End of Castro Dynasty in Cuba as Raul Steps Down

[Orgasmo]

Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul a few years before he passed away, and now Raul is stepping down as the leader of Cuba. The 60 years period of Castro family in power is officially over.

More drastic economic reforms will likely be on the way, and perhaps improved relationship with US.

HAVANA — Raúl Castro, who took over from his brother Fidel 12 years ago and led Cuba through some of its biggest changes in decades, is expected to step down on Thursday and hand power to someone outside the Castro dynasty for the first time since the Cuban revolution more than half a century ago.

During his two terms as president, Mr. Castro, 86, opened up his Communist country to a small but vital private sector and, perhaps most significantly, diplomatic relations with the United States. It was a notable departure from his brother’s agenda, yet it was possible only because he, too, was a Castro.

His handpicked successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, 57, is a Communist Party loyalist who was born a year after Fidel Castro claimed power in Cuba. His rise ushers in a new generation of Cubans whose only firsthand experience with the revolution has been its aftermath — the early era of plenty, the periods of economic privation after the demise of the Soviet Union, and the fleeting détente in recent years with the United States, its Cold War foe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/world/americas/raul-castro-resigns-cuba-president.html

 

[Headkicktoleg]

All hail President Elian Gonzalez!

 

[JamesRussler]

Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul a few years before he passed away, and now Raul is stepping down as the leader of Cuba. The 60 years period of Castro family in power is officially over.

More drastic economic reforms will likely be on the way, and perhaps improved relationship with US.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/world/americas/raul-castro-resigns-cuba-president.html

I nominate Hector Lombard or Yoel Romero for president – the only 2 Cubans I know!

 

[Trotsky]

This won't change anything, as Raul (and late Fidel) already liberalized the economy and did everything they could possibly be expected to do to invite normalization of US relations. And they were successful, until we elected a moron.

Also, there was never the expectation of a hereditary monarchy, as Fidel explicitly limited the influence of his children, but Raul was a leading figure in the revolution and provisional government.

More drastic economic reforms will likely be on the way, and perhaps improved relationship with US.

See above. If this improves US relations, it will be purely because the US hasn't had rational opposition to the country in years and was just using the Castros as a bogeyman. I do not expect any meaningful economic reforms to what is already one of the most stable Latin American countries, and happiest Caribbean island.

 

[bobgeese]

Wow. It’s been a week full of surprises.

 

[wlu.29]

 

[Trotsky]

Wow. It’s been a week full of surprises.

This has been publicly planned for two years.

 

[Trotsky]

Politically, the Cuban people are probably the single most inspiring people on earth. Culturally, their music is pretty great too.

 

[bobgeese]

This has been publicly planned for two years.

Cool, I hope for the best for their people.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

So, how soon until I can finally get a box of top of the line Cuban cigars without anymore hassle?

 

[Trotsky]

So, how soon until I can finally get a box of top of the line Cuban cigars without anymore hassle?

Weren't they officially allowed under Obama?

For some reason, I was thinking Trump's new de-liberalization actually exempted cigars. But that's probably wrong.

 

[The Diplomat]

Politically, the Cuban people are probably the single most inspiring people on earth. Culturally, their music is pretty great too.

I always thought the commie thing was a joke. Are you full blown Bolshevik?

 

[Orgasmo]

So, how soon until I can finally get a box of top of the line Cuban cigars without anymore hassle?

My buddy was in Cuba last year. He picked up some Romeo Y Julieta for $0.50 cents each. They're absolutely dirt cheap over there, since the same cigars will run you about $9 to $11 in Canada.

 

[Trotsky]

I always thought the commie thing was a joke. Are you full blown Bolshevik?

Well, no, the Bolsheviks were a distinctly right-wing deviation of the communist movement of their time. If I had to bear an affiliation at that time, I'd have been a left-communist affiliated with the Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks were a very opportunistic and urban-centric faction, and they fairly quickly abandoned most dictates of Marxist ideology upon taking power.

I am amenable to the utilitarian justifications of Leninism (seizure of the state, crude reorganization and centralization of the economy for the purpose of stability) as a product of necessity, particularly in war time, but I definitely do not subscribe to the Bolsheviks' later insistence on bureaucratic state capitalism.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

Weren't they officially allowed under Obama?

For some reason, I was thinking Trump's new de-liberalization actually exempted cigars. But that's probably wrong.

The last I checked, the only way to get them legally into the states was very restricted.

Only tourist are allowed to bring back a small amount of cigars.

The cigars you are allowed to bring back into the states have to be under a certain dollar amount (I can't remember the exact dollar amount, but it was under $250.00 USD). Some of the finest cigars Cuba produces (think of the huge, long cigars you see Fidel Castro smoking in famous pictures) can often run in excess of $300.00 USD a piece.

I'm hoping to some day soon be able to order a whole box of Havana's finest online as easily as I buy books on Amazon. We aren't quite there yet.

 

[The Diplomat]

Well, no, the Bolsheviks were a distinctly right-wing deviation of the communist movement of their time. If I had to bear an affiliation at that time, I'd have been a left-communist affiliated with the Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks were a very opportunistic and urban-centric faction, and they fairly quickly abandoned most dictates of Marxist ideology upon taking power.

I am amenable to the utilitarian justifications of Leninism (seizure of the state, crude reorganization and centralization of the economy for the purpose of stability) as a product of necessity, particularly in war time, but I definitely do not subscribe to the Bolsheviks' later insistence on bureaucratic state capitalism.

Do you believe communism and/or socialism are better economic systems than capitalism? Or do you think a socio-capitalistic society works best?

 

[Trotsky]

The last I checked, the only way to get them legally into the states was very restricted.

Only tourist are allowed to bring back a small amount of cigars.

The cigars you are allowed to bring back into the states have to be under a certain dollar amount (I can't remember the exact dollar amount, but it was under $250.00 USD). Some of the finest cigars Cuba produces (think of the huge, long cigars you see Fidel Castro smoking in famous pictures) can often run in excess of $300.00 USD a piece.

I'm hoping to some day soon be able to order a whole box of Havana's finest online as easily as I buy books on Amazon. We aren't quite there yet.

Okay, yeah, that sounds right.

Cuban cigars are too much for my blood. I'm a long-time cigarette smoker, so I habitually inhale cigars. Doing that is fine with weak American tobacco, but I inhaled a Cuban once and about coughed up a lung.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

My buddy was in Cuba last year. He picked up some Romeo Y Julieta for $0.50 cents each. They're absolutely dirt cheap over there, since the same cigars will run you about $9 to $11 in Canada.

Romeo Y Julieta's are what I settle for until Cubans are readily available.

 

[Orgasmo]

Romeo Y Julieta's are what I settle for until Cubans are readily available.

You do know Romeo Y Julieta is Cuban right? My friend bought it straight from the factory in Havana. They only sell the Dominican ones in US because of the dumb embargo.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

You do know Romeo Y Julieta is Cuban right? My friend bought it straight from the factory in Havana. They only sell the Dominican ones in US because of the dumb embargo.

Yep, I have to settle for 2nd best in Cigar tobacco. Small price to pay for living in the land of the free.