Word: castro
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ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Richard Behar, Janice Castro, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Christine Gorman, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, Michael D. Lemonick, Thomas McCarroll, Marguerite Michaels, Richard N. Ostling, Jill Smolowe, Anastasia Toufexis, David Van Biema...
Robaina's appointment marks the rise of a new breed in Havana: the young upwardly mobile Marxists, or yummies. They were just babes in arms or school kids when Castro's socialist revolutionaries swept down out of the Sierra Maestra mountains 34 years ago. Now in their 30s and early 40s, educated and ambitious, the yummies hold the key to Cuba's future...
...island is facing the ultimate hurdle of a revolutionary society -- whether its ideals can survive beyond the first generation. Subsidies from the former Soviet Union have been slashed, and the U.S. embargo continues to strangle trade, pushing Cuba's economy into an ever deepening slump. Castro's young successors know change is inevitable, but they are determined to control that change rather than let the country fall into the hands of the capitalist exiles in Miami, 90 miles away. The yummies want the best of both worlds: the health and educational advances of Castro's revolution and a good meal...
...finding enough to eat, these young careerists seem energized by the challenges. Whether they prove to have staying power remains to be seen, but there is no doubt they are currently gaining favor. In the past two years, at least half the new positions in the Politburo and Castro's Cabinet have been filled with young comers. The economic czar is another bike-riding yummie, Carlos Lage Davila, a 41-year-old pediatrician who is credited with designing Cuba's aggressive new policy to attract foreign investment. He may be the most important man in Cuba after Fidel...
Havana is haunted by rumors of a massive shake-up in the coming months, with young Marxists taking over more ministries. "Many people see the economic crisis in Cuba as an opportunity," says a Communist Party insider. "Robaina and Lage are Castro's natural inheritors. They realize they will have to open Cuba, but they want to be in power before they negotiate an opening." The yummies, however, are in a race against time: in the post-cold war world, turmoil could sweep Cuba before they are ready to take over...