What Cubans Are Dreaming and Shopping?

On April 2, 2008, I read an article in the Star Ledger,” In Cuba, the Moment Arrives to Shop and Dream.” This article states that since Raul Castro, has become the new President of Cuba, he has loosened control on consumer good and invited private farmers to plant tobacco, coffee and other crops on unused state land. This potentially could put more food on the table of all Cubans while helping to develop a new consumer economy. Raul Castro said when he took office; he would remove some of the more irksome limitations on the daily lives of the Cubans. Base on the current limited salary of government workers, most shoppers were just looking at the electronic gadgets previously available only to foreigners and companies. The Minister of Tourism announced that any Cuban with enough money could now stay in luxury hotels and rent cars; prior to this, Cubans were treated like second-class citizens in their own country because of these restrictions.

This article could be used to show my students about life after the Cuban Missile Crisis. While Fidel Castro stayed in power, there were relatively little changes in Cuba. Now that Raul Castro is in power, opportunities for the upper class have changed. Time will tell, if things change for the poorer people of Cuba. Giving the poor land is not enough; if they can’t afford the crops, the tools to cultivate the land or the marketing costs then their situation has not changed with the new administration. With Fidel Using this article, students could examine what else the Cubans would need to change their economic situation.