Cubans wary of quick change

[Mika]

Cubans wary of quick change
Thu, Sep. 14, 2006
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15513469.htm

''We don't earn a lot here, but the free stuff helps offset the low salaries,'' Martínez said. ``We have a peaceful life here. I can walk around at night. The kids can play in the street. In the United States, you earn more, but you have to pay more for everything. It's a more stressful life.''

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''A lot of Cubans would like to see change, but they don't necessarily want another revolution,'' said Philip Peters, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based think tank. ``There's a lot of desire for change, but at the same time, there's fear that they might lose some of the things they have.''

Topping the list, Cubans said, are free healthcare and education, Castro hallmarks that have given the island some of the best education and health statistics in Latin America -- although both have been eroding since the end of Moscow's subsidies.

Cubans also don't pay taxes, unless they are part of the tiny minority allowed to run such small private businesses as home-based beauty parlors or restaurants known as paladares, which can legally have no more than 12 chairs.

A bartender named Ernesto in central Havana expressed his concern about the prospect of capitalism: ``What happens if you get sick and don't have health coverage? You could die.''

`SELF-EMPLOYMENT'

To be sure, Cuba does have some measure of capitalism.

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