For the record, Cuba is still almost entirely arranged in the same way as the Soviet Union was - and, predictably, it suffers from a lot of the same problems the Soviet Union did, albiet on a smaller scale. The difference is that Raul Castro wants to adjust the system to make it work better instead of illegally dissolving it in favor of a purely capitalist resource-extraction based one.
"Real socialism" probably isn't possible until the majority of the world's economy is taking place under socialism, which is why AES states have turned to things like the New Economic Policy, Dengism, and IMF loans (with all of the strings that come attached to those) to build their economies.
and, predictably, it suffers from a lot of the same problems the Soviet Union did, albiet on a smaller scale.
Probably the only reason it survived as it is today. The SU was so large with so many nationalities/ethnicities that it Balkanized after before/after the August coup. Cuba can't really balkanize for a number of reasons, but size is definitely one.
I really don't think Raul Castro has much to do with running the country, if I'm not mistaken he is more of a figurehead, and he isn't the president (who is Miguel Diaz Canel, considered the head of state) nor the prime minister (who is Manuel Marrero Cruz).
You're right, even lib publications no longer pretend that Raul Castro is in charge of the country, even though they'd love to say something like "the Castro line"
For the record, Cuba is still almost entirely arranged in the same way as the Soviet Union was - and, predictably, it suffers from a lot of the same problems the Soviet Union did, albiet on a smaller scale. The difference is that Raul Castro wants to adjust the system to make it work better instead of illegally dissolving it in favor of a purely capitalist resource-extraction based one.
"Real socialism" probably isn't possible until the majority of the world's economy is taking place under socialism, which is why AES states have turned to things like the New Economic Policy, Dengism, and IMF loans (with all of the strings that come attached to those) to build their economies.
Cuba also benefits from not having any long-standing separatist/nationalist movements within its borders, which the USSR and Yugoslavia did.
Probably the only reason it survived as it is today. The SU was so large with so many nationalities/ethnicities that it Balkanized after before/after the August coup. Cuba can't really balkanize for a number of reasons, but size is definitely one.
I really don't think Raul Castro has much to do with running the country, if I'm not mistaken he is more of a figurehead, and he isn't the president (who is Miguel Diaz Canel, considered the head of state) nor the prime minister (who is Manuel Marrero Cruz).
You're right, even lib publications no longer pretend that Raul Castro is in charge of the country, even though they'd love to say something like "the Castro line"