Fidel's Brother Sets Up Shop

By CATHY BOOTH/HAVANA

The hottest video in Havana these days is seven hours long and boasts no Hollywood talent. But it has Communist Party faithful flocking into theaters to watch the star of the show savagely criticize Cuba's food shortages and bungling bureaucrats. The headliner is none other than Fidel Castro's younger brother Raul. For the party's 500,000 card-carrying members, the uncut footage of Raul traversing Cuba from Santiago de Cuba to Pinar del Rio, chronicling political and economic woes, is a must see. And despite the occasional urge to nap, viewers exit stunned and uncertain what it portends for Cuba's future.

Long hidden in the shadow of his taller, more charismatic brother, Raul has stepped into the spotlight this year as the champion of economic and agricultural reforms long opposed by Fidel. While Fidel was exhorting hungry Cubans with hoary slogans like "Socialism or death," Raul went to the people last spring, asking party members and peasants alike about the government's shortcomings. As economic woes mounted, Raul, head of the country's Revolutionary Armed Forces, subbed for his brother and delivered the traditional July 26th speech commemorating the start of the Cuban revolution. And Raul pushed for the Oct. 1 reopening of free-enterprise farmers' markets, which were shut down by Fidel in 1986. "Beans," declared the general, "are more important than cannons."

While Fidel, 67, remains Cuba's ideologue of yesteryear, Raul, 63, has emerged as today's pragmatist. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 cost Havana its main trading partner, Fidel has only grudgingly opened the door to dollar-toting tourists and foreign investors, begun shrinking the army and bureaucracy, and allowed Cubans a taste of private enterprise. But monthly rations barely provide enough food for two weeks. The Cuban army, in touch with grass-roots sentiment through its conscripts and ties with local militias, started telling Raul of widespread grumbling among the hungry populace.

Public anger bubbled over this summer when 32,000 Cubans fled the island in makeshift rafts. Fidel, shocked and hurt, fell silent after a few television appearances. Raul, concerned that his 180,000 troops would be called upon to put down popular protests, decided the stalemate between reformers and hard- liners had dragged on too long. Food had become a national-security issue, more important than possible political squabbles. In July, at a Communist Party meeting, Raul said, "The risks don't matter as long as there is food for the people." By late summer he had apparently persuaded Fidel to let the army take over decisions about food production from civilian economists.

Raul's ideas of reform are not necessarily the ones Western democracies would choose for Cuba. Basically, Havana is turning increasingly large chunks of the economy over to the military. Although it is rare to see uniformed soldiers on the street, Raul's troops are involved in every aspect of the economy, from running plants to planting food. The general has plugged military men loyal to him -- some retired, some still active -- into influential positions. Professional soldiers who once earned battle medals as mercenaries in Angola and Ethiopia are now assigned to repair city pipelines, build tourist hotels and direct industrial production. Generals are donning civilian clothes to run quasi-private corporations, from tourist hotels to department stores.

Soldiers have been given small plots of land to produce much of the meat and vegetables on sale at the farmer markets. The Youth Labor Army, a paramilitary force of conscripts, devotes most of its time to farming. Since civilians were pilfering up to 75% of food shipments, soldiers now guard deliveries. The army's construction company, Union de Empresas Constructoras, is building tourist facilities in Varadero and Havana.

Raul and his generals even earn dollars for guns with an octopus-like tourism outfit called Gaviota, which runs health spas, marinas and luxury hotels. At hunting preserves formerly reserved for the army, visitors shoot duck in some of Fidel's favorite stalking grounds. Gaviota takes tourists to the outskirts of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo and lets them spy on troop movements -- cocktails and binoculars included. TRD Caribe, the newest arm of Gaviota, is the fastest-growing chain of department stores. TRD, appropriately enough, stands for tienda recaudacion en divisas -- literally, "store to rake in the dollars."

Cuban officials see nothing strange in all this for an army that was harvesting sugar back in the 1970s. "The Cuban army is not a traditional Latin American army that lives in the barracks," says National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon. Adds a Communist Party member: "You won't see a military coup in Cuba, but more generals will be taking off their uniforms to become technocrats."

It may be that the military is the only Cuban institution efficient enough and strong enough to bring about reform. In the 1980s the army began to impose market-oriented management techniques in its own ammunition factories, offering bonuses for increased production and transferring those who did not perform. By 1991 the army had passed along its experience to 100 civilian industries. Party sources say Raul's military advisers are looking beyond quick fixes and studying a complete overhaul of the socialist system. "If you're going to implement changes, one of the safer ways to do this is to use the armed forces so you can have a modicum of control," says Phyllis Greene Walker, a research associate who follows the Cuban military for the University of Miami's North-South Center in Washington. The army, she notes, is the one institution still intensely loyal to the Castros.

It is uncertain whether taking charge of economic reform will revive Raul's political fortunes. His authoritarian streak served him well in the army, which he transformed from a ragged band of guerrillas into one of the largest and most professional in the Western hemisphere. But until last summer, Raul was regarded as a spent political force, particularly since the 1989 drug- trafficking trial of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez undermined his leadership. Raul went through a long bout with depression after Ochoa was convicted and executed. It had long been assumed that if Fidel died, Raul would assume control only as a caretaker.

Now that Raul is taking the lead on economic policy, "he is once again a serious political player," says Gillian Gunn, head of Georgetown University's Cuba Project. Raul personally replaced half the Communist Party's first secretaries in the provinces this summer with young, pro-army party men. "To the average Cuban it looks like Raul has taken over, with Fidel held for special occasions, public relations and international events," says a party member. Some political analysts in Havana even talk of Fidel becoming a figurehead and letting others carry out reforms the staunch communist finds repugnant. Of course, with Raul spearheading the changes, Fidel is better insulated if they fail.

Washington's reaction is cautious. Castro's little brother is a committed communist, not a free marketeer or democrat. The U.S. has demanded that Cuba enact political as well as economic reforms before lifting the 32-year-old trade embargo. Raul's technical fixes have so far been accompanied by increased repression of political dissidents. According to the Pentagon, a post-Castro Cuba cannot be truly capitalistic and democratic if the military is ingrained in the economy. But as other communist governments have learned, economic reforms often create a market for democracy. Raul and his generals may yet discover how difficult it is to run a capitalistic dictatorship.

With reporting by DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON