The Cuban Revolt took place along with every little thing else during the global financial crisis. March 2011, more than half a million state workers in Cuba could be let go by the government; along with the economic and social disaster Cuba is already in. Cuba’s seismic economic shift comes about a week after Fidel Castro told Atlantic reporter Jeffery Goldberg the “Cuban model” does not work anymore. Numerous think just laying off government workers won’t solve Cuba’s, as the very last communist system left in the world, issues.
Workers left along by Cuban communist party
The Cuban government has made a plan it intends to keep. In this plan, more than half a million public sector workers can be out of a job. To awaken its economy from decades of slumber, more private enterprise can be encouraged in hopes that those let go could be absorbed. Cuba is not prepared with its government to deal with the changes brought on by the international financial crisis, states the New York Times. It is also recovering from the 2008 hurricanes that came through still. Tourism has dried up, the nation’s sugar crop has failed and its citizens are faced with rice shortages. Monday, Cuban Workers’ Central made a statement. This statement agreed that these changes have to happen as quickly as possible because the economy in the country is really bad right now.
Best of luck with the problem
The majority of the people fired within the Cuban layoffs will be those considered unproductive, overpaid and undisciplined workers. The Associated Press reports this with an internal Cuban Communist Party document. Any workers at Cuba’s ministries of sugar, public health, tourism and agriculture are in danger of losing jobs. Those are the first to go. The Cuban Workers’ Central hopes all fired workers will form their own private corporations. The government will also try to foist others onto foreign-run companies and joint ventures. The document lists the main challenges for laid off Cubans forced to make it on their own as little experience, low skill levels and a lack of initiative.
Why would Cuba believe this to be the solution?
Cuban experts are skeptical about the private sector’s ability to absorb fired government workers. The Wall Street Journal talked to director of the Institute for Cuban Studies at University of Miami, Jaime Suchlicki, who said that there can be nowhere else for fired workers to go. ”They probably will not be absorbed by the private sector because there is no private sector to absorb them,” he said. He thinks this is true. Other experts say Cubans who want to start a business face high taxes, lack of credit and foreign exchange, bans on marketing and burdensome government regulations. To help, the government made a list of “authorized” activities for self employment, including toy repairman, music teacher, piñata salesman and carpenter.
Further reading
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/14/world/americas/14cuba.html?_r=1 and hp
Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ipe0no99xWr_oUrAP-q6PnKLj8XgD9I7O0BO0
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704190704575489932181245938.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
