Cell Phone Ban in Cuba Lifted. ¿Y qué?

Today it was announced that raúl castro has lifted the ban on ordinary Cuban citizens owning a cell phone.  It's big news- even the Cuban national newspaper, Granma has it on the front page.

This news was not as good as one might think.  In fact, I was conflicted.  On the one hand, I am loathe to see raúl as a reformer because, well, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  It's hard to reconcile 50 years of tyranny with a few months of relaxed rules.  But part of me really wants to give him a chance and the benefit of the doubt.

I mean, you have to start somewhere, right?  Is raúl inching his way toward leaving a legacy as a reformer before reform is thrust upon him, perhaps?  Is he having second thoughts now that his brother is an invalid?  Does he truly want to ease in these changes that will benefit the Cuban people who for so long have been cut off from the rest of the world without cell phones, cable and satellite tv, internet and periodicals? (Save those ingenious few who have illegal satellite or cell phones.) It would appear to the average American that castro is moving in the right direction.  I won't deny that.  It's not a step backwards, at least.  And by doing this, it leads me to believe that fidel is truly in a vegetative state or sedated out of his mind, for I cannot imagine him going along willingly with this plan any other way.

But then you have to consider this fact:

"Telecommunications monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA said it would allow the general public to sign prepaid contracts in Cuban Convertible Pesos, which are geared toward tourists and foreigners and worth 24 times the regular pesos Cuban state employees are paid in."

The average Cuban makes 408 CUBAN pesos (or about $20 US). This is not the same as a convertible peso. Cubans do not get paid in convertible pesos, they get Cuban pesos.  Foreigners, though, can exchange their currency for Cuban Convertible Pesos, valued at about $1.12 USD. Cuban convertible pesos are worth 24 Cuban pesos. Got that? So, um, how are the Cuban people supposed to buy a cell phone with money they can't get?  Not to mention that even if they did have it, they can't afford it with what they earn. Maybe another change raúl might consider is currency reform- perhaps, oh, eliminating the convertible peso, for starters? And then he might want to consider raising wages.  There has been talk of this, but so far that's all it has been.  Talk.

So you see my conundrum. I do want to believe in raúl, that his black, withered, heart has somehow begun to pump again.  Who wouldn't want to believe that the man has had an all-too-late epiphany?  But I can't.  Not when the ban on cell phones being lifted seems little more than an empty gesture. Keep going raúl.  If not, your legacy will be as meaningless as lifting this ban.

More here.

Comments

[Kris Jennings]

Good post.

[anon]

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/thanks-raul-cubans-can-stay-in-hotels/n20080331182209990043