Young and Old Can't Find Raul's "Reforms"

at 10:46 AM Monday, May 30, 2011


BY: THE HILL


Since 2007, Cuba "experts" abroad have extolled the narrative of Raul Castro's "reforms."

Yet, Cubans on the island can't seem to find them (as today's AP story on Raul's 80th birthday clearly shows).

Whether young:

"Raul is going to turn 80, and the others are even older," said Ernesto, a 26-year-old Havana resident, who asked that he only be identified by his first name for fear he could get into trouble for speaking out about the country's leaders.

"To make real changes the country needs young people," he said. "Raul talks a lot about giving power to the young, but I ask you, 'Where are they?'"

Or old:

"I'm not so concerned about his age because he looks like he's in good health," said Marcelo Delgado, a 72-year-old retiree. "What I am worried about is that it seems to be taking a long time to bring in the economic changes he is talking about, and there isn't much time left."

They must not be as significant as the regime and its apologists would like you to believe.