Cuba geeft communisme op

quote:

Cuban electricity rates soar
Consumers may see bills rise by as much as 300 percent

_{Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Posted: 1:36 p.m. EST (18:36 GMT)}

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Cuba raised heavily subsidized electricity rates by as much as 333 percent Wednesday to save power and deal with chronic energy shortages.

A decree signed by President Fidel Castro increased the cost of electricity for small consumers from 20 to 30 cents of a Cuban peso ($0.01) per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

Cubans who consume more than 300 kwh a month will see their rate rise from 30 cents to 1.30 pesos ($0.06) next month.

"The lack of concern about electrical consumption is evident in our country due to the very low rates," the decree published in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said.

Power outages are frequent in Cuba whose thermoelectric generators built decades ago are obsolete and do not produce enough electricity to meet demand at peak consumption.

Castro warned last week that rates would have to go up in a speech in which he attacked private businesses, such as family restaurants, for benefiting from subsidized electricity and using up too much power.

Foreign companies, which pay a higher rate and will not be affected by the new increase, praised the move as realistic.

"It's a step in the right direction, to get people who can afford it to pay for electricity, as opposed to everybody not having any," said a foreign company executive.

"They cannot afford to subsidize everybody, and the fact is that everybody was getting very little electricity," she said.

Cubans who earn meager wages of $15 a month on average were worried they would not be able pay their electricity bills.

In a separate announcement the government also announced Wednesday wage increases of between 75 and 200 pesos ($3.4 and $9) for 2.2 million workers, and a nine percent raise in pensions. In May Castro doubled Cuba's minimum wage to 225 pesos ($10).

"Electricity prices had to go up. There is so much waste," said a Havana housewife who asked not to be named. "But people are worried because salary increases are not enough."

quote:

Cuba announces major salary rises

By Stephen Gibbs
BBC News, Havana

Cuba has announced a major increase in government salaries as it tries to reward workers with high productivity and advanced university degrees.

The bonuses will boost some government salaries by up to 50%.

Cuba's Communist Party daily newspaper says that the pay rises will be the first some civil servants have been awarded in 23 years.

Workers with masters degrees will receive a bonus of up to $4 a month. Doctors will get an extra $7.

The raw figures might seem low but in Cuba - where the average monthly salary is around $15, and accommodation healthcare and education are free, the rises will be welcome. Perhaps all the more so because they come at the same time the Cuban government is launching a campaign against those that supplement their salaries through illicit means.

Rich targeted

President Castro has vowed to clamp down hard on rampant robbery from state enterprises.

In a speech last week he also blamed many of the country's woes on what he described as Cuba's new rich - principally intermediaries and independent restaurant owners who have profited from this economy's very limited opening up to private enterprise.

They, it appears, are being targeted in another move announced - a staggered price rise of up to three times for heavy consumers of electricity.

Cuba's decrepit electrical infrastructure has in recent years proved insufficient to power the whole country.

The government says that the entire population needs to be made aware of the cost of energy, particularly those that use it to run their own businesses.


<sub>Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4465452.stm

Published: 2005/11/24 06:58:49 GMT

© BBC MMV</sub>

quote:

Op vrijdag 25 november 2005 18:20 schreef DeGroeneRidder het volgende:
Overstap naar een vrije markt? Betekent dat dan dat communisten per definitie gekant zijn tegen een prijsmechanisme (dat in een vrije markt trouwens ook niet werkt, cfr. het feit dat met kosten voor het milieu geen rekening wordt gehouden bij de prijsbepaling)?

quote:

Op vrijdag 25 november 2005 18:38 schreef DeGroeneRidder het volgende:

[..]

O ja dat ideetje dat als je alle natuurlijke hulpbronnen privatiseert het vanzelf wel goedkomt. Echter, wie bv. het Amazonewoud verwerft heeft niet per definitie een incentive via de markt om het te behouden, terwijl de volledige kap ervan aan de rest van de wereld wel eens triljoenen zou kunnen kosten om de milieu- en andere schade in te perken. Op die manier circuleert er natuurlijk meer geld, maar neemt de welvaart niet toe.