The fall of Cuban communism?

Shortly after Fidel Castro stepped down as president of Cuba in February, ending a reign that began in 1959, his brother Raul was elected as his successor. Since Raul was preferred by Fidel to take that position, it was widely speculated that Fidel’s departure wouldn’t bring any significant changes to Cuban domestic or foreign policy.\nThus far, it would appear that those assumptions were false.\nOn Monday, the government ended a ban on Cuban use of luxury hotels and resorts. Already, the government has changed rules to allow Cubans to purchase items such as computers and plasma TVs, and Cubans will soon be allowed to buy cell phones. Before these changes, only foreign visitors or companies were allowed to buy such goods.\nIt would appear that, at least to this point, the Cuban government is shedding some of the control that it’s held since Fidel Castro took power. The question is whether or not this trend will continue.\nThat question will be answered by another question: Is Raul Castro a rational man? Has he paid any attention to world events of the past 30 years or so?\nIf he is, and if he has, he will have noticed that communism — though in theory, is a pretty good idea — has basically failed in reality. The vast majority of former communist nations have converted their economies to either the capitalist or socialist model and have found significantly greater success. If Raul is a rational man, these reforms will continue. \nThese changes alone, though, will not be enough to fix the economic or social problems that face many Cubans, as well as the nation at large. For example, most Cubans can’t even afford to visit the hotels and resorts to which they have just been given access — the approximate $20 monthly salary that Cubans earn isn’t anywhere near enough to book a room at hotels such as the four-star Ambos Mundos. Cuba must continue to reform its economy beyond what it has already done.\nThis movement has implications here in the United States, as well. The U.S. has had an active trade embargo against Cuba since only a few years after Fidel Castro came into power. This was mostly because of Cuba’s communist leanings as well as its close relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.\nHowever, with these reforms — and possible further moves — it looks as if Cuba may be beginning to move away from communism, or at least to move towards moving away from communism. Also, as almost everyone knows, the Cold War has been over for a decade and a half.\nIf Cuba continues to make changes to fix its broken economy, the United States should begin the process of ending the trade embargo. The reasons for the embargo are falling away, and to keep the embargo would just be spiteful. Resuming trade with Cuba could also stimulate both the Cuban economy and the flagging American economy.\nCuba is changing, and if it continues to change for the better, we will need to change with it.