OMG!!! What a monumental, earth shattering reform! Eat your heart out Gorbachev! This is enough to put Perestroika to shame!

Imagine, Cubans are now allowed to built their own houses! We had to have a 50 year long "revolution" to be able to do--with several strings attached-- what we used to do without restrictions under the hideous, evil, Nazi-like [their words] Batista dictatorship!!

So now Cubans will be able to have self-built houses* along with marabu-infested farmland, internetless computers that they can't afford anyway and toasters [without bread]! Not to mention the occasional stay at one of those $200 a night hotels that they will have to save up to 10 years to be able to afford.

Now that's what I call reforms not that Perestroika sh-t! New York Times should be editorializing on this very soon!!

*It's obvious that raul is banking on exiles to bankroll these homes. He is hoping that Obama lifts restrictions, so that Cubans inside Cuba can start asking their relatives for money.

With what loans and what contractors? Does this mean that people will be able to do carpentry, hang drywall, pour cement, etc. for money?

"Now build your little home with whatever you can," the former defense minister said.

Suddenly the "mulas" will be carrying cement, nails,PVC pipes, tiles, etc. ... and at $15.00 a pound ... it will take 50 years to build a little home!

Lazaro, I'm afraid that some people will be able to profit from the work, but I bet you it will not be ordinary Cubans ... more likely foreign contractors and the regime elite!

I wish you well :) Melek

"The revolution was mythmaking, there's no denying it. But once a myth is created, what next? Daily life steps in. The bottom line is this: are Cubans happy; has Marxism improved their lives? It struck me happiness came a poor second to the grinding struggle to survive. Don't tell me they are poor but happy. They are poor and afraid to say they are unhappy. Castro's legacy is a poor, frightened Cuba."~ Martina Devlin

I understand that these "reforms" are useless. Noone can get supplies or afford to buy the items that are now for sale. I believe there is something good that comes out of these little announcements though. It is a public admission by raul that fido's policies were horrible failures and that the revolution itself is a failure. Every change, no matter how small, is a visible crack or a sign of weakness.

The greatest chance for real reform comes at a time like this. The government has drawn attention to itself as a reform agent in European media, and around the world (untrue, but doesn't matter). The Cuban people are empowered to point out the real issues that need reforming now that everyone is looking i.e. political prisoners, physical abuse, starvation, etc.

I know raul has no intention of changing those things, but just like East Germany, minor insufficient reforms turned into the collapse of the Russia backed government's control.

Maybe I am too hopeful, but I always remember that Gorbachev had no intention of doing away with communism. Hell, he was the highest ranking commie in the world.

Well lets say they're able to get their hands on buidling supplies and finally built their little homes, who's to say the Cuban government won't come back and take their homes away to give it to professional snitches or rent them out to foreigners? That wouldn't be a new thing for this government. I don't see anywhere in the article where he guarantees the builders/owners will remain as owners of said homes...

who's to say the Cuban government won't come back and take their homes away to give it to professional snitches or rent them out to foreigners?

Bingo. Follow-up question, if we remove the embargo and allow American companies to get into bed with the regime, who's to say the Cuban government won't come back and take away their investments?

"OK, here you can build. I've given you this amount of space, that amount of room for a street, and that amount for a sidewalk. Now build your little home with whatever you can," the former defense minister said.

HMMMMMMMM. Considering the gov't doesn't let them have the affordability to buy supplies, I guess they'll use tree branches swept over from the 3 hurricanes.

Henry,
The Cuban government already did that to a bunch of Spanish investors in the late 90s, still the Spanish investors keep investing and then want their government to got to bat for them.
The cruel dark side of me would like to see that happen to a bunch of private American investors, just to say, "Ha! I told you so, now take it like a champion!" I can't support the lifting of the embargo though, because it'll only extend the life of the regime that has destroyed, prostituted, and enslaved the Cubans for far too long.