On October 30th the newspaper Granma published,
Beginning improvements in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The approved proposals were aimed at shaping a modern revolutionary Foreign Ministry to ensure more efficient performance of the organization and the concentration of the resources and efforts in the priorities of Cuban foreign policy.”
Commentary:
Under the slogan of “Combating the blockade as our principal mission” in the diplomatic sphere, lies perhaps in the modification of the existing legal mechanisms, which allow Cubans (especially the most powerful Cubans, who are those of the Government of Havana) to interact with foreigners (governments or companies) interested in the new direction that Cuban political economy seems to be taking.
Should this be the case, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) would be undergoing a transformation similar to that of other State agencies and entities: to accommodate the game at the convenience of the ruling class, who want to economically restructure the country while still having absolute power over it.
All this can also be related to the winks that come from the leadership of the country to the prosperous Cuban community in the US. They have made declarations (onthe part of Antonio Castro, son of Fidel Castro and the true “owner” of the Cuban baseball team) that it would be good if the Cuban ballplayers in the U.S. major leagues returned to play under their flag: which was denied to them the day they “deserted” and were called “traitors.”
Certainly, with the changes within the country there will also come changes toward the exterior. MINREX will not be the exception.
Víctor Ariel González
14 November 2013
