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EDUCATED CUBAN YOUTH AND THE 2010 ECONOMIC REFORMS: REINVENTING THE IMAGINED REVOLUTION
Abstract
On 1 August 2010 Cuban President Raúl Castro announced significant economic reforms which have the potential to energise the country's moribund economy. Encouraging the downsizing of the state and the growth of a non state sector contains the danger that, in retrospect, these August Announcements will be seen as the beginning of a full-scale transition to a market economy that will challenge the socialist character of Cuban society. How this will play out remains to be seen, however, the August Announcements have elements that appeal to Cuban youth who express a great deal of worry about an uncertain future as they demonstrate support for the principles and the accomplishments of the revolution as they imagine it. At the same time, they have modest aspirations about their professional and economic well-being which many feared they could not achieve in Cuba. Will these announcements and the measures that will flow from the 6th Party Congress meet the political and socio-economic aspirations of Cuban youth? Based on interviews conducted recently in Cuba, the author argues that the August announcements contain both the potential to energise the socialist economy and strengthen the legitimacy of the Communist Party while also representing a risk to socialism and to the Party's legitimacy as well – a risk the authorities could not postpone any longer.
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[Footnotes]
Cuban scholarly review, Temas, Rafael Hernández (2010),