The Independent: The end of Communism? Cuba sweeps away egalitarian wages
Raul Castro's reforms continue with abolition of rule that labourers and surgeons earn the same.
Cuba took another leap away from Fidel Castro's creaky egalitarian model yesterday when it swept away the wage restraints that have kept surgeons and taxi drivers on much the same salaries for the past 50 years.
The latest and most dramatic liberalisation by Raul Castro appears to be aimed at bringing to communist Cuba the Chinese-style economic reforms he admires so much. But the move falls far short of the political reforms that Cubans, both inside and out of the country, long for.
The new wage policy is the latest change by President Castro, who officially took over on 24 February but has been running the country since July 2006 when his older brother, Fidel, 81, suffered serious health problems.
Since February, Mr Castro, 77, has allowed Cubans to buy personal computers and mobile phones, rent cars and even stay overnight in hotels previously only accessible to foreigners, provided they can afford it.
He has shaken up the economy to pay farmers better and ease the impact of the world food crisis. He has commuted death sentences and released a handful of political prisoners. But his secret police have also broken up meetings of dissidents. ...
