Cuba reorganizes the game with new president
Nobody knows what will happen in Cuba but certainly it will be quite a challenge for Raúl Castro's predecessor. Although many in Cuba already comment who will be, whoever is announced after this April 19 will have to fight to respond to the several concerns of Cubans, the opponents and Cuba’s enemies and, above all, to keep the legacy of the Revolution and the Raul Castro’s achievements who, in less time than his brother, in addition to wade the American siege made great transformations compared with the previous dictator. The future president will also have to deal with belligerent Donald Trump.
Raúl Castro's first change was to eliminate travel restrictions, a fact that kept the Cubans in suspense for years and that was one of the reasons why Antilleans tried to flee from the country in the most unexpected ways, even cars were converted into boats to leave the island. Now, although the number of countries where you can travel without a visa is still small, thousands of Cubans have travelled as tourists as a result of Raúl Castro’s “goodness”.
At that time travelling requirements, sometimes unintelligible even to Einstein himself, were eliminated and even those who returned to the island before 22 months abroad were allowed to come back without losing their property or residence. Visits and repatriation of those who migrated were also facilitated. According to figures from the Cuban government from 2013 to December 2016, more than 670,000 Cubans traveled outside the island, while 14,000 Cubans were repatriated. However, there is still much to be done, including eliminating the visa for other places in the world, especially America.
Another task the new president will have to deal with will be to reinvent himself or to retake relations with the United States, a chapter abruptly closed by Donald Trump in June 2017. According to several experts the reestablishment of US-Cuba links was one of the great victories reached by the Cuban Army General, although according to the government itself they confessed since Fidel’s years negotiations were taking place. Now it will be the new head of state’s purpose to maintain relations without giving up to the self-determination of his country or simply return to the rhetoric of the cold war.
Another of the controversial decisions that will make the new Cuban president to meditate will be the one related to self-employment. If the licenses to operate were stopped more than a year ago, the Cuban State must respond to a population that is impatient with the cooling of private activity. Raúl Castro resumed private enterprise as a way to re-oxygenate the country, but it was unexpectedly stopped. However, more than half a million Cubans currently work in private businesses, and in the meantime the government is considering the possibility of increasing the legalization of small and medium-sized private companies, eliminated in 1968 by Fidel Castro.
Among the surprises of Raul’s changes was shortening presidency. His brother dictated the destinies of his country for almost 40 years. If he would not had not gotten ill, fortunately for Cuba’s destiny, he would have broken Kim il Sun’s record. Raul has limited the term of office to ten years (two terms of five years).
The monetary duality will also be among the issues to be tackled by the new president, a problem the nation has not solved yet and that affects the daily economy of Cubans. On several times they have announced the reduction of the exchange rate and even the elimination of Cuban convertible pesos, but everything has just been too much ado about nothing. Among the economic problems there is also the renegotiation of the debt that, although in 2015 the cancellation of 8,500 million dollars was obtained, now credit credibility with China, the main creditor, must be achieved to access to fresh credits.
On the other hand, just like the beginning of the Revolution, the confrontation with the United States continues to be the main concern in terms of foreign policy, while continuing the model of a "prosperous and sustainable" Socialism and consequent to the historical legacy will set high standards for the future head of state. Internal opposition has never been a problem, although if certain economic issues are not solved at the table of the Cubans, popular discontent could cause them to gain support. But even if that were so, the armed forces and the order still respond to the hierarchies of the Sierra Maestra and the so-called "historical generation", therefore, although it is a race against time, the coming president will have his minutes to organize the game.