[Marxism] Cuba legalizes private titles to govt. homes (longer)

[Eli Stephens <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

URL:
  http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/492678.html

Cuba will let some have title to state-owned homes
Posted on Fri, Apr. 11, 2008

By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer

A woman stands at the entrance of her house in Havana, Friday, March 21, 2008. 
Cuba on Friday authorized government employees to keep state-controlled houses 
and apartments after leaving their jobs and to bequeath them to relatives, 
allowing thousands to own their own homes for the first time and potentially 
laying the groundwork for major housing reform.
» More Photos

HAVANA --
(AP) -- Thousands of Cubans will be able to get title to state-owned homes 
under 
regulations published Friday -- a step that might lay the groundwork for 
broader 
housing reform.

The measure was the first legal decree formally published since Raul Castro 
succeeded his brother Fidel as president in February. It comes a day after 
state 
television said the government also will do away with wage limits, allowing 
state employees to earn as much they can as an incentive to productivity.

Together, housing and wage restrictions have been among the things that bother 
Cubans the most about their socialist system.

The housing decree spells out rules to let Cubans renting from their state 
employers keep their apartment or house after leaving their posts. They could 
gain title and even pass it on to their children or relatives.

Thousands of Cubans could take advantage of this move, including military 
families, sugar workers, construction workers, teachers and doctors.

Holding onto state housing originally designated for specific workers has been 
a 
widespread but usually informal fact of Cuban life. A 1987 law had foreseen 
transferring such housing to occupants, but this new measure should clarify 
their legal status.

''This is like no man's land that they are legalizing,'' said Oscar Espinosa 
Chepe, a state-trained economist who became a critic of the government. ``It 
gets rid of that insecurity many people had and alleviates bureaucratic 
pressure.''

By law, Cubans still cannot sell their homes to anyone but the government, 
though they can swap housing with government approval -- a process that can 
take 
years to complete.

Two officials at Cuba's National Housing Institute said Friday's law was likely 
the first in a series of housing reforms. Both asked not to be named, however, 
because they were not authorized to speak to foreign media. They said 
''thousands and thousands'' of Cubans would be affected, but did not give exact 
figures.

Espinosa Chepe, who was jailed for his political views during a 2004 crackdown 
but subsequently released on medical parole, said that ``giving people deeds 
could give them more freedom to sell their homes and maybe rent them as long as 
they pay taxes.''

Home to 11.2 million people, Cuba suffers from a severe housing shortage. 
Officials say they need half a million additional homes. Critics claim the need 
is twice that.

The housing law was published a day after a commentator on state television 
said 
the government also will do away with wage limits, allowing state employees to 
earn as much they can as an incentive to productivity. Economic commentator 
Ariel Terrero said a resolution approved in February but not yet published will 
remove the salary caps designed to promote social and economic equality.

''For the first time, it is clearly and precisely stated that a salary does not 
have a limit, that the roof of a salary depends on productivity,'' said 
Terrero. 
He added that he doesn't see this as a violation of Cuban socialism, but rather 
support for the mantra of ``from each according to his work, to each according 
to his ability.''

The government controls more than 90 percent of the economy, and while the 
communist system provides most Cubans with free education, health care and 
heavily subsidized food rations, the average salary is just US$19.50 (euro12) a 
month.

An end to wage caps could one day lead to a true middle class, since it would 
potentially allow Cubans to openly accumulate wealth. But it defies the notion 
of an egalitarian society that Cuba has worked for decades to construct.

Since becoming Cuba's first new president in 49 years, Raul Castro has done 
away 
with bans that prohibited Cubans from owning cell phones in their own names, 
staying in tourist hotels and buying DVD players, computers and coveted kitchen 
appliances.

He also has acknowledged that state salaries are too small to live on, and 
pledged steady improvements. But Terrero said simply raising salaries will not 
do enough, because workers who all earn the same have little incentive to 
perform well at their jobs.


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