Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Cuba | Economic Ignorance | Foreign Affairs | The Castros — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

He lives 90 miles off of the coast of Florida and is working to run a country into the ground:

At the recent metal workers' union congress in Havana little seemed to have changed since Fidel Castro, former Cuban president, became ill almost two years ago, temporarily handing power to his brother Raúl before resigning and leaving the country's leadership to him last February.

There was no jockeying among cadres for a piece of privatised industry pie. There was no talk of competition, markets, strikes or other action against management, or turning state-owned businesses into co-operatives. Speeches calling on members to work harder for Cuba, Fidel, Raúl and revolution resounded through the hall as they have for decades.

"The key is in perfeccionamiento empresarial" - perfecting the state company system - read the banner headline in Workers, the trade union federation's weekly newspaper.

The union meeting was the latest evidence that a debate fostered by Raúl Castro has for now been settled in favour of those who want to improve one of the world's most statist economies - not dismantle it - using a business model developed when the president was defence minister to improve the performance of armed forces suppliers.

I would say that you have to admire the persistence of the Cuban communists. But the reality is that you don't and you shouldn't.