Party Like its 1986

April 20, 2011


In the Cuban Colada blog, reporter Frances Robles posted a fascinating article she found regarding the Cuban Communist Party's III Party Congress -- back in 1986.


Sound familiar?


DRAMATIC CHANGES ARE SWEEPING CUBA AS PARTY CONVENE


SAM DILLON Herald Staff Writer

"Revolution in the revolution" overstates the case, but Cuba is undergoing significant, perhaps watershed change, as President Fidel Castro convenes his Communist Party's Third Congress here today.

Fresh breezes have been blowing across the revolutionary island for over a year, as Castro has courted Cuba's Roman Catholic hierarchy, relaxed Stalinist cultural restrictions, permitted Cubans to own their own homes and cajoled many of his one-time enemies across Latin America into new friendships.

Equally dramatic has been Castro's reorganization of Cuban leadership. He has replaced at least 11 high officers, including the interior, transportation, health and planning ministers.

Influencing the political developments have been Castro's attempts to revamp Cuba's economy, to carry out what one year ago Castro called a "revolution in our economic conceptions."