Picking up the broken pieces of storm-battered, but now oil-rich Cuba, and moving ahead, with mixed prospects

• Island slammed by monstrous storms, but turns down U.S. aid

• Reforming Cuba during an epoch when scarcity and low living standards no longer are inevitable

• Good news from the E.U. and Geneva

• Offshore oil bombshell

Ever since the presidency formally changed hands on the occasion when Fidel Castro informally stepped down from his position as the island’s supreme leader, Cuba has been witnessing the build-up of its agricultural and industrial capabilities, and the country seemed to be on the brink of an economic epiphany. Although economic growth has been severely hampered as a result of the two Caribbean hurricanes that ferociously hit the island last summer, it now appears that the era of ‘Raúlism,’ which has commenced in earnest, will continue to be positive in terms of growth and diversification in spite of nature’s cruel blows and the legacy from the past. Change seems to be in the air, as economic good times could be around the corner. In essence, even U.S. State Department spokesman John Casey, who has not been entirely convinced that a quasi-democratic transition is taking place there, acknowledges that ‘Raúlism’ could lead to ‘greater openness and freedom for the Cuban people.’

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