Cuba Moves To Lay Off Government Workers and Embrace Capitalism

Fidel Castro, the face and soul of the Cuban Communist revolution for more than 50 years, drew limited attention in the United States when he recently declared to an Atlantic magazine correspondent: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

Other government officials later walked back his striking statement by saying that the Cuban model needs some fine-tuning. Nevertheless, dramatic changes are unfolding because the worldwide recession has ravaged Cuba, an island nation of 11 million people who largely are dependent on imported food and many other products. Cuba lacks a modern manufacturing infrastructure.

The Cuban economy has been failing since the Soviet Union axis collapsed in 1991 and withdrew its extensive presence. But over the last few years, the worldwide economic crisis has choked a system in which the Communist government controls more than 90 percent of the national economy. Many Cubans struggle to get enough to eat even with monthly government subsidies. An underground barter economy is their salvation. The limited capitalism is tightly controlled for privately run or community cooperatives, and they lack basic supplies but are smothered with bureaucracy, taxes and personal earnings caps.

Deepening pain and unrest in Cuba are provoking bold actions that the U.S. government should note.

Raul Castro, the Cuban revolutionary's brother who replaced him as president in 2008, announced this week that, by March, the Cuban government would lay off 500,000 government employees.

They will have to seek jobs in the private sector. That proclamation is historic for the Castro regime. The government of an island with 5.1 million workers recognizes that it must entice more foreign investment and outside private capital if it has any chance to survive.

Additionally, the first wave of Cuban political dissidents was released from prison in July under an agreement with Spain in which 52 prisoners will be freed by November.

Americans should note the changing reality just 90 miles from south Florida. Legislation pending in Congress would loosen some restrictions in the U.S. trade embargo that began in 1962 and has spanned 10 presidential administrations.

The Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act (H.R. 4645) would allow Americans to travel to Cuba more freely and allow U.S. agricultural companies, including those in Missouri and the Midwest, to trade with Cuba without cumbersome and expensive financing that requires advance cash payment from Cuba and a third-party broker. While the United States protects its trade embargo, Europe, Latin America and China have found business opportunities in Cuba.

The House Agriculture Committee has approved the travel and export act, whose cosponsors include U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. The bill now goes to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which includes U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., before it might be considered by the full House.

The hardest of Cuba's hardliners are softening their rigid doctrine. The U.S. government should remain skeptical to ensure that any changes are real and fundamental. Yet the anti-Castro hardliners in Miami and a vocal minority in Congress no longer should reflexively block U.S. policy changes that would further open Cuba.

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