June 21, 2005

"Private workers . . . steal state goods"

A little tidbit of news from Cuba this morning. Private enterprise -- what little there is in the island -- is once again under assault again. One of the official reasons given is that "private workers . . . steal state goods."

Nice. castro has stolen the island's luchre to the tune of $550,000,000 and he says the citizens are the thieves. Read on.

The Associated Press/HAVANA By VANESSA ARRINGTON Associated Press Writer

Cuba revokes licenses of some workers

JUN. 20 2:40 P.M. ET Cuba's communist government has revoked some 2,000 licenses from self-employed workers across the island, part of an ongoing campaign to reassert state control over the economy, local media reported.

Those who lost their licenses were violating rules that allow a limited number of Cubans to work for themselves, Tribuna, a weekly newspaper, said in its Sunday edition.

Labor Ministry officials have been conducting interviews with self-employed Cubans to determine how they obtained the materials and skills they are selling, Tribuna said. The process will conclude at the end of the month and take place every two years, Odalys Gonzalez, a regional labor ministry director, told the newspaper.

The government has repeatedly complained about growing inequality associated with self-employment. A private worker can earn more in a day than the US$12 that the average state worker makes in a month.

Officials also say private workers often compete with the government or steal state goods.

The government stopped issuing self-employment licenses last fall for 40 categories of jobs ranging from computer programming to auto body repair. Self-employment in these professions was legalized only in 1993 during the severe economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba's biggest source of aid and commerce.

New optimism based on oil prospects off Cuba's northern coast and strengthened economic ties with China and Venezuela has prompted President Fidel Castro to say it's time to re-centralize state decision-making and crack down on those working for their own financial gain.

The roughly 150,000 self-employed Cubans represent just 2.1 percent of Cuba's work force, and officials say the state system has recovered sufficiently from the shock of the early 1990s to absorb more workers.

Posted by George Moneo at June 21, 2005 07:07 AM



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Comments

fidel's attempt at totally controlling everything in Cuba again, will finally lead to his downfall as people slowly lose their fear.

Posted by: Jose Aguirre at June 21, 2005 08:38 AM

This is Mugabe stuff. That thug is doing the exact same stuff. fidel mugabe.

Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at June 21, 2005 09:43 AM

But the literacy? ...health care? Come on, guys. We don't want capitalism ruining the quaintness of collapsed buildings and emaciated peasants.

Posted by: j.scott at June 21, 2005 10:39 AM

1984 and Animal Farm all rolled into one. That's what his rule is.

Posted by: CB at June 21, 2005 11:17 AM

This is such a fucking whitewash of the REALITY of the situation...
Like equating the sinking of the Titanic with a Gilligang Island episode.
Let us follow this in its proper chronological order if you are one of the mis-fortuned souls who loose their “privado” (self employed) status

So you decide to go self-employed and you have both the cojones and the cash … here’s the cycle

1) You must renounce whatever job you originally had hence rendering yourself un-employed
2) You must acquire the tools, parts etc that will allow you to perform your new profession. Most of the time from Government stores at outrageous prices (Dollars probably received from their families within the “Miami Mafia”)
3) You had to set up an area of whatever home you had for the explicit purpose of performing this profession
4) These people with revoked licenses paid a PRETTY penny for those licenses.
5) All legally licensed “privados” paid an average of 45% / 60% on GROSS earnings!

Now, trace THAT back in reverse chronological order and you wind up with someone who:
5) Has paid a TON of Cash to KaSStro
4) Has paid a TON of cash to Kasstro
3) Has committed a big portion of his life to his new found “privado” status
2) Has paid a TON of cash to Kasstro
1) Is NOW unemployed.

So the cavalier reporting of the removal of the “licenses” does not in fact reflect the inhumanity the utter gangsterism of this whimsical decision by the SUMO HIJO DE PUTA.
Again for the second time in 46 years and AGAIN he does it with total impunity

Posted by: KillCastro at June 21, 2005 02:36 PM