CMU Professor Discusses Cuba After Castro

By: John Morelli

On Feb.19, 2008, Fidel Castro announced he would not attempt to continue as president or commander-in-chief of Cuba.

After undergoing surgery on July 31, 2006, his responsibilities were transferred to his younger brother, and future President of Cuba, Raúl Castro.

Dr. Krzysztof Kulawik, Central Michigan foreign language professor, believes that not much will change for the time being.

“While his brother Raúl is in power… it will stay about the same,” Kulawik said. “You have to remember that Castro is not dead yet and won’t be even after he physically passes.

“He still is and will be for a while behind all that his brother Raúl does and all that’s going on in the government of the island,” Kulawik said.

Kulawik believes that Cuba is in the state it is because of Castro’s politics of keeping everything state-owned which caused a dreadful distribution of products, scarcity, corruption and an ineffective economic system,

Even with the poor systems in Cuba, Kulawik had a very positive experience when he spent a couple of weeks there as a presenter at an international conference and doing research.

“Tourists and foreign visitors are treated amazingly well there, Cubans are very friendly and hospitable people,” Kulawik said.