Word: castro
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...hospital, where medicines and other vital supplies have almost disappeared, has left him frustrated. He lacks the opportunity to get ahead. Even his medical journals no longer arrive. "Things are changing, but there is no hope for a better life now," says the doctor, because he does not believe Castro will ever initiate full-scale reform. "There is a lot of support for the government in an emotional way," he reflects. "You hear a lot of old ladies talking about Fidel as if he were Jesus Christ. But young people are like...
...doctor, however, is plotting to escape, not topple Castro. Like the 1980 Mariel boatlift, which carried 125,000 Cubans to Florida, this summer's exodus -- 23,000 so far -- is siphoning off the worst malcontents, relieving some of the pressure on Castro. "People in the U.S. think things here could change rapidly, but I'm sure Fidel will be in power a long time," he says. Cubans are concentrating not on protesting but on building rafts. If necessary, say government sources, Castro is willing to shed 1 million of the island's 11 million people...
...Florida, most Cubans struggle on, trying to patch together a normal life. Government workers returned to their desks last week from August vacations. Children put on their maroon uniforms and went back to classrooms lacking books, pencils and paper. In the streets of Havana, the gossip has turned from Castro's woes -- the bad sugar harvest, the new taxes, the problem of prostitution -- to the rafters...
Considering that monthly government rations barely provide enough food for two weeks and a month's salary buys just one chicken on the black market, it is surprising how many Cubans still have faith in Castro's revolution. Domestic production is nearly nil. Unemployment is estimated at 20% to 25% among the young. Absenteeism from work is officially 10% but actually much higher...
...capitalism must move beyond such rudiments if Castro's regime is to survive. Even faithful party members believe the time for thoroughgoing change has come, though they fear the economic anarchy of postcommunist Eastern Europe. "It's a difficult moment," admits Manuel Gutierrez, who was born in 1959, the year of the revolution. "The system has much good and some bad. But things are changing. The young are taking over...