and at the same time I was selling my trinkets here," he said. "Overall, it was a good Sunday."
'What a team!'
His enthusiasm was echoed by a peanut street vendor, Enrique, who said he was particularly excited about the choice of long-time communist party stalwart, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 77, to become Cuba's number-two.
"Raul and Machado Ventura. What a team!" he exclaimed.
Machado, a former health minister, is a founder of the Cuban Communist Party and has been in charge of party organisation since 1990.
Cuba's National Assembly on Sunday chose Raul Castro to lead the country permanently, after ill health prevented Fidel Castro from resuming the presidency he temporarily gave up after abdominal surgery in 2006.
Last week, Fidel Castro, 81, formally resigned the presidency, after weeks of speculation and uncertainty.
Enrique, the peanut vendor, expressed a hint of disappointment that long-time party insider Carlos Lage, 56, touted by some as a possible successor to Fidel, was not promoted to a more prominent government position. And he admitted to a bit of uncertainty about a military man at the head of government.
"I do not like the fact of an army commander becoming president," he said.
Hard to imagine a new leader
Other Cubans said they had a hard time accepting the notion that the country would be led by anyone other than Fidel, a bigger than life revolutionary icon who had been the island's leader for half a century.
"I would have preferred if Fidel had stayed," said Armando, a vendor who sells clothes in front of his house in the old city.
"I am a Fidelist. I owe him everything I have," he said.
Magela Hernandez and her fiancé, Yasmany Laima, both 20, said they were satisfied with the selection of Raul, who has led Cuba's powerful armed forces for 49 years.
"We are very happy," she said.
"Raul is a man that inspires respect and discipline, which this country needs to solve its problems."
"We are expecting changes that will improve our economic situation, but we do not speak about any political change," Hernandez added.
Two-currency system
Some Cubans said they hope the change in leadership will also mean an end to the two-currency system in which Cubans are paid in devalued pesos but products are sold for the hard currency.
They also would like to see an end to restrictions on trips abroad, greater access to hotels and the creation of a real estate and automobile markets.
Raul Castro indicated that he was in fact, reviewing the possibility of a gradual re-evaluation of the Cuban peso and coming weeks could see the elimination of some "small restrictions" in Cuba's economic system.
The more pessimistic Cubans, however, said they doubted that swapping one Castro brother for another would lead to real reform.
In fact, Raul Castro in a speech before parliament on Sunday said he would continue to defer to his brother in all important defence, foreign policy and economic decisions.
"Raul is Fidel without a beard," argued one young man enjoying a beer at a bar in the city's historic centre.
Still, the man said, he was in suspense to see if and how Raul would diverge from the course set by his brother over five decades - especially now that he runs the show.
"Raul has been leading an interim government," the young Cuban said. "But he has his hands firmly on the helm now."
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