Ruling by Headlines (and Caveats)

at 12:27 PM Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Cuban dictator Raul Castro is constantly ruling by headlines.

Every time he reveals a "thought" -- despite giving absolutely no details -- articles get written for months (and years) deciphering and speculating.

Yet ironically, Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship, where if Raul really wanted something done, he could just snap his fingers (as he has done for the last 52 years).

Note how many caveats in the opening paragraph of today's Miami Herald story on Raul's latest "thought" on migration:

Cuban ruler Raúl Castro said he is working to relax Cuba's migration policies, almost certainly referring to Cubans abroad who want to travel back to the island but perhaps also — and much more significantly — to Cubans on the island who want to travel abroad.

And how many times have we seen this AP headline?

Cuban lawmakers meet to consider economic changes

Well, it was recycled again today (also full of caveats):

Cuba's parliament began one of its business-packed twice-yearly sessions on Monday, a gathering that might enact some of the reforms that the government has promised in efforts to revive the stalled economy with a dose of private enterprise.

General guidelines for the reforms were approved by the Communist Party at a summit in April, but there has been relatively little action since. The party is not a lawmaking body, so it is up to parliament to turn the recommendations into reality.

But really, it might just happen, perhaps, but Raul could change his mind again, this time or next.