Raul Castro proposes political term limits in Cuba
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press
HAVANA -- For the first time since he and his brother came to power more
than a half century ago, President Raul Castro proposed term limits for
Cuba's leaders, admitted that errors have left the country with no
obvious successor and promised to rejuvenate the island's political class.
The term-limit proposal made Saturday at the launch of a key Communist
Party summit would make it all but impossible for a repeat of the
Castros' own political dynasty, which has dominated Cuba since their
1959 revolution. But it would have little practical impact on Raul's future.
The 79-year-old leader officially took over from his brother in 2008,
meaning he wouldn't be term-limited out of office until at least 2018,
depending on how the law is written.
Castro promised to launch a "systematic rejuvenation" of the government.
He said politicians and other important officials should be restricted
to two consecutive five-year terms, including "the current president of
the Council of State and his ministers" - a reference to himself.
The proposal was made toward the end of a 2 1/2-hour speech in which the
Cuban leader forcefully backed a laundry list of changes to the
country's socialist economic system, including the eventual elimination
of ration books and other subsidies, the decentralization of the island
nation's economy and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.
He said that the party is far along in a study of whether to legalize
the sale of cars and homes, which have been all but frozen since the
revolution.
Still, Castro drew a line in the Caribbean sand across which the reforms
must never go, telling party luminaries that he had rejected dozens of
suggested changes that would have allowed the concentration of property
in private hands.
Castro said the country had ignored its problems for too long, and made
clear Cuba had to make tough decisions if it wanted to survive.
"No country or person can spend more than they have," he said. "Two plus
two is four. Never five, much less six or seven - as we have sometimes
pretended."
Delegates to the Congress will be breaking up in committees and meeting
behind closed doors on Sunday and Monday, before the Congress closes on
Tuesday, presumably with another speech by Castro.
Dressed in a white guayabera shirt, the Cuban leader alternated between
reassurances that the economic changes were compatible with socialism,
and a brutal assessment of the mistakes the country had made.
Castro said the monthly ration book of basic foods, perhaps the most
cherished of subsidies, represented an "unbearable burden ... and a
disincentive for work."
He said the changes he is proposing will come "without hurry, but
without pause."
Still, he added that "there will never be room for shock therapy" in Cuba.
Of term limits, Castro said he and his brother had made various attempts
to promote young leaders, but that they had not worked out well -
perhaps a reference to the 2009 firing of Cuba's photogenic foreign
minister and vice president, who were later accused of lusting too
obviously for power.
"Today we face the consequences of not having a reserve of substitutes
ready," Castro said.
Along with the proposals on economic changes, the term-limit idea does
not yet carry the force of law since the party gathering lacks the
powers of parliament. But it's all but certain to be acted on quickly by
the National Assembly.
The Communist Party is the only political organization recognized on the
island, and most politicians are members. Cubans vote for municipal and
national assemblies, which in turn elect senior leaders including the
president. Currently there is no set limit on their terms.
Since taking office, Raul Castro has leased tens of thousands of
hectares of fallow government land to small farmers, and enacted reforms
that allow Cubans to go into business for themselves, rent out homes and
hire employees.
Cubans are watching to see whether other changes emerge from the
Congress - such as the end of a near-total ban on buying and selling
private property, or details on promises to extend bank credits.
The other major prong of the modernization drive - a goal of laying off
half a million state workers in jobs that are unproductive and redundant
- has been delayed indefinitely.
Another key task of the Congress is to select a new Communist Party
leadership. Raul Castro presumably will be named to succeed older
brother Fidel as first secretary, but it is unknown who will be tapped
to be No. 2.
Castro's speech about rejuvenating the political system added to hopes
that a younger politician might take up that mantle, perhaps signaling a
preferred successor.
"If there's any changes in leadership, especially any promotion of
someone from the younger generation, that would give a hint as to who
might be a possible future president," said Philip Peters, a Cuba
specialist who is vice president of the Arlington, Virginia-based
Lexington Institute.
Associated Press writers Peter Orsi, Andrea Rodriguez and Anne-Marie
Garcia contributed to this report.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/16/2170161/cuba-marks-bay-of-pigs-opens-pivotal.html
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