Cuba's opening marks shift away from Fidel

By JOHN LYONS
April 2, 2008; Page A7, The Wall Street Journal

Cuba opened the doors of its tourist-only hotels to Cuban citizens this week and has ended its prohibition on private ownership of cellphones, the latest cracks to open in the Communist country since Raúl Castro took power about a month ago.

Mr. Castro has begun marking crucial differences in style from that of his brother, Fidel, who stepped down in February after nearly 50 years of rule.

The younger Mr. Castro has lifted restrictions on the ownership of computers, DVDs and home appliances such as pressure cookers and microwaves. Cuba's foreign minister even has suggested that the nation may ease prohibitions on overseas travel.

The moves suggest Mr. Castro is willing to chart a different path from his brother, who kept to a strict Communist ideology. Only once, during an economic depression in the early 1990s caused by the collapse of Cuba's former patron, the Soviet Union, did the elder Mr. Castro allow some limited reform.

The latest moves don't represent the kind of glasnost or perestroika -- political openness and economic restructuring -- that other Communist states carried out, and don't signal any kind of broad China-style opening that economists hoped to see. In an overhaul that began last year, the government is allowing private farmers to cultivate unused land. But, in general, few of the latest developments address the island's fundamental problems of food scarcity, low productivity and paltry job opportunity.

After taking power, Mr. Castro, 76 years old, vowed to resolve Cuba's deeper economic woes, which include low wages and a dual exchange rate that has essentially divided the island into haves and have-nots.

Cubans who receive cash transfers from relatives abroad or who work in the tourist industry have access to hard currency. State workers are paid in Cuban pesos, which aren't accepted at hotels or higher-end shops.

So far, Mr. Castro has introduced measures that cost the government nothing and benefit few. Easing restrictions on hotel stays, cellphones and other goods only benefit Cubans with hard currency. Hotels can cost $200 a night or more -- well out of the range of state workers who earn less than the equivalent of $20 a month in Cuban pesos.

Still, the changes represent a philosophical difference between the Castro brothers that could portend a shift in Cuban society. The younger Mr. Castro appears willing to allow class differences to come to the fore, a phenomenon that Fidel Castro fought bitterly to suppress. Increasingly, Cubans with money are allowed to spend it.

"Under Fidel, the idea was that unless everyone could afford it, no one could have it," said Philip Peters, a former State Department official who studies Cuba at the Lexington Institute, a think tank in Arlington, Va. "What this shows is that Raúl is not troubled by the idea that some people are going to make more money than others in this economy."

The decisions represent a more realistic view of the Cuban economy. Many of the measures legalize practices that already were commonplace. Before Raúl Castro took power, a big reason why Cubans were prohibited from hotels was the fear they would be exposed to foreigners and their views. Mr. Castro may be recognizing that Cubans and tourists already mix to a great degree and acknowledging that the change won't create any new political risk, some observers said.

Observers said Mr. Castro is betting that easing restrictions on things like cellphones and computers may ease the restlessness of many Cubans by giving them a sense that things are changing.

At the same time, the strategy could backfire: Giving Cubans a taste of freedom could stir demand for more accelerated changes.