Change in the Wind

Change in the Wind

Something is different in Cuba these days. We've been hearing about reforms since Fidel Castro stepped down for health reasons a few years ago. Younger brother, Raul Castro, didn't inherit a bed of roses when he took over the reins of the Cuban government. There were food shortages, money shortages, and Cuba's ponderously slow to change, Stalin style Communist economy was being compared unfavorably with the modern Chinese economic miracle.

Based on their actions so far, Cuba isn't going to be another China, but Raul seems to know that changes have to be made, and he isn't shrinking from the task. One of the early steps was to encourage certain private businesses. A Cuban entrepreneur could set up a small 12-seat restaurant in his home and run it as a private business. Immediately thereafter, "paladares" began springing up, and today they are some of the best places to eat in Cuba. More recently the 12-seat limit was relaxed. Result: still more restaurants.

Another early move was cell phones. They are evident today even though they cost more than most people earn. A popular way to have one is to get a relative in America to subscribe for your cell phone service. Now cell phones are becoming indispensable as they did everywhere else. They save trips in a transportation-poor economy, they stimulate business, and the entire Cuban nation is moving toward being in touch.

A big change came when people could buy and sell their cars. Newer cars as well as the old 50's era American cars can be bought and sold freely today. One wonders what the old restrictions on car sales ever did for anyone in Cuba. Today, if you have a car you don't need, you can sell it and get some money, which of course you do need.

But the biggest change of all is only a few months old. In the past you didn't own your house (even if it had been in your family for generations). The state owned it, but they allowed you to arrange trades of homes with other house dwellers. It was a slow, cumbersome procedure, but that trading loophole was how Aniplant got its headquarters in 2006. But today, in one of the biggest concessions to individual liberty since the Revolution, a Cuban can sell his house or buy a different one. If he is wealthy (not likely), he can even have a second home. This is a monumental change as it has created a real estate market, and it has put money in the citizens' pockets.

Also restrictions on private businesses have been further relaxed. Sitting in a new "paladar" for lunch last week right across the street from Radio Progresso where Nora presents her weekly radio shows, we had some great local food at ridiculously low prices. While we dined, a woman came in, approached our table, and tried to sell us a bead necklace. She was more insistent than she should have been, and the owner had to show her the door. Then two men entered separately and solicited the diners to buy their CD's with Cuban music. They were polite and the owner let them pass through and leave on their own. Finally a bicyclist pedaled by with baskets full of fresh flowers.

There you have it—4 private businesspeople trying to run their enterprises—something unimaginable when I first visited Cuba in 2005.

Finally on our way out of town to Pinar del Rio last Monday, we drove through Playa, a section of Havana, for a long time.. Suddenly I realized I was seeing crews of painters, carpenters, masons, and other workmen swarming over a number of houses along our route. And I realized I had been seeing lots of such activity all over town. Well, what would you expect? When a person knows he can sell his home, he has a valuable asset, and he moves to take care of it.

Cuba has a long way to go before it has a healthy economy again, but the signs of change for the better are there to see. Indeed I saw more change in the past year than I had seen in the previous six years. People still pay high prices for food and cope with many shortages, but at least they can buy building materials to fix the front porch or paint the house.

These long overdue changes can't be anything but good.

Les Inglis