Will a New President Mean Change for Cuba? | Inside Story

Who will succeed the Castros - Fidel and Raúl - has been the subject of intense speculation in Cuba for decades. We now know it is Miguel Diáz-Canel, the 57-year-old Vice President. He was sworn in as president on Thursday, replacing Raúl Castro. But Raul, who is 87, will continue to play a big role in policy decisions as head of the ruling Communist party.

The biggest challenges the new president faces are economic. Although unemployment stands at less than three percent, earnings are low. The government is the main employer and state salaries average 30 dollars a month. Reforms to boost private enterprise introduced by Raúl Castro have been accompanied by cuts in subsidies and pensions. And Cuba has a dual currency system that distorts the economy. One is used to pay wages and local goods; the other in tourism and foreign trade. Unifying the two would raise the price of imports.

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault | Guests: Carlos Alzugaray, former Cuban Ambassador to the EU; Vicki Huddleston, former US Chief of Mission in Havana; Andrew Otazo, Executive Director of the Cuba Study Group

Cuba without a Castro: A New Country on the Horizon?

Castro Calls on US to Establish Civilized Relations

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Weeks after shaking hands with Barack Obama at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, the Cuban president says he is ready to talk, but will not give up on socialist ideals

Cuba is ready for a warming of ties with the United States, but will never give in to demands to change Cuba’s socialist government and economy, President Raul Castro has said.

Speaking weeks after exchanging an impromptu handshake with US President Barack Obama at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, Mr Castro again signaled that he was ready to talk, but would not capitulate to America.

“If we really want to move our bilateral relations forward, we’ll have to learn to respect differences,” he said in the speech to Cuba’s parliament over the weekend. “If not, we’re ready to take another 55 years in the same situation.”

However he added that Cuba would not ever become like the US, saying “we don’t demand that the US change its political or social system and we don’t accept negotiations over ours.” » | Peter Foster, Washington | Sunday, December 22, 2013

L'absence de Castro alimente les rumeurs sur sa santé
LE FIGARO: Des blogueurs installés à Miami assurent que Fidel Castro est mort ou, à tout le moins, serait dans un état critique. Le régime rétorque qu'il n'en est rien. Au-delà de la rumeur, El Comandante n'a jamais été aussi longtemps absent de la scène publique.

«Fidel Castro est mort», assurent plusieurs blogueurs de Miami. «El Comandante va bien», réplique l'un de ses fils, le photographe Alex Castro Soto del Valle. «Il mène ses activités quotidiennes, lit et fait de l'exercice», a ajouté son fils, à Guantanamo, lors d'une exposition photographique dédié au leader historique de la Révolution cubaine. Le blogueur américano-cubain Alberto Muller, de qui est parti la rumeur vendredi, a assuré que Fidel Castro, qui a eu 86 ans en août dernier, ne pouvait plus se déplacer par ses propres moyens et avait été placé sous respirateur artificiel. D'autres opposants le donnent déjà pour mort. Alberto Muller jure que ses sources émanent de proches de la famille Castro. «Tous les deux ou trois mois, Twitter tue Fidel Castro», conteste le blogueur officiel Yohandry Fontana, qui souligne qu'à chaque fois, les rumeurs partent de Miami. » | Par Hector Lemieux | samedi 13 octobre 2012