Cuba's Call for Economic Detente

Although Cubans seem to have accepted Raúl Castro's legitimacy, his brother's absence has been unsettling to many, who had grown accustomed to his four-hour speeches and impromptu neighborhood visits.

It is almost certain that Fidel Castro continues to wield great influence, but it is equally clear that Cubans are preparing themselves emotionally for life without him. In some respects, this past year has unspooled like a dry run for the post-Fidel era and for his certain evolution into a historic symbol, a la Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the revolutionary figure whose legend has grown dramatically in the decades since his death.

"Che is more active now than he ever was," renowned Cuban poet Pablo Armando Fernández said in an interview. "Fidel will always live in the minds of Cubans. He is electric -- like a messiah."

Fidel Castro is widely considered to have been an impediment to efforts by his brother and other political figures to bring more businesses to Cuba, where hundreds of miles of spectacular coastline are a developer's dream. Cuba's economy finally opened in the 1990s, after the economic crisis provoked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had heavily subsidized the brothers' rule. Faced with a starving populace that was grilling banana peels and eating house cats to survive, Fidel Castro relented, allowing tourism businesses, which are administered by generals under Raúl Castro's command.

The Spanish hotel giant Sol Melia built beach resorts and Havana hotels, while other European and Canadian firms also established footholds. Top-line Havana hotel rooms now go for $250 a night or more in a city where workers are paid about $30 a month. U.S. companies are prohibited from doing business in Cuba because of a four-decade-long embargo.

Foreign investment plateaued as Cuba's economy improved early this century. Raúl Castro, friends say, was unable to persuade his brother to further open the economy. But Thursday's remarks could signal that Raúl Castro has consolidated power enough to continue advancing his agenda. It is also likely that any investment would come from Cuban allies such as Venezuela and China.

On Thursday, Raúl Castro even suggested that Cuba's sworn enemy, the United States, might play a role in his new Cuba. He looked forward to the 2008 U.S. presidential election and the end of what he called President Bush's "erratic and dangerous administration."

"The new administration," he told the crowd, "will have to decide whether it will maintain the absurd, illegal and failed policy against Cuba or if it will accept the olive branch that we offered" in December.

Castro condemned the United States for using "corn, soy and other food products" to produce fuel, saying prices for those food staples were sure to rise. But he also leveled withering criticism at his countrymen for "absurd inefficiencies" in food production that force Cuba to import food and promised unspecified "structural changes."

When it came time to say goodbye, Raúl Castro, a plodding speaker with none of his brother's rhetorical flourishes, returned to Cuba's one sure applause line: "Long live the revolution! Long live Fidel!"