Cuban intellectuals denounce ills, praise change

HAVANA-A meeting this week of Cuban intellectuals denounced the communist nation's ills while also praising the reforms and new freedom of expression under new President Raul Castro.The Congress of Writers and Artists was a sign of the times and it was given ample state media coverage in Cuba, where Raul Castro has promised to lift "excessive prohibitions" on daily life since he succeeded his brother, Fidel Castro, as president on February 24."We must prepare for the new future of our country" was the headline Friday's Communist Party newspaper Granma gave to historian Eusebio Leal's speech at the meeting."We are all expectant...because what the country felt up to yesterday was not convenient, today it finds necessary," said Leal, one of the country's most respected figures and a friend of Fidel Castro.Leal pulled out a cellphone and praised a recent measure allowing ordinary Cubans to have them.State television later broadcast the speech.Since replacing his ailing brother as Cuba's first new leader in 50 years, Raul Castro has moved quickly to lift some of the state's more onerous restrictions on its people. Cubans now can buy computers, DVDs and other products, stay at tourism resorts and access cellphone service-all off limits before.
To read more go to :
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN0432346820080404
As in the days of Noah....