Cuba’s New Constitution Won’t Fix Its Economy
Change is hard — especially when you don’t really want it.
The past isn’t past.
Photographer: Eliana Aponte/picture alliance via Getty Images
For anyone longing for the clarity of the Cold War, Cuba has been an enduring inspiration. Forget the gringo-sponsored Washington Consensus, messy electoral democracy or wishy-washy pink tide. The Caribbean island has remained a single-family regime serving straight-up 20th century communism.
Yet to gauge by the commotion among the leadership in Havana, those comforting assurances are gone. The Castros are out, private property is in, and the United States is no longer the enemy — just a necessary evil. When Cuba’s new constitution is rolled out by November, the Western Hemisphere’s storied communist enclave will be rebranded merely as a socialist society.