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By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer Paul Haven, Associated Press Writer 4
mins ago
HAVANA Cuba's communist economic model has come in for criticism from an
unlikely source: Fidel Castro.
The revolutionary leader told a visiting American journalist and a U.S.-Cuba
policy expert that the island's state-dominated system is in need of change, a
rare comment on domestic affairs from a man who has taken pains to steer clear
of local issues since illness forced him to step down as president four years
ago.
The fact that things are not working efficiently on this cash-strapped
Caribbean island is hardly news. Fidel's brother Raul, the country's president,
has said the same thing repeatedly. But the blunt assessment by the father of
Cuba's 1959 revolution is sure to raise eyebrows.
Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, asked
Castro if Cuba's economic system was still worth exporting to other countries,
and Castro replied: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore,"
Goldberg wrote Wednesday in a post on his Atlantic blog.
The Cuban government had no immediate comment on Goldberg's account.
Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations
who accompanied Goldberg on the trip, confirmed the Cuban leader's comment,
which he made at a private lunch last week.
She told The Associated Press she took the remark to be in line with Raul
Castro's call for gradual but widespread reform.
"It sounded consistent with the general consensus in the country now, up to and
including his brother's position," Sweig said.
In general, she said she found the 84-year-old Castro to be "relaxed, witty,
conversational and quite accessible."
"He has a new lease on life, and he is taking advantage of it," Sweig said.
Castro stepped down temporarily in July 2006 due to a serious illness that
nearly killed him.
He resigned permanently two years later, but remains head of the Communist
Party. After staying almost entirely out of the spotlight for four years, he
re-emerged in July and now speaks frequently about international affairs. He
has been warning for weeks of the threat of a nuclear war over Iran.
But the ex-president has said very little about Cuba and its politics, perhaps
to limit the perception he is stepping on his brother's toes.
Goldberg, who traveled to Cuba at Castro's invitation last week to discuss a
recent Atlantic article he wrote about Iran's nuclear program, also reported on
Tuesday that Castro questioned his own actions during the 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis, including his recommendation to Soviet leaders that they use nuclear
weapons against the United States.
Even after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba has clung to its communist
system.
The state controls well over 90 percent of the economy, paying workers salaries
of about $20 a month in return for free health care and education, and nearly
free transportation and housing. At least a portion of every citizen's food
needs are sold to them through ration books at heavily subsidized prices.
Cuba says much of its suffering is caused by the 48-year-old U.S. trade
embargo. The economy has also been slammed by the global economic downturn, a
drop in nickel prices and the fallout from three devastating hurricanes that
hit in quick succession in 2008. Corruption and inefficiency have exacerbated
problems.
As president, Raul Castro has instituted a series of limited economic reforms,
and has warned Cubans that they need to start working harder and expecting less
from the government. But the president has also made it clear he has no desire
to depart from Cuba's socialist system or embrace capitalism.
Fidel Castro's interview with Goldberg is the only one he has given to an
American journalist since he left office.
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Posted: 2010688@409.80
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stranger
Castro: Den kubanska modellen fungerar inte
Uppdaterat i dag. 11:12. Publicerat i dag. 11:10
Till en amerikansk journalist sade Fidel Castro i f rra veckan att landets
ekonomiska modell inte l ngre fungerar. Uttalandet kan ses som ett erk nnande
att staten har f r stor makt ver ekonomin i det fattiga landet.
Det r tidningen The Atlantics journalist Jeffrey Goldberg som skriver om h
ndelsen p sin blogg. N r Goldberg t lunch med Castro och dennes familj i f
rra veckan fr gade han om Castro trodde att den kubanska modellen fortfarande
var v rd att exportera.
Den kubanska modellen fungerar inte ens f r oss l ngre, svarade
ex-presidenten.
Annons:
Uttalandet kan ses som ett s tt f r Fidel Castro att uttrycka st d f r sin
bror, president Raul Castro. Presidenten har tidigare sagt att regeringens roll
i landets ekonomiska situation beh ver utv rderas och det har spekulerats i
huruvida de b da familjemedlemmarna har olika sikter om hur landet ska styras,
skriver CNN.
Med Castros uttalande mildras sannolikt spekulationerna.
Goldberg beskriver ven Castros stora intresse f r djur. Dagen efter lunchen
tog ex-presidenten med Goldberg till ett delfinarium d r Castro bad honom att
st lla fr gor till chefen f r akvariet. Pl tsligt ndrar sig Castro.
Han kan f rresten inte mycket om delfiner. Han r i sj lva verket en k
rnfysiker, s ger Castro.
N r Goldberg f rv nat fr gar akvariechefen varf r han d sk ter ett delfinarium
svarar Castro med ett mullrande skratt.
Vi satte honom h r f r att hindra honom fr n att bygga k rnvapen!
84- ringen har p senare tid blivit en allt mer h gljudd motst ndare till k
rnvapen. I en tidigare intervju med Goldberg svarade Castro p en direkt fr ga
att han ngrar sina uppmaningar till Sovjetunionen att skicka k rnvapenmissiler
till USA under Kubakrisen 1962.
Karl Dal n
karl.dalen@dn.se