In Cuba, reforms bring cheers but also jeers

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - Plumbing supplies salesman Luis Miguel is relieved he will finally be able to sell his Havana apartment and buy another under liberalizing reforms being introduced by Cuban President Raul Castro.

But he is angry over the months he spent struggling with restrictive and labyrinthine bureaucracy as he tried to trade his property under the past strictly controlled housing regime on the communist-ruled island.

"I have been trying for months to 'permutar' (trade homes) and it's been one bureaucratic runaround after another," the 45-year-old said disgustedly, dumping into the garbage a stack of papers relating to the "permuta."

"Now I'm looking for a buyer without so many false controls or having to pay anyone under the table and bribe everyone," Luis Miguel said. Prior to the reforms, Cubans could only swap their dwellings but were barred from buying and selling them.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/us-cuba-reform-idUSTRE76C4MF20110713

[MADem]

1. ....having to pay anyone under the table and bribe everyone...

That always seems to be the rub in some environments.

[socialshockwave]

2. Seems too much government...

doesn't work as well as Dear old Comrade Castro thought.

/shrug