Following The Chinese

Walter Russell Mead decodes the Castro brothers' recent actions:

Havana no longer fears that Miami will restore the ancien regime by armed invasion or by triggering an American attack on the island.  But it does fear that as the Cuban economy gradually tracks back toward a capitalist model, Cuban American investors will simply buy the island back investing in key industries and property.  As far as I can see, the New Economic Policy now being formed in Havana is an attempt to prevent that from happening. On the one hand, island-based individuals and groups will have a chance to become rich and powerful as the economic controls are slowly lifted; on the other, the political authorities will still be able to control the ability of foreign firms and foreign investment to penetrate the island.  Raul does not have his brother’s charisma and in any case the second Castro brother will likely follow Fidel into retirement in the not too distant future.  Greater economic prosperity will be more important to the regime’s stability as the brothers fade from the scene.

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