As Castro fades, a crop of new leaders

As Castro fades, a crop of new leaders

Interviews with two younger political figures suggest a gradual opening both economically and socially.
By Tom Fawthrop | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

HAVANA, CUBA – In a country that is in the process of bidding a long farewell to its ageing revolutionaries, Mariela Castro brings an expectation of change along with an air of youthful passion. As the director of Cenesex (the National Sex Education Center) Ms. Castro is eager to consider where Cuba should go in a postrevolutionary era.

"We have many contradictions in Cuba," says Castro, the daughter of Raúl Castro, Cuba's de facto leader and brother of ailing President Fidel Castro. A Spanish doctor arrived in Cuba last week, reenergizing speculation about the health of the Cuban leader, who has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery in July. "We need to experiment and to test what really works, to make public ownership more effective, rather than simply adopting wholesale free-market reforms," Ms. Castro says.

Leaders like Ms. Castro may indicate the extent to which a post-Castro Cuba may be willing to liberalize, both economically and socially. As Cuba's old-guard leadership fades, this new generation - made up primarily of the sons and daughters of those who fought in the 1959 Communist revolution - is perhaps more sympathetic to economic reforms and more-liberal social policies.

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Prieto, because of a moment on Cuban television five years ago, is known as one of the few Cabinet ministers who has ever dared to challenge the president. Cubans recall a news segment in which Castro and Prieto appeared together. After Castro blamed his minister for the fact that so many artists were leaving the country to work abroad, Prieto defended himself. Millions watched as their supreme leader accepted his error and apologized to Abel Prieto.


http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p06s01-woam.html


The policies of reproductive freedom and sex education could not be more liberal. Women have full access to information about sexuality and birth control. A notable difference between Cuba and many other Latin American nations, especially the poorest ones, is the lack of young women (girls) carrying babies around.

Imagine our president apologizing on camera to someone.

with their misogynist and homophobic propaganda, their anti-choice agenda, and their desire to have their schools subsidized by the state.

There is a real wall separating church and state in Cuba, a wall that we could use in the USA.

I favor such a wall. Churches should not be able to run educational establishments. Education should be in the hands of public institutions accountable to the people, and instructors should have a scientific worldview.

I've never understood how, with separation of church and state, we give churches tax-exempt status

I guess that is why they excommunicated Castro. The Catholic Church could not stand being put in their place.

it will be interesting to see what happens with Cuba. Either way I hope the US doesn't do what it most likely will...that is annex, invade or whatnot.

Castro, is an interesting character to say the least and there are some things I dislike strongly about him (the repressiveness, lack of real democracy, etc.) but other things I respect (standing up to the US, universal education, healthcare, etc.). I must admit that Cuba is better off than most caribbean countries...I mean, just look at Haiti and others.

Well, we'll have to wait and watch. Hopefully some more democratic brand of socialism can emerge.

"Economic reform" is just a signboard for selling off the people's assets and returning to the old corrupt order. Cuba could use some socially progressive policies, however, concerning sexual orientation and gender.

Gays Wed In Cuba:
The Second Revolution
http://www.thegully.com/essays/cuba/010621gay_cuba.html

JUNE 21, 2001. A few hours before floats, rainbow flags, and a sea of humanity filled Sao Paulo's central Avenida Paulista last Sunday for Latin America's biggest ever Pride Parade, Agence France Presse reported that, in Cuba, two gay male couples also made history by publicly holding the first gay wedding there.

Four local boys, Michel and Ángel, and Juanito and Alejandro, ranging in ages from 17 to 22, exchanged symbolic vows before their families and friends at a neighborhood recreation center in one of the poorest sections of San Miguel del Padrón, a working-class suburb southeast of Havana.

Dressed in white, with Ángel and Juanito as brides, the four declared themselves "very happy" and said they planned to honeymoon together at one of the modest camping sites the government runs for Cubans.

I don't expect the Catholic Church, or the Cubans in Florida, to support LGBT rights.