Cuba: the end of comunism?

1959, 1st of January: the revolutionary movement of Fidel Castro droped the Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship. With this event, Cuba started a new era. And it seems that Cuba is facing now a new big change.



Cuba's Revolution: when Fidel took the control of Cuba

But let's go back to understand why the current differences are changing so much the economic and political environment in Cuba. After the revolution, the new government nacionalized  the economic apparatus and stablished strategic relations with the Sovietic Union. But only in 1965 was born the Modern Comunist Party. In that year, the country held a total adherence to the Marxist-Leninist Communism: all the economic activities were under the government control and all the workers became public employees. And despite the fact that the Government - as usual in all the Comunist Regimes - couldn't supply all the basic goods and services to the population, it resisted over the years thanks to the population's support.
This was possible because the Government supplied many services like education and health cares for free.
But there are other reasons for all the support given to the government by the population. First, the propaganda, second the USA blockade to Cuba (The Government used it as an excuse for the shortage of many goods and services) and third the support and economic help by the Sovietic Union (because it was good for them to have an ally near to the USA).
With the fall of the Sovietic Union, Cuba lost it's principal buyer and supplier. The shortage became even worst. Since it was impossible to continue to buy the goods for the population in the international market with the so called "comunist prices" - prices with scount -, in the 90's the Government decided to reduce even more the standard of living. The population in general started to live with less goods, less income and the hunger became even more normal.
Second the Government started to authorized the private investments in the tourism, one of the strongest sectores for the economy. This decision truned into a good decision because with the increase in the number of tourists, more private companies invested in teh country in this sector, the country received more money and many jobs were created.
However the situation was still dramatic for the population that continued to move to the USA hoping to find a better life.

The brothers Fidel and Raul that are controling Cuba

In the 31st of July of 2006 due to a big disease, Raul Castro - Fidel's brother - took the control of the government and the people though that everything will still the same. They were totally wrong. Obviously the Communist Party was still the only party, and continue to rule by its own decisions without accepting any kind of opposition. But the economic activity changed a lot. Raul introduced huge economic changes, like the liberalization of the big part of the economic activity and the extinction of more than half a million jobs in the public sector with the objective of having at least 40% of workers working in the private sector by 2015. And in 2011 the population was authorized for the first time in decades to sell and buy their own properties.
Of course these big and fast changes are bringing other consequences specially for the economic agents, like the inflation, but it seems that the Government will not turn back.
The Cuban Government is making the same changes that China made some years ago: both Governments understood that it's necessary to provide a good way of living to the population to them accept the absence of liberty. With no economic development there's no future for the cuban comunist regime.
Now, we only need to wait and see when (and if) the population will realize the differences between the liberty to make their own money and have their own activity and the liberty to say what they want and to choose their own government, and the fact that both are important and essential for a good way of living.