Cuba's generals to set to shape economic future

With the promotions of some of Cuba's top men in uniform, Cuba's military is expected to play a significant role in future economic reforms.

BY FRANCES ROBLES

frobles@MiamiHerald.com

As he climbed up the ranks of Cuba's armed forces, it was years before Julio Casas Regueiro could shake the reputation that he was being promoted because of who he knew -- not what.

Casas wasn't a good military man, one of his former bosses said, but with promotions from a friend in high places -- then-Defense Minister Raúl Castro -- he eventually proved to be a great logistician and business manager.

And now he is Cuba's new defense minister and vice president, moving up after Castro was elected the island's president Feb. 24. He'll not only be leading Cuba's armed forces but is also expected to apply his business acumen to the country's ailing economy.

Castro's decision to surround himself with Casas and three other generals at the top level of government underscores the vast trust that the new president has in his military buddies, experts say. And while the armed forces are unlikely to take on any more major business initiatives -- that would hardly be possible -- the generals are expected to become the masterminds of efficiency-minded plans to boost the island's economy.

Cuba's 55,000 member Revolutionary Armed Forces is already in charge of most of the business sectors, including hotels and domestic airlines. With its top leaders now in some of the nation's highest positions of power, its role in a post-Fidel Cuba is likely to be reinforced, experts added.

Casas' promotion as one of five vice presidents in the ruling Council of State is a prime example.

''Casas Regueiro was always considered someone who was somewhere he should not be -- someone who got there through friendship,'' said José Quevedo, a former general who now lives in Miami. ``Eventually, he became the person who took advantage of military discipline for use in business, and that showed results.

``He's more a businessman than soldier.''

MASTER OF LOGISTICS

Casas and Castro became close friends in the 1950s, when both were members of Fidel Castro's ragtag army of guerrillas fighting to topple Fulgencio Batista. Casas founded the rebel army's Sixth Column and the National Police after the revolution's triumph in 1959. He participated in the Bay of Pigs and later became the military's point man for logistics.

''He worked brilliantly,'' Raúl Castro said when he announced the appointment. ``He [stood out] in a phase of the Air Force when we had a vacuum and no one to name.''

Quevedo -- who was Casas' boss at one point -- said the now-72-year-old distinguished himself managing logistics.

''He was repudiated by most of his own men,'' Quevedo said. ``Then the economics of the armed forces was in his control, and he developed purely logistical experience at the highest level. He's good at that.''

A former head of Cuba's Eastern Army -- one of the three main regional divisions -- Casas was also first vice minister of defense. A veteran in Cuba's involvement in Ethiopia, he is also a member of the Communist Party's Political Buro and a member of the National Assembly since 1981. He's been on the Council of State's central committee since 1998.

''I have criticized practically all the Armed Forces generals,'' Castro told the Assembly.

``I do not recall having made a criticism in these past 50 years of comrade Julio Casas, except that he is very stingy. But that's where he gets his economic success.''

True enough: the former banker is credited with the Armed Forces' so-called ''business perfection plan.'' He sent top military officers to study hotel management and accounting abroad to bring home a sense of efficiency and business expertise to the armed forces.

Soon, the FAR was not just running troops. Under Casas, the military formed GAESA, the holding company that runs up to 60 percent of Cuban state companies, including hotels, airlines and retail outfits.

His No. 2 in the company was Col. Luis Alberto Rodríguez, Raúl Castro's son-in-law.

AN ECONOMIC FORCE

In a post-Soviet Cuba, the severely shrunk and equipment-short FAR is not the military power it once was, but a money machine that's still one of the government's most respected institutions.

Military enterprises now control an estimated 90 percent of the nation's exports and 60 percent of its tourism revenue, and employ 20 percent of state workers. Generals are in charge of several ministries, including sugar and fisheries, and young conscripts work agricultural fields to boost production.

Somewhere in Cuba, Raúl Castro said , there's a signed legal document citing Casas as the only person with the right to veto the new president's economic decisions.

