Jimmy2 Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 By Myriam Marquez Renato Pérez Pizarro Frances Robles Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque were sacked not because they were "liberals" but because they were thwarting Raúl Castro's efforts to improve the effectiveness of the Cuban political system, an independent political commentator writes in Politikom, the website of the Russian Center for Political Technology. Given the scarcity of official information from Havana, Cuba-watching is not simple, writes Nikolai Pakhomov, so journalists and politologists -- "in the spirit of the partially forgotten Kremlinology" -- must guess what the removals mean. Was it "a revenge of Communist fanatics or democracy-building in record time?" Pakhomov's view is that Fidel Castro's explanation was correct. By "overindulging in 'the honey of power,' [Pérez Roque and Lage] began to behave unworthily. If we look at this explanation not from the point of view of revolutionary morals but from the perspective of political expediency, by hurrying to strengthen their positions of power the two men basically hindered the program for the improved effectiveness of the state's political system that Raúl Castro is trying to achieve." "In this case, the disciplined generals [who are now in control] may prove to be not an obstacle to democratization but facilitators of reform," Pakhomov concludes. "The next test for [the Cuban] regime will most likely be the forthcoming rapprochement with the United States." A warming of relations between the two countries "could be the most serious test for official Havana," as U.S. goods and travelers pour into Cuba. "Not even Fidel's entire charisma will eclipse the material benefits of a nonsocialist economy, as the Cubans learn more about it," the analyst writes. A "nonsocialist economy" could be a synonym for "capitalism."
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