[R-G] The Dynamic Debut of Raúl Castro

[Anthony Fenton]

  The Dynamic Debut of Raúl Castro: Picking up the broken pieces of  
storm-battered, but now oil-rich Cuba, and moving ahead, with mixed  
prospects

• Island slammed by monstrous storms, but turns down U.S. aid
• Reforming Cuba during an epoch when scarcity and low living  
standards no longer are inevitable
• Good news from the E.U. and Geneva
• Offshore oil bombshell

Ever since the presidency formally changed hands on the occasion when  
Fidel Castro informally stepped down from his position as the island’s  
supreme leader, Cuba has been witnessing the build-up of its  
agricultural and industrial capabilities, and the country seemed to be  
on the brink of an economic epiphany. Although economic growth has  
been severely hampered as a result of the two Caribbean hurricanes  
that ferociously hit the island last summer, it now appears that the  
era of ‘Raúlism,’ which has commenced in earnest, will continue to be  
positive in terms of growth and diversification in spite of nature’s  
cruel blows and the legacy from the past. Change seems to be in the  
air, as economic good times could be around the corner. In essence,  
even U.S. State Department spokesman John Casey, who has not been  
entirely convinced that a quasi-democratic transition is taking place  
there, acknowledges that ‘Raúlism’ could lead to “greater openness and  
freedom for the Cuban people.”

[...]

http://www.coha.org/2008/11/the-dynamic-debut-of-raul-castro-picking-up-the-broken-pieces-of-storm-battered-but-now-oil-rich-cuba-and-moving-ahead-with-mixed-prospects/