More Change in Cuba
Acting Cuban President Raúl Castro recently complained to lawmakers about inefficiencies in the island’s economy, saying that there is no excuse for the country’s severe transportation and food production problems. Inefficient public transportation is among the many local complaints, along with dilapidated housing, insufficient food and government paychecks that fail to cover basic expenses.
Raúl Castro has also taken the Communist system to task. “The revolution cannot lie,” he was quoted as saying in the Communist Party newspaper Granma. “This isn’t saying that there have been comrades who have lied, but the imprecision, inexact data, consciously or unconsciously masked, can no longer continue.” This leaves experts wondering if a Cuban glasnos lies ahead.
Meanwhile, Spanish surgeon Dr. José Luis GarcÃa Sabrido was flown by Cuban chartered jet to examine Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The Spanish surgeon, an expert on diseases of the digestive tract, issued a statement that Castro does not have cancer.
Cuban officials have maintained secrecy about Castro’s condition, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied that Castro suffers from cancer or any chronic illness.