HAVANA — In 2008 Raul Castro took over a country where most people couldn’t own computers or cellphones, leave without permission, run most types of private businesses or enter resort hotels. Castro set about re-engineering the system he had helped create and Cuba opened dramatically over his decade in office. Cuba has nearly 600,000 private entrepreneurs, more than 5 million cellphones, a bustling real estate market and one of the world’s fastest-growing airports. On the other side of the ledger, Cuba’s Soviet-style command economy still employs three of every four Cuban workers but produces little. Castro called for elimination of the dual currencies from the beginning of his presidency, but never got around to it.

Source: National Post April 16, 2018 04:02 UTC