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Post-Castro Capitalism?

Well, the word is that Cuban leader Fidel Castro will recover from his recent surgery and be back to run the country in a matter of weeks. In the meantime, power has been transferred to brother Raul and this has the world media wondering about an eventual shift towards normalized US-Cuban relations.

According to a BBC report, this is the first time in 47 years that Fidel Castro has ceded power. While the official line out of Cuba and supporting countries suggests a quick return to power for Castro and business-as-usual, many Cuban exiles and people in the business community are looking forward to a more open, capitalist Cuba.

One has to wonder how the growing support for left-wing politics in South America and Mexico might influence future events in this Caribbean island nation. For more on the fate of Cuba, see this August 4 BBC article, as well as Forbes' "Post-Castro Capitalism?".

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