Politics and Civil Society in Cuba

(Axel Boer) #1

The Cuban Revolution Today: Proposals of Changes, Scenarios, and Alternatives 47


adopting a fiscal policy based on studies of the real earnings of poten-
tial companies and individual taxpayers; (5) while the dual currency
exists, incorporating into the emergent economy the sectors and
workers that are more productive, giving biotechnology, pharmaceuti-
cals, and tourism special treatment concerning raw materials, electric-
ity quotas, and so on, so that they can guarantee the input of hard
currency that they produce for the country; (6) authorizing Cuban cit-
izens to organize medium-sized and small companies with the same
rights that are granted to foreign capital; and (7)developing legislation
on property that contemplates the new realities (a Cuban citizen today
is unable to sell his house or his car, for example, or to rent them,
since licenses for the latter have been suspended).
Cuban economists have presented recommendations on key top-
ics, among them taking action to eliminate the monetary duality, rede-
fining the material bases of accumulation, developing new formulae
for inserting Cuba into the international economy and its distributive
chains, and other ways of restructuring the Cuban economy departing
from the achievements and difficulties of its current strategy (see Car-
ranza, Gutiérrez, and Monreal, 1996; Monreal, 2007; 2008; Monreal
and Carranza, 1997; Pérez, 2010; Vidal, 2009; 2010; Nova, 2010;
Brundenius, 2009; Mesa Lago, 2009, 2010; and Domínguez, 1978;
1989; 2010).

Adjustment without “Dis-Socialization”

Regarding the social conquests—education, public health, social secu-
rity, and high levels of social justice—achieved during the past 50
years, which today are a heritage of the Cuban nation, there is a need
to work on a new model adapted to the new realities. This means sup-
porting and developing the national system of public health, educa-
tion, and social security with more decentralized and less
bureaucratized formulae and a relatively smaller burden on the central
budget of the state. The positive development of this new model will
be determined by the scenarios and policy alternatives that may con-
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