Just caught quite a bit of Raul's speech, and to paraphrase- he's no Fidel when it comes to speaking. Of course, it could be that even he's getting tired of spouting lies: Cuba is a true democracy yada yada yada. The compulsory crowds they bused in looked somnolent. What is that about damning with faint praise?I've seen more enthusiasm at a mandatory inservice day. Gee, I guess that's what it kinda was.
So much for style. It seems Raul is either a policy wonk or a candidate for early Alzheimer's. He spent no less than ten minutes carrying on about their great new advance in the delivery of milk. After about five minutes of detailing the past milk delivery routes for one entire province, he trotted out the success of an experiment. Some bright communist light figured out they could save fuel by leaving milk behind for the producers in rural areas of that province, unpasteurized of course. Such a revolutionary triumph! 80kms saved. Ten minutes, I do not lie.
Poor Raul, he's got the symptoms right, but not the answer: Capitalismo. They need to increase industrial and agricultural production, increase efficiency in the production and distribution of same, he proposes. There is no reason they have to import so much, given the fertile land they have, he says. Right on, brother!
His answer: Blame the victim. Cubans have to work harder and smarter. Duh? Where's the incentive, Bubba? Donde esta la plata? Increase production so that Raul, his cronies, and the party apparatchiks can make more money, or so that it can all be exported? What does Joe Cuban, whose first thought every morning is how he's going to feed his family, get out of the deal, other than revolutionary glory? And that's all he's gonna get, because Raulito made it clear, "Socialism," read that communism is there to stay. He's not giving away his and his military's meal ticket.
Oh, and in keeping with the inservice theme, everything is going to be studied. Change will not come quickly. The irony is in the way he discusses the economy as if they had inherited an undeveloped country, not as if they hadn't trashed the economy for fifty years, reducing the country to using oxen, which Raul assured us are time-tested.
I found it tantalizing. I could have been optimistic, at least a little. I could have said to myself, all this socialism stuff and posturing against the US is just to save face. Maybe there will be economic reform, maybe the lives of ordinary Cubans will just get a little bit better. I could have been, but I wasn't. There was not a single word to lead me to believe that the oppressive yoke of the regime will get the least bit lighter.
Just read La Contra Revolucion. They noticed the milk fixation too. Funny none of the news reports mentioned it. I wonder why?
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