''If you look at Casas Regueiro, he has played a role in every state-owned enterprise -- tourism, agriculture, retail,'' said Dan Erikson, a Cuba expert at the InterAmerican Dialogue in Washington, D.C. ``He's known to be tight-fisted in a penny-pinching sense in his managerial style. He did a relatively good job in running a system that by design is going to be inefficient and unproductive.''

Casas' business experience is critical, because Castro's chief task as head of state is to save the nation's ailing economy. Cubans are growing increasingly frustrated because of high prices and low salaries, and are eager to see changes that would allow them more control over their economic destinies.

''If there is an economic opening, the military will play a role in that,'' Erikson said.

Castro has suggested that the solution to boosting Cuba's production and economy is by relaxing some of the bureaucratic regulations that stifle growth. But when he named old-timers to top positions of power, many experts said it was a signal that reform is a long way off.

Besides Casas, Castro also promoted old-timers José Ramón Machado Ventura, 77, as first vice president and Interior Minister Gen. Abelardo Colomé, 68, to second vice president.

Western Army Gen. Leopoldo Cintra Frias and Alvaro López Miera, head of the joint chiefs, were also named to the council. In a column published last week, Fidel Castro said their appointments were his suggestion and not a result of Raúl Castro's ``militaristic tendencies.''

But some say their appointments could just be a sign that Raúl Castro is looking to spread that military efficiency and discipline to other aspects of the economy.

Castro probably deliberately surrounded himself with military loyalists so he could implement reforms in the context of socialism, said Hal Klepak, a professor of military and war studies at the Royal Military College of Canada who has studied and taught in Cuba.

''Casas Regueiro was the architect of military reform -- this is a sign that the economy will be taken a bit more seriously,'' Klepak said.

``This is the man who sent military officers to Spain for MBAs. But he is not going to upset the apple cart. The FAR's role is to hold the reins while the politicians sort things out.

``If the reforms threaten the revolution, they will not be implemented.''

What's the cover-up? Mystery as Eva Longoria makes wedding tattoo vanish and reappear

Comments (7)

The star of Desperate Housewives star was seen recently minus the romantic tattoo she had inked on her wrist in honour of her marriage to her basketball-playing husband, Tony Parker.

Eva has been seen with the tattoo 'VII VII MMVII,' on her wrist which is her wedding date in Roman numerals.

Scroll down for more...

Now you don't see it: Earlier this month Eva Longoria appeared to have a change of heart about the tattoo on her wrist which commemorates her wedding - as she covered it up when she appeared at her restaurant opening in Los Angeles earlier this month

The star was seen out on the weekend with the tattoo visible, but two weeks ago, she appeared in public with the tattoo all covered up.

Eva and Belgian born Tony have been plagued with rumours of discord since their marriage last summer.

And due to Tony's heavy game schedule, with team San Antonio Spurs, and Eva's filming schedule on the top rated TV show, they appear to spend little time together.

Scroll down for more...

Back on show: But the tattoo re-appeared again later this month at the party she held for family and friends to celebrate her 33rd birthday

But it appears whatever compelled her to cover the body art up, has long been forgotten, as it re-appeared when she stepped out last week to begin the celebrations for her 33rd birthday.

Last week half of Hollywood turned out to celebrate her birthday at her new restaurant Beso in Los Angeles, but sadly her husband was busy on the basketball road and again a no-show.

However, Eva looked overjoyed at the turn out for her special day last weekend, which included Desperate Housewives co-stars Marcia Cross and Dana Delaney.

And last night Eva was seen enjoying another birthday night out in Miami with a gaggle of girlfriends, drinking cocktails at a bar in Miami Beach.

Party time again: Eva, third from left, enjoys a glass of bubbly with her many female friends as they celebrate her birthday

ADVERTISEMENT

Iconocast is about learning and teaching without borders; we offer eMarketing, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Online Branding, and eMarketing News Services.

Iconocast Home Page

Contact Iconocast

Iconocast Health Articles

© 2003-07. ICONOCAST is a trademark of iconocast.com.