This file is just to test whether Mahogany is clipping
some text off of the end of its messages. Save this
files as ``temp.txt``. Open a new message (ctrl-N)
and then tell M to open your editor. Read this utf-8 file
into the message body and exit the editor. Send the
message (with this text in the body). Check the very
end of the sent message: is all the text there?
Actually, I see that it is missing even if use my
outbox; I see the problem in the outbox.
Alan
The New York Times
July 19, 2008
Cuba to Grant Private Farmers Access to Land
By MARC LACEY
MEXICO CITY â President Raúl Castro continued his rollout of changes
in Cuba on Friday with the start of a plan to boost the islandâs
sluggish food production by granting private farmers access to up to
99 acres of unused government land.
Cuba seized land from most large-scale farmers after the 1959
revolution; the latest announcement in the Communist Party newspaper
Granma stopped well short of a return to pre-revolution private
enterprise.
Under the new system, private farmers, who have continued to exist
under Cubaâs socialist system, would have access to the plots for up
to a decade, with leases renewable if conditions were met and taxes
paid. Cooperatives and state farms would also qualify for more land,
for up to 25 years. But the fields would stay in the hands of the
government, which controls an estimated 90 percent of the islandâs
economy.
The new plan, mentioned several months ago but formally announced
Friday, is intended to jump-start food production at a time when Cuba
is feeling the effects of the global rise in food prices. Last year,
Cuba spent nearly $1.5 billion for food imports, much of that from
producers in the United States that were granted a special exemption
from Washingtonâs trade embargo on Cuba. This year, the islandâs bill
for food imports is expected to rise by another $1 billion, officials
have said, calling the issue one of national security.
Cubaâs government released statistics last month showing that fallow
or underused agricultural land had increased to 55 percent in 2007, up
from 46 percent five years earlier, The Associated Press reported.
The announcement on Friday acknowledged the struggle that the country
was facing in feeding itself. âFor various reasons, there is a
considerable percentage of state land sitting vacant, so it must be
handed over to individuals or groups as owners or users in an effort
to increase production of food and reduce imports,â the government
decree said.
The plan appeared partly designed to prompt more Cubans, who are drawn
to the cities for more opportunity, to give agriculture a try. Those
who do not currently farm any land would be given access to up to 33
acres for farming, the government said.
Mr. Castro took over provisionally for his ailing brother, Fidel, in
July 2006. But he has begun putting his own stamp on the country only
since February, when he formally became the second president of Cuba
in the last half century. In recent months, he has allowed Cubans with
enough money to buy cellphones and computers, which had previously
been restricted. He has allowed them to rent cars and visit tourist
hotels and opened up the possibility of private taxis. And he has
taken the limits off state salaries, allowing for productivity
bonuses.
Where he has stood firm is on political dissent, continuing his
brotherâs insistence that overt criticism of the system and government
amounted to disloyalty.
Many Cubans relished the changes even as they complained bitterly that
giving them access to consumer items did little to boost their state
salaries.
In a speech at the close of the National Assembly earlier this month,
the president made clear that he was remaking some aspects of the
country. The ideal of everyone, a doctor or a laborer, earning the
same amount, with no regard to productivity, seems to be fading.
âSocialism means social justice and equality, but equality of rights,
of opportunities, not of income,â he said. âEquality is not
egalitarianism.â
In the speech, Mr. Castro prepared Cubans for tough times ahead. âItâs
my duty to speak frankly, because it would be unethical to create
false expectations,â he said. âTo tell you otherwise would be
misleading.â
He went on to exhort Cubans to make the island more self-sufficient.
âWe must go back to the land,â he said.
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