Can Cuba's problems be solved on the basis of internal decision-making ?

[Jurriaan Bendien <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was reading a simplistic economic paper very critical of Cuban government
economic policy at:

http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba9/rbetan.pdf

Has any learned friend of ours come across literature which suggests a
specific constructive mix of government policies which would improve the
situation in Cuba despite the dictatorial, anti-democratic and outdated
policy of the US government which prevents trade with Cuba from occurring
and continually creates political tensions ? What I am suggesting here is
something of the type: a limited increase in marketisation in some clearly
defined sectors, an increase in democratic participation of a type which
provides a better stake and incentive for the working population to improve
the living standards using local resources, an improvement of socialist
organisational culture, a clearer definition of market and non-market
sectors (and of administered prices and unregulated prices), and ways of
attracting foreign investment to develop products which can be traded
overseas easily - policies of a type which could be implemented, regardless
of the idiotic policies of overseas governments ? Surely there must be
somebody out there who has thought of such a thing, breaking out of false
dillemma's which hide the real relationships in Cuba ? A lot of the
statements one reads about Cuba seem awfully banale, negative, stereotyped
and hopelessly cynical, rather than constructive and intelligent, and it is
very difficult, to ascertain what's actually going on.

Thanks,

J.