Cuba Under Two Masters

For the first time, Raúl Castro, the acting president in Cuba, gave the traditional revolutionary speech during Cuba’s most important national holiday on Thursday, deepening the widespread feeling that his brother Fidel has slipped into semi-retirement and is unlikely to return.

Since becoming acting president, the younger Mr. Castro has twice offered to enter negotiations with the United States to end a half-century of enmity and sanctions. He repeated that stand on Thursday, noting that President Bush would soon be leaving office “along with his erratic and dangerous administration.”

Some have critiziced the fact Raul has not made enough reforms since taken power. According to the New York Times, “The answer is because Fidel Castro continues to govern." Moreover, Fidel Castro’s “main impact on Cuba is not his writings but that he’s alive, and it means Raúl and the others are reluctant to take major initiatives,” said Jorge I. Dominguez, a Harvard professor and Cuba expert.

What do you all think of the two leaders in power? Do you think Cuba should hold a democratic election for the next ruler? If one is to say that Fidel's government has "failed" to be "democratic enough", then perhaps something other than liberal or bourgeois democracy be counterposed to what exists in Cuba? In addition, how would you compare Venezuela's revolution to the one in Cuba under Castro's regime? Also, how do you feel about Castro's impact on Cuba and its people?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/world/americas/27cuba.html?th&emc=th