Cuba has eased restrictions on the sale of computers, DVD players and other electrical goods in the first sign of economic liberalization since former Cuban president Fidel Castro retired last month. The appliances will go on sale immediately and be available to anybody who can pay, according to an internal government memo seen by the news agency Reuters.
The move followed promises by new Cuban President Raul Castro to improve dire living standards that make daily life a grind and erode confidence in the island's communist leadership.
MORE POWER
The memo said: "Based on the improved availability of electricity, the government at the highest level has approved the sale of some equipment which was prohibited."
The list of newly available goods included 19-inch and 24-inch TVs, electric pressure cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwaves.
The sale of many appliances was banned in the 1990s, when the end of Soviet subsidies led to an energy crisis and daily blackouts. Subsidized oil from Venezuela is now filling the gap, allowing Havana's policymakers to ease restrictions.
With an average monthly salary of just ?8 (US$16), few Cubans will be able to splash out, but the relaxation was seen as a sign that the government was serious about addressing economic grievances.
LIBERALIZATION?
When illness forced Fidel Castro to step aside in 2006, there was speculation that his less ideological and more pragmatic brother would cautiously try to copy China's economic liberalization. Raul's confirmation as president last month appears to have emboldened him to make his first concrete move.
"The country's priority will be to meet the basic needs of the population, both material and spiritual," said Raul, 76, upon formally taking office.
If confirmed, the move shows practical recognition of the desire for material improvements, said David Jessop, director of the Cuba Initiative, a London-based body which promotes trade between the island and Britain.
"It will be interesting to see whether this step is followed by other changes in the coming months in relation to agriculture, travel and access to tourism facilities," he said.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
A Sherpa guide was found crawling to base camp on Mount Everest a week after he went missing and was reunited with his family, who had given up hope he would return. Dawa Sherpa was last seen on Friday last week descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled. Dawa was located by a cleaning crew on Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above
RSS