Word: gutierrezes
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...capitalism must move beyond such rudiments if Castro's regime is to survive. Even faithful party members believe the time for thoroughgoing change has come, though they fear the economic anarchy of postcommunist Eastern Europe. "It's a difficult moment," admits Manuel Gutierrez, who was born in 1959, the year of the revolution. "The system has much good and some bad. But things are changing. The young are taking over...
Like many of his University of Havana friends, Gutierrez runs a new venture in Cuba with little government control: in his case, ecotourism tours for Costa Rica's LACSA airline. "Now the young have a chance for their own revolution, a revolution in the economy, a revolution in service," he says, grinning because he knows what people think of service in communist countries. And political change? "Yes, that must come too," he says. "In the '60s, '70s and even the '80s, the Cuban system was fine. Now, no. Often you hear people say, 'I am not my father...
...Gutierrez is, nevertheless, a Communist Party member and prefers to work inside the system for change, though he knows the transition will be painful. Technocrats like him who earn part of their salaries in U.S. currency can often afford to buy foreign cars, rent big houses, take trips abroad and eat at dollars-only restaurants. Brought up to believe in the egalitarianism of Cuban socialism, some try to share, but they are often rebuffed by friends offended by their foray into capitalism. "It's difficult when I have $20 in my pocket and my friends have 20 pesos," admits Gutierrez...
...yesterday, marked Fidel Castro's first recognition of his opposition during three decades in power. Robaina met with Ramon Cernuda of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and Reconciliation, Alfredo Duran, a Cuban-born former chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and longtime Miami-area political activist, and Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, a guerrilla commander during the revolution. "The Cuban government has taken a step that they hadn't taken for 35 years -- to sit down and talk with the opposition and recognize its legitimacy," Cernuda said. Neither side went into details of the talks, which concerned acceleration of free-market...
Many share the desire of Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, founder of a more moderate and less monied organization called Cambio Cubano (Cubans for Change), to see a more measured policy toward the Havana regime, including direct negotiations with Castro to encourage a phased-in democracy. Says Menoyo: "We want the people to emerge from this with their lives, liberty and their rights. The measures that Clinton is taking serve only to make 11 million Cubans -- everyone except Castro -- suffer." He complains that his organization cannot get Washington's ear because it has less money and political influence than Mas Canosa...