CUBA:
New Freedoms
Unaffordable to Many
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA (IPS) - The
wall of prohibitions
that has marked Cuban
life for years has begun
to crumble, with the
lifting of the bans on
Cubans staying in
upscale tourist hotels
and buying mobile phones
and computers. The
obstacle now is the same
one faced by a majority
of people in any
developing country:
money, or lack thereof.
"It doesn't matter if I
have to spend 10 years
saving up to go to
Varadero. It’s my
right," a Cuban
colleague told IPS,
referring to a popular
resort. She said she was
never able to accept the
unwritten ban on Cubans
staying in hotels
reserved for tourists,
which dates back to the
1990s.
María Ramírez, a
70-year-old retired
nurse, said she is
grateful that she
belongs to "another
era," and treasures her
good memories. "I stayed
in the Habana Libre
hotel and the Hotel
Nacional when you could
pay in pesos, in the
early 1960s. I was able
to give myself that
treat, but I don't think
my daughter could afford
to stay a single night
there," she said.
With the Cuban monthly
salary averaging 400
Cuban pesos, equivalent
to us$17 dollars, hotels
that charge 70 to 100
convertible pesos (CUCs)
a night are off-limits
to people like Ángela,
Ramírez’s daughter.
CUCs, the hard currency
accepted in Cuba, sell
for 25 pesos or us$1.25
dollars at the CADECA
state exchange bureaus.
But above and beyond the
affordability of Cuba’s
tourist hotels, the
lifting of the ban has
restored the right of
Cubans, "regardless of
skin colour, gender,
religious beliefs or
national origin," to
stay in "any hotel," as
article 43 of the
constitution states.
"It is exciting to know
that if I want, I can
make the sacrifice of
such an expense," said
small farmer Rubén
Torres by telephone from
the province of Villa
Clara, referring as well
to the fact that he
could now purchase a
computer or cell-phone.
"I mean, I’m not
thinking about doing any
of those things, because
they are very expensive,
but the new measures are
interesting."
Up to late March, the
purchase of computers or
cell-phones was
basically limited to
foreigners or companies
in Cuba. The elimination
of the restrictions is
among the changes
ushered in by President
Raúl Castro since he
took over from his
ailing brother Fidel on
Feb. 24.
But having a home
computer would logically
increase the hankering
after Internet
connection, which is
still limited to certain
sectors of society, and
at rates that can run to
us$200 dollars a month.
According to official
figures, there were
335,000 computers in
Cuba in mid-2005, or
just under three per 100
population. In 2004,
only 13 of every 1,000
people in Cuba had
access to Internet,
although it is not
possible to verify how
many people actually
used the 480,000 email
accounts registered on
the island at that time.
While city dwellers have
begun calculating
whether they can afford
to purchase home
appliances whose sale
was restricted due to
energy shortages that
are now considered to
have been overcome,
measures are being
studied and adopted in
the countryside to
bolster productivity and
food production.
Earlier this year,
private farmers began to
receive better prices
for their products from
the state, and many
expect to benefit from a
programme that will lend
unused land to farmers
who belong to
cooperatives.
Through various measures
adopted over the last
few years, the state has
lent out land to small
farmers for the
production of coffee and
tobacco, or for raising
livestock. Faced with
the pressing need for
structural changes that
would boost productivity
in agriculture,
government officials are
now studying ways to
expand the distribution
of idle land, for the
production of other
crops.
Orlando Lugo, president
of the non-governmental
National Association of
Small Farmers (ANAP) and
a member of the Council
of State, said the plan
is currently being
analysed, and the
conditions are being put
in place to prevent the
widespread distribution
of land from turning
into "chaos."
Lugo mentioned a
restructuring that
includes the creation of
municipal agriculture
delegations and a land
oversight centre with
municipal and provincial
offices. He did not
explain how these new
structures, which have
already been set up in
most of the provinces,
would operate.
"We hope these bodies do
not become new
bureaucratic hurdles,"
said an expert who asked
not to be named.
State-run television,
meanwhile, reported that
51 percent of the
country’s arable land is
unused or
under-exploited.
The expert who spoke to
IPS said the deficient
food production in Cuba
and the steady increase
in food imports, along
with low wages that make
it virtually impossible
for many families to
cover their basic needs,
are among the most
pressing problems facing
the Cuban economy today.
The government expects
to spend 945 million
dollars this year just
to guarantee the basic
food supplies
distributed to all Cuban
families through the
ration book system,
which is used to ensure
that everyone has access
to a basket of basic
goods at heavily
subsidised prices.
However, the ration book
falls far from
completely satisfying
the daily dietary needs
of Cubans.
Apparently the system,
in effect since the
1960s, may be scrapped
as part of the wave of
changes to be brought in
by the government of
Raúl Castro, who
referred on Feb. 24 to
"the entitlements and
the subsidies running in
the millions presently
required by numerous
services and products
distributed on an
egalitarian basis, such
as those provided by the
ration card which under
the present conditions
of our economy become
irrational and
unsustainable."
"I understand that they
are studying the
possibility of doing
away with the ration
card," said the expert
who spoke to IPS. "The
problem is figuring out
how to protect the
neediest segments of
society." |
