I am in favor of ending the embargo too. I think embargos always do more harm than good.
--- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, "Walt L" <muleshet@...> wrote:
>
>
> The best thing we could do to end the
> Castro's reign would be to end the senseless embargo! Let the Cuban
> people see the goods we can ship into the country. Walt
>
>
>
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>
> --- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, "zeus32117"
> <zeus32117@> wrote:
> >
> > Do you want U.S. to be like Cuba?
> >
> > --- In Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com, elaine mckay
> glyndon47@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Cuba has free education and health which people from many country go
> to take advantage of
> > >
> > > --- On Wed, 22/12/10, Susan sailorgirl43@ wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Susan sailorgirl43@
> > > Subject: Re: [Politics_CurrentEvents_Group] Cuban Reforms
> > > To: Politics_CurrentEvents_Group@yahoogroups.com
> > > Received: Wednesday, 22 December, 2010, 11:09 AM
> > >
> > >
> > > Â
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I find this situation interesting and wonder what will become of it.
> Cuba has been Chavez's inspiration if you will and so as we watch
> this metamorphosis I wonder how it will play out in his
> mind.Â
> > >
> > >
> > > I think the Cuban people want to have more say in their lives and
> government and so will insist on playing a bigger role in their
> government. In any case it is an interesting situation.Â
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 1:09 PM, Gary garyrumor2@ wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Â
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Cuban Reforms
> > > December 21st, 2010 Cuba seems to be moving to some form of mixed
> economy. It would be interesting to see a report that clearly stated
> where Cuba is going with this. President Castro says they are not giving
> up socialism but it is not exactly clear what they mean by that. Are
> they moving to a Swedish model as Gorbachev wanted to do in Russia but
> failed to achieve. Are they following the Chinese model? What exactly
> are the party bosses offering the Cuban people and will there be input
> from the general populace? It is my thinking that the broader the
> participation the stronger the basis for any reforms.
> > >
> > > There is going to be a party congress soon and at that time either
> the new economic plan will be presented for rubber stamp approval or
> there may be genuine debate over the means to achieve the goal of
> improving the viability of the Cuban socialist experiment. Will there be
> an opening up of debate within the body politic? There certainly seems
> to be a rumbling on the streets, but formal discourse between all
> elements of the society, I have my doubts. It seems the leadership
> simply determined that a new course must be taken and the people are to
> be expected to follow. Without informed discourse I fear a Russian style
> free for all with the behind the scenes bosses manipulating the results
> for their own benefit. Perhaps I am wrong and there are more principled
> players here, but who is to determine that the changes are beneficial
> for the people as a whole? Are they lifting the hand of paternalism and
> replacing it with a modified laissez faire? We will find
> > > out soon enough. Let us hope that the changes are fair and encourage
> the people of Cuba to defend what is good about their system and not
> just go whole hog down the capitalist road. Efficency in capitalist
> terms of production should not be the goal of a just society.
> > > From Terraviva
> > >
> > > CUBA: Socialism Needs More Taxes, Fewer Subsidies
> > > By Patricia Grogg
> > >
> > > HAVANA, Dec 20, 2010 (IPS) - Cubans are delving deeper into economic
> change, which means new taxes and an end to the state subsidies that for
> decades were a symbol of the equality so highly extolled under the Cuban
> Revolution.
> > >
> > > "Times are coming that could be traumatic for the population," said
> a former activist of the governing Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), who
> closely followed the delayed television broadcast of parliamentary
> sessions about reforms to be debated at the next party congress.
> > >
> > > The former member of the PCC rank and file agrees with the official
> line that there are no alternatives to the changes that the Raúl
> Castro government is applying and will continue to implement as part of
> a broad modernisation of the economic model. "But I'm worried that the
> citizens can't see the horizon clearly," the source, who asked not to be
> identified, told IPS.
> > >
> > > The four days of parliamentary sessions ended Saturday with a
> critical speech from President Castro, who again stressed that the
> changes under way are irreversible and are intended to reinforce
> socialism on this Caribbean island. Furthermore, he recognised that
> mistakes were made in the last five decades that now have to be
> remedied.
