Quote of the Day: Castro on the Cuban Model of Life and Government-Run Economy

According to journalist Jeffrey Goldberg who interviewed Fidel Castro recently, the Cuban said, "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."   Wait, what?  Here's a blurb from Goldberg's report:

I asked him if he believed the Cuban model was still something worth exporting.

"The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," he said.

This struck me as the mother of all Emily Litella moments. Did the leader of the Revolution just say, in essence, "Never mind"?

I asked Julia to interpret this stunning statement for me. She said, "He wasn't rejecting the ideas of the Revolution. I took it to be an acknowledgment that under 'the Cuban model' the state has much too big a role in the economic life of the country."  [My emphasis -- MM]

Julia pointed out that one effect of such a sentiment might be to create space for his brother, Raul, who is now president, to enact the necessary reforms in the face of what will surely be push-back from orthodox communists within the Party and the bureaucracy.  Raul Castro is already loosening the state's hold on the economy. He recently announced, in fact, that small businesses can now operate and that foreign investors could now buy Cuban real estate.

Well, well, well.  Look who's finally got a taste of cold hard reality.  Hm: "the state has much too big a role in the economic life of the country."  HEH.  Statists, listen up!  Oh, and didn't I just post about this sort of idea?