Raul Castro touts economic changes

So, Raul Castro has admitted that Socialism is basically a complete failure and they now have to turn to Capitalism to save it...yeah, makes real sense. I guess when the average salary is $20/month and most of the country lives off government handouts then you probably end up with no money....apart from the "funds" that stupid countries send them for free...think Russia and now South Africa. It's actually quite funny that he's warned his people that they now have to work in the new Cuba and can no longer rely on the state for hand-outs. Apparently, people equate Socialism with freebies there...oh, how the mighty commies have fallen. Poor American Socialists - who's their Socialist role-model gonna be now??

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Raul Castro told legislators Saturday that the future of the country's revolution is at stake as the government tries to institute sweeping economic reforms, adding that the changes are meant to strengthen socialism — not replace it.

Cuba has announced it will lay off a half-million workers from bloated state-run enterprises, while simultaneously allowing more free enterprise. It has also begun to scale back many of the subsidies Cubans have come to rely on to compensate for salaries that average just $20 a month.

Castro has argued that the changes are needed to boost notoriously low productivity, and that once that happens, living standards will begin to rise. He urged his countrymen to embrace the changes, and warned that anybody who doesn't will be left behind.

"The life of the revolution is in the balance," Castro said in a two-hour speech closing out a twice-yearly meeting of the island's national assembly. He repeated his contention that the dollop of limited capitalism being injected into the economy does not mean the end of the revolution's ideal to create an egalitarian utopia.

"The strategic economic changes are being made to sustain socialism," he said. "They are to preserve and strengthen socialism, so as to make it irrevocable."

Still, Castro had a message to those who wonder if the Cuban government is serious this time around — since past economic openings have fizzled.

He said the changes are "the result of profound meditations and analysis, and we can assure you this time there will be no going back."

He urged Cubans not to listen to naysayers — particularly in the United States — who have dismissed the economic changes as window-dressing.

He also warned his countrymen that they'll have to work in the new Cuba, and can no longer rely on the state for handouts.

"Many of us Cubans confuse socialism with freebies and subsidies, and equality with egalitarianism," the president said.

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