Havana, Cuba, Jan 5, 2011 / 10:15 am
The coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement is renewing his demand that the Cuban government allow the country to transition to democracy peacefully.
Oswaldo Paya warned in a Jan. 1 message that Cuba will otherwise be left hanging between unbridled capitalism and socialist totalitarianism.
Paya’s comments came as the Cuban government announced 500,000 government workers will be laid off in the upcoming year. “The government justifies the layoffs of thousands of workers claiming they are not suitable for the job,” Paya stated. “And our leaders? Have they been suitable? Now they say they did not know how to make socialism work, and yet for half a century they made decisions in the name of the people.”
Data obtained by the EFE news agency clarified that some 146,000 jobs will be eliminated in 2011, and 351,000 government employees will be transitioned into the public sector as part of the economic reforms announced by the Cuban government.