HOPES, DREAMS RENEWED IN CUBA
After 50 years of restrictions, workers eager for a better living
“I love this country. I don’t want to leave it. But this economy needed to change. Let’s see if it really does.” Joan Perez- Garcia, Cuban electronics repairman
HAVANA, CUB A Joan Perez- Garcia has tried just about everything to find a decent-paying job in Cuba’s state-run economy.
He became an elementary schoolteacher, but it paid the equivalent of only $6 a month. He became a train mechanic that increased his salary to $10. Working as a construction worker and barber were no better.
Then the communist government did something unthinkable. It opened the door to private enterprises so individuals instead of the government could set wages. Perez- Garcia switched to a private job of fixing cellphones, TVs and computers.
He won’t say how much he makes now, but he smiles and says, “A lot more.”
“I’ve never been able to buy my own car or even a motorcycle to get around. Now I might be able to,” said Perez- Garcia, 30. “There’s nothing better than having something of your own.”
Since 2008, when longtime leader Fidel Castro grew ill and handed power to his younger brother, President Raúl Castro, Cuba began a series of economic changes that are altering the way Cubans like Perez- Garcia work, live and dream.
The newly announced thaw in tensions between Cuba and the United States brings the added hope of long-sought U.S. investment in nascent private enterprises. One of the key aspects of the deal unveiled by President Obama is that American businesses will be able to sell directly to small businesses on the island, a change many on this information-starved island already know.
“Most people understood that something big had happened, and for once, it was good,” said Ricardo Torres Pérez, an economist at the Havana-based Center for Studies of the Cuban Economy. Torres Pérez added that implementing the promises made by both governments will be key.
The possibilities of what may be in store excite Cubans, who have spent more than 50 years toiling in an economic system that restricted their ability to determine their own fates. INCENTIVE TO WORK HARDER For Maria Perez, that means a possible end to the daily guessing over what kind of food she’ll be able to sell that day. The 84-yearold runs “Cafeteria Maria,” one of the private restaurants known as paladares that were among the first industries allowed outside the state-run system.
“Sometimes you go to buy beef and they’re out,” Perez said. “You always figure it out, but it would help if you had some certainty.”
For Juan Porriño, that means a possible end to the constant battle to find basic supplies for farmers. Porriño had been working as the president of a farming cooperative on the outskirts of Ha- vana when the government started changing the agricultural sector in 2009.
Before, the state would dictate how much farmers must produce each year. Now, the cooperative and the government develop a production plan together. The state still sets how much must be set aside for hospitals and schools. But any excess can be sold to markets, the profits going directly into the farmers’ pockets.
Porriño said the change has given farmers a new incentive to work harder and produce more. Still, they’re held back by limited resources that, when available, cost way too much.
That’s why he laughs with joy at the idea of buying an American-made tractor, or having pesticides available from U.S. companies.
Whether U.S. help materializes, Cubans say, massive changes are still needed to the economic system. A frequently cited suggestion is that the government expand the number of privatesector jobs. Currently, the government lists fewer than 200 jobs that can be performed by cuenta
propistas, which loosely translates to “self-employed workers.” Most of those jobs are in basic services: restaurant owners, taxi drivers, barbers and artisans.
Torres Pérez said the government hasn’t categorized the new workers as business owners. “They’re not allowed to import or export. They’re not businesses according to the law. They’re ‘self-employed,’ ” he said. DOING THEIR ‘OWN THING’ Despite those limitations, Cubans say the changes represent the first significant steps toward a more promising economic model.
Marilin Valdes, 55, an elementary teacher, recently moved from a rural city to Havana. She tried teaching in this bustling capital but said she couldn’t connect with the city kids.
She then realized the location of her apartment on a busy avenue provided a great opportunity. She started renting out the front room to the new class of private workers. She now has seven people working there, and the rent she collects brings in more than her teaching job.
“People have more liberty to do their own thing now,” she said.
Lazaro Mendez-Valdez, 43, said his life is easier now that he can work as a cobbler and make his own decisions. “We don’t have the pressure anymore,” he said of the bureaucrats who used to dictate his daily operations.
Cuba’s economic system has been so destructive that it led to repeated rounds of mass migrations. What started in the 1960s as political refugees morphed into a largely economic exodus of Cubans braving the 90-mile stretch of ocean to Florida.
Many still want to leave. But the economic changes, combined with the new deal with the U.S., give islanders hope. “I love this country. I don’t want to leave it,” Perez- Garcia said. “But this economy needed to change. Let’s see if it really does.”