Raul Castro turning 81, trying to preserve communism

Raul Castro turning 81, trying to preserve communism
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Sat Jun 2, 2012 8:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro turns 81 on Sunday, another year
on in his race against time to reform Cuba's economy and try to assure
the survival of communism after he and his elderly colleagues are gone.

Their task, he has said, is to correct mistakes made during their 53
years of leadership, which will require "days and years of work" that he
intends to finish.

"The generation that made the (Cuban) revolution has had the historic
privilege, few times seen, of being able to direct the rectification of
errors they themselves committed," he told a Communist Party conference
in January. "Despite the fact that we are not so young, we don't plan to
waste this last opportunity."

Raul Castro's No. 2, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 81 and his No. 3,
Ramiro Valdes is 80.

Older brother Fidel Castro, who led Cuba for 49 years before age and
infirmity forced him to leave office, is 85 and still a
behind-the-scenes player.

The average life expectancy for a Cuban male is about 76 years.

President Castro has said his health is good and he feels young, plus
there is a history of longevity in his family. His sister Angela died in
February at the age of 88 and his eldest brother Ramon is 87.

If he is worried about time, Raul Castro does not let on publicly.

He has fretted publicly about not having groomed younger leaders to
succeed the current group, but there are no obvious candidates waiting
the wings.

He has said on several occasions that the remaking of Cuba's economy
will be done "without hurry, but without pause" so that the mistakes of
the past are not compounded by more mistakes.

SPEEDIER REFORMS

Many people think he needs to move faster, regardless of his age.

Since officially succeeding older brother Fidel Castro in 2008, he has
launched reforms to encourage private initiative and reduce the role of
the state, which controls 90 percent of the economy.

He has put more agriculture in private hands, opened the doors for small
private businesses and begun giving state companies more autonomy. He
wants to cut a million jobs, or about 20 percent of the workforce, from
the government's payrolls.

He has allowed Cubans to buy and sell cars and homes, privileges denied
to them for five decades.

But there are questions about whether President Castro is doing enough
to modernize the struggling Soviet-style economy and accomplish his goal
of saving the communist system put in place after the 1959 revolution.

The Communist Party affirmed at a congress in 2011 that central economic
planning would continue and the accumulation of property not allowed.

Many people think Cuba needs to open up its economy in the style of
fellow communist-led countries China and Vietnam.

"The challenge for Raul Castro and the leadership of the Communist Party
continues to be the orderly implementation of a transition to a mixed
economy and a society open and integrated to the world," said Cuba
expert Arturo Lopez-Levy at the University of Denver.

Serious problems loom that may force deeper and faster change on Cuban
leaders.

The economy is swimming in debt, sources of foreign income are limited -
partly due to the longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba - and the
island is heavily dependent on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for oil
and investment.

Chavez, 57, is battling cancer and facing re-election in October. His
death or political demise could end Venezuela's special relationship
with Cuba, which would deal a serious economic blow to the island.

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/03/us-cuba-castro-birthday-idUSBRE85200620120603