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Now we
know where the 8% communist surcharge on foreign currency is going to. You
guys are right, Fidel rules (literally). Bush only talks about cutting
taxes, but fidel more than doubles salaries with
one speech. I am moving to Cuba.
Castro More Than Doubles Minimum Wage for
Cubans
April 21, 2005 11:19 p.m.
HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro announced an increase in the island's
minimum wage Thursday, more than doubling salaries of nearly 1.7 million
Cuban workers.
Farmhands, plumbers and other low-wage workers currently making about $4.20
a month will make $9.40 starting May 1, he said.
"I think we are coming along well," said Mr. Castro, who has adopted a
series of measures in the last few months that attempt to ease Cubans'
economic woes.
Mr. Castro made the announcement in a televised address marking his eighth
speech in the last 11 days. The other addresses have been devoted to
international politics, particularly the presence in the United States of a
Cuban militant wanted in Venezuela for a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing.
At the end of last month, Mr. Castro announced increased payments for
citizens on welfare. Single mothers, senior citizens without relatives,
widows and the disabled are among the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who
will benefit from the increase, also to take effect May 1.
The average Cuban government worker earns 300 Cuban pesos a month, or the
equivalent of about $12. Salary figures can be misleading in Cuba, however,
where most citizens pay no rent, education and health care are free, and the
government offers heavily subsidized basic services such as utilities and
transportation.
Mr. Castro has taken to the stage for several Thursdays in a row to announce
positive economic news, including the revaluation of the nation's two
currencies and the distribution of thousands of new pressure cookers and
rice steamers at subsidized prices.
The Cuban convertible peso was revaluated by 8% earlier this month, with the
exchange rate no longer on par with the American dollar. The regular Cuban
peso -- a second currency used on the island -- was also re-valued, by 7%.
Mr. Castro has hinted that the island will move toward a single currency,
and stated clearly that all Cuban currencies will be independent of the U.S.
dollar.
The Cuban leader's optimism on the state of the economy is based primarily
on improved trade relations with Venezuela and China and the recent
discovery of oil deposits off the island's coast.
The wage increase announced Thursday will cost the Cuban state nearly $44
million per year, Mr. Castro said. |