Word: raãºl
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Almost two years after Raúl Castro took over for his ailing brother Fidel, Cuba is launching a host of economic reforms. First came the right of ordinary Cubans to own cell phones, then to buy foreign electronics, rent cars and stay in tourist hotels. Now some private farmers can till their own land. A few questions about what it all means...
Early hopes that Raúl might be a reformer gave way to frustration with continued poverty and social restrictions. The changes may help for a while...
WILL THERE BE MORE REFORMS AHEAD? Probably, but mostly economic ones. These moves seem to emulate the Chinese model: Give people more access to hard currency and free markets while keeping a lock on political dissent. But Raúl has encouraged public debate on Cuba's system, and his recent agreement to allow in U.N. rights inspectors could prompt more...
Colombia's U.S.-backed military crossed into Ecuador on March 1 and killed up to 24 guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)--including a leader, Raúl Reyes (above). The incursion roiled an already tense neighborhood and prompted Ecuador and Venezuela to send troops to their borders with Colombia...
...Raúl's faction is credited with leaking a recent video in which a notable Fidelista, National Assembly leader Ricardo Alarcón, is hectored during a visit to the University of Havana. In the video, an angry student peppers a visibly flummoxed Alarcón with the kind of questions that usually get Cubans tossed into jail: Why does a worker have to toil two or three days just to be able to buy a toothbrush? Why can't Cubans freely travel abroad...