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HAVANA-Cuba said on Wednesday that a series of reforms ordered by new President Raul Castro will strengthen socialism and it will not tolerate attempts by the United States and local dissidents to subvert it."There is no space for the dreams of adversaries, internal mercenaries and fifth columnists," an editorial in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said."There will be a more perfect socialism sustained and defended by a united people led by Fidel, Raul and the party's leadership," it said.Cuba brands opponents to the one-party socialist state as mercenaries on the payroll of its ideological enemy, the United States, and frequently imprisons them.There has been a marked increase in public debate and criticism under Raul Castro, who first temporarily stepped in as acting president in 2006 when his brother Fidel Castro underwent surgery from which he never fully recovered.Since officially taking over in February as Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century, Raul Castro has lifted restrictions on Cubans using cellular telephones, staying at hotels and buying computers and DVD players.He has also begun to decentralize agriculture to provide incentives to private farmers, and lift wage caps, among other measures.A number of dissident organizations have condemned the moves as too little and too late, and are demanding freedom for political prisoners, a market-based economy and multi-party democracy.The Granma editorial blasted a recent meeting in Miami of anti-Castro exiles, attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and some east European diplomats, to discuss increasing support for dissidents in Cuba.
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