MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: CUBA, GOVERNANCE; SCO

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000188 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: CUBA, GOVERNANCE; SCO PAULO ¶1. 'Material Incentives' in Cuba Center-right O Estado de S.Paulo (4/14) editorializes: "A resolution adopted in February [in Cuba] but only now made public establishes that a 'compaero' who is more productive than the other working the same job will receive a salary proportionally higher... . The intiative...was branded on state TV as ...an advance in the construction of socialism and not as the delayed acknowledgment of the key role competition and incentives play in the realm of production activities. ...President Ral Castro...[eliminated] the ban on the purchase of ...microwaves, DVD players, cell phones, air conditioning, toaster and...computers... . But freedom of speech and the right to vote on multi-party elections are still as much of a utopia in Cuba as Marx'vision of work and salary." ¶2. Opening Cuba Liberal Folha de S.Paulo (4/13) says: "Although Cuba has overcome the worst part of the ruin that affected the country after the end of support it received from the Soviets in the early 90's, the situation is far from comfortable. The country...imports USD10.9 billion a year and exports only USD3.3 billion. ...The remittances of dollars from Cuban-Americans to relatives who are in the island and the oil at prices subsidized by Chavez...help, but are not enough to cover the hole. It is, therefore, for survival that [Cuban President] Ral [Castro] deepens the Caribbean 'Perestroika...' There are also signs that the new leader flirts with a political depressurization, apparently, with the goal of easing tensions without changing the nature of the regime." White