> > >
> > > "Either we make corrections or we have run out of time to continue
> at the edge of the precipice, and we will sink ourselves, and we will
> sink… the efforts of entire generations," said the president, who
> also warned that his hand would not tremble in dealing with
> functionaries at any level of government who fail to carry out their
> duties.
> > >
> > > Castro said there will be greater demands and new disciplinary
> measures for handling "transgressions" of the established economic
> policy line. He added that it is better for those who feel incapable of
> meeting their responsibilities to submit their resignations before they
> are dismissed from their posts.
> > >
> > > Due to the poor performance of state officials and productive
> deficiencies, Cuba lost an estimated 120 million dollars in missed
> opportunities in nickel exports, and 65 million in sugar exports â€"
> for similar reasons.
> > >
> > > But the biggest source of worry among Cuban families remains the
> possibility of lost jobs, as more than one million positions are to be
> slashed from the government sector. Furthermore, the decades-old system
> of food rations is coming to an end.
> > >
> > > Although the ration books do not meet the monthly household needs of
> most families, many still see them as the only sure and orderly way of
> obtaining basic goods at low prices. Thanks to the government subsidies,
> accessible pricing has reigned for set quantities of rice, sugar,
> cooking oil, grains, eggs and some types of meat.
> > >
> > > "I agree, it's insufficient, but it assures me that minimum. They
> took potatoes out of the ration book and immediately it became difficult
> to buy them. Dry peas disappeared. You can't get them anywhere," retired
> professor MarÃa Caridad Rivera complained to IPS.
> > >
> > > Castro admitted that this is a delicate problem, but criticised the
> fact that the ration book continues to be seen as "a social achievement
> that should never be abolished," because today it is a symbol of
> "egalitarianism," benefitting even those who don't need it, whether they
> work or not.
> > >
> > > "In the future, subsidies will exist, not for products but for the
> Cuban men and women who for one reason or another need them," announced
> the president, reiterating that in both phasing out the ration books and
> cutting the government's "bulky" payrolls, nobody will be left
> unprotected.
> > >
> > > According to Economy and Planning Minister Marino Murillo,
> maintaining the basic food basket through the ration system costs the
> Cuban government just over 1 billion dollars annually, but the current
> average income does not allow for it to be abolished overnight. "It will
> have to be eliminated gradually, since we cannot make a radical
> transformation," he said.
> > >
> > > In terms of employment, the government hopes that some 250,000
> people will join the ranks of more than 143,000 self-employed workers in
> 2011. To that end, a tax system is being implemented that is aimed at
> giving them a boost â€" though some economists consider it excessive
> while not doing much for stimulating the sector, especially in the early
> years.
> > >
> > > Another portion of the "surplus" state employees will be shifted to
> areas where workers are needed, or could be incorporated into the
> farming or construction sectors, which both suffer labour deficits. The
> "readjustment" of the government payrolls means cutting a half-million
> positions in the first quarter of 2011 alone.
> > >
> > > Taxes on private work include rates of 25 to 50 percent on income,
> 10 percent on sales or services, 25 percent for hiring workers, and 25
> percent for contributions to the social security system.
> > >
> > > Finance and Pricing Minister Lina Pedraza said they are working on
> tax legislation to gradually tax salaries, housing, public services and
> idle land. They will also consider a special tax for people who don't
> work, despite being capable, but who make use of social benefits.
> > >
> > > The 6th Congress of the PCC will be held Apr. 16-19, 2011, preceded
> by public debates through February about the economic and social
> development strategies to be adopted, Castro said.
> > >
> > > The 78-year-old president stressed that "because of the law of
> life," the congress will be the last for the majority of the "historic
> generation" that led this island nation since the triumph of the Cuban
> Revolution in January 1959.
> > >
> > > "The time we have left is short. We have the obligation to use the
> weight of moral authority we have with the people to leave the route
> plotted out… and we have the elemental duty to correct the
> mistakes we have made in these five decades of constructing socialism,"
> said Raúl Castro. (END)
> > >
> >
>
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