What will changes bring?

Fidel Castro’s apparent return to a leadership role here in Cuba is the subject of much debate in the international press (usually from individuals who are keen for the old man to die, in the vain hope that a period of disaster-style capitalism would follow.)

In fact, Cubans I’ve met are worried about a post-Castro era, as many have only known his rule. While there are serious issues about freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press, economic health is hardly guaranteed by totally opening up one’s country to the international community (think of Argentina in the 1990s, when World Bank “assistance” caused societal melt-down.)

It seems more likely that change will be gradual, and necessarily so. The form of these adjustments should be decided by Cubans and those in the region, not office-bound bureaucrats in Washington or London (or execs in the US who want to place Starbucks on every Havana street-corner.)

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