Cuba publishes awaited details of economic changes

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110509/ap_on_bi_ge/cb_cuba_economy

HAVANA – Cuba made official on Monday what had been rumored for weeks: It is legalizing the sale of real estate and cars and expanding the ranks of private cooperatives that could serve as engines for the sputtering economy, among other major changes.

The Communist Party's newly released economic guidelines also say the government will study the possibility of letting Cubans travel abroad as tourists, a long-time promise of Cuba's leaders that has yet to be fulfilled.

But the guidelines give few specifics, meaning islanders will have to wait to see the fine print when the strategy is eventually translated into law by Cuba's National Assembly. The guidelines also establish a commission which is charged with implementing the changes.

The economic overhaul aims to pull Cuba out of a deep fiscal morass by enacting free-market reforms while preserving the Communist system ushered in by Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. It was approved unanimously last month at a landmark Communist Party Congress, but the final document was not released until Monday.


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[joshcryer]

1. I await actual details.

Not that I don't appreciate the post, but it remains to be seen if this is a truly perestroika-style move or what.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Cuba reform may permit foreign travel

Cuba says it is studying plans that would allow its citizens to travel abroad as tourists for the first time in more than 50 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13338495

Cubans will be allowed to travel abroad as tourists for the first time in more than 50 years, Raul Castro's government has announced.

The government’s new economic guidelines, released on Monday, gave no further details on the travel policy or a date at which it would be implemented, but the move was seen as an official decision to authorise foreign travel as part of a series of landmark reforms.

Though travel abroad is not banned outright, there is a de facto ban; Cubans who want to leave the Caribbean island face numerous bureaucratic obstacles, including receiving an invitation letter from abroad.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/05/201151045925574615.html

[naaman fletcher]

3. Interesting

Some have said here that cubans are free to travel

[dipsydoodle]

4. Broadly speaking they are

but need confirmed sponsorship.