Sure, Fidel Castro's "worker's paradise" is now, tentatively, under new management, But the Miami Herald points out that nothing is likely to change since the new boss is pretty much just the old boss.
Fidel Castro, Cuba's dictator for almost five decades, relinquished his official title Tuesday. Still, he is not gone, and his influence will continue. His official successor as ''president'' may attempt some modest reform. However, serious political and democratic freedom will remain a dream deferred.
The end of Cuba's totalitarian era is closer, but there is still no telling when real change might begin. This explains the subdued reaction of Cubans on the island and in Miami. As long as Castro is physically capable, he will use his considerable personal power to hold up the failed communist system. Even in his resignation notice, he promised to continue writing his ''Reflections,'' a series of editorials that regularly skewer the proposals of his designated successor, brother Raúl.
The notice comes as Cuba's political elites prepare to name the members and president of the Council of State on Sunday. The council president is considered Cuba's official leader, even though none of the candidates has been selected in anything resembling a free, democratic election.
The odds are that the new ''president'' will be Raúl Castro, who has been provisional ruler since his brother's health crisis in 2006. But that is not certain.
Regardless of who takes the title, that person's power will be limited not only by Fidel Castro but by the growing frustration of Cuba's people. They are the ones suffering the country's economic and moral decay. Raúl Castro let the genie out of the bottle when he solicited criticisms of the system. That was reflected in the students who recently grilled high-ranking official Ricardo Alarcón, who didn't give straight answers. A leaked video showcased their uncomfortable questions:
There will be no meaningful changes in Cuba at least until the Maximum Leader is in a grave. There will be no relief for the jailed dissidents until the dictatorship itself is buried. The Herald editorial calls for increased support for Cuban dissidents and to increase pressure on Cuba's elites to change.
This is not the time to respond to feeble promises of halfhearted "reforms" by the current management of the island prison that is Cuba.
Until all Castros are dead and gone it will just be more of the same – business (or lack thereof) as usual.