Gated Housing Communities for Cuba
Gated Housing Communities for Cuba, is the next big thing that is happening in that island country. President Raul Castro of Cuba has decided to reward those members of the military who are loyal to the Communist Party with special gated housing .
Several “military cities” around the country are set aside for the most ardent defenders of Cuba’s 1959 revolution: families tied to the military and the Interior Ministry (which is considered to be a part of the military)
These apartments with their balconies and air-conditioning, are the government’s most public gifts to it’s middle ranks and seem to me, to be a very interesting development, just as foreign investment is really gearing up in Cuba these days.
The new apartments seem to be a clear sign of Cuba’s new hybrid economy in which the state must sometimes compete with the private sector.
President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel, have always turned to the military in times of need. In the 1960’s as Cuba’s professional class fled the country, officers in fatigues ran the government ministries and the nationalized industries.
Cuba’s largest state conglomerate, Cimex is run by Raul Castro’s son-in-law, Col. Hector Oroza Busutin. General Luis Alberto Rodriguez is the top executive at the military’s holding company Gaesa, which controls 20% to 40% of the economy of Cuba.As we know from these recent posts, the economy of Cuba is expanding rapidly.
The military’s interests give the privilege of doing business to a chosen few, especially those senior military officials who now live better than almost anyone in Cuba. The new housing is looked upon as favoritism. President Raul Castro is providing this housing in an effort to elevate the faithful and maintain their loyalty, even after the Castros are gone.
These new “military cities” which house their own health clinics, schools, supermarkets movie theaters and private parking within the gates really resemble a Florida condo-complex.
Military members must report all the money that they receive, and are not allowed “unauthorized contact” with foreigners, or with Cubans living abroad – limiting access to the money that other Cubans use, not only for purchases, but also to improve their homes and open small businesses.
