Economic reforms changing life - and dreams - for Cubans

Alan Gomez | USA TODAY

HAVANA — Joan Perez-Garcia has tried just about everything to find a decent-paying job in Cuba's state-run economy. He became an elementary schoolteacher, but it only paid the equivalent of $6 a month. He became a train mechanic, and that increased his salary to $10. Working as a construction worker and barber were no better.

Then the communist government did something unthinkable. It opened the door to private enterprises so individuals instead of the government could set wages. Perez-Garcia switched to a private job of fixing cellphones, TVs and computers.

He won't say how much he makes now, but he smiles and says, "a lot more."

"I've never been able to buy my own car or even a motorcycle to get around. Now I might be able to," said Perez-Garcia, 30. "There's nothing better than having something of your own."

Since 2008, when long-time leader Fidel Castro grew ill and handed power to his younger brother, Raúl Castro, Cuba has begun a series of economic reforms that are changing the way people like Perez-Garcia work, live and dream.

The newly announced thaw in tensions between Cuba and the United States brings the added hope of long-sought U.S. investment in nascent private enterprises. One of the key aspects of the deal unveiled by President Obama is that American businesses will be able to sell directly to small businesses on the island, a change many on this information-starved island already know.

"Most people understood that something big had happened, and for once, it was good," said Ricardo Torres Pérez, an economist at the Havana-based Center for Studies of the Cuban Economy. Torres Pérez added that implementing the promises made by both governments will be key.

The possibilities of what may be in store excite Cubans, who have spent more than 50 years toiling in an economic system that has restricted their ability to determine their own fates.

For Maria Perez, that means a possible end to the daily guessing game over what kind of food she'll be able to sell that day. The 84-year-old runs "Cafeteria Maria," one of the private restaurants known as paladares that were among the first industries allowed to operate outside the state-run system.

"Sometimes you go to buy beef and they're out," Perez said. "You always figure it out, but it would help if you had some certainty."

For Juan Porriño, that means a possible end to the constant battle to find basic supplies for farmers. Porriño had been working as the president of a farming cooperative on the outskirts of Havana when the government started changing the agricultural sector in 2009.

Before, the state would dictate how much farmers must produce each year. Once they reached their limit, they were unable to sell excess crops.

Now, the cooperative and the government develop a production plan together. The state still sets how much must be set aside for high-priority institutions, such as hospitals and schools. But any excess produced can be sold to markets or at fairs, the profits going directly into the farmers' pockets.

Porriño said the change has given farmers a new incentive to work harder and produce more. Still, they're held back by limited resources that, when available, cost way too much. He said basic things like pesticides and herbicides are hard to find, and machinery is antique.

"To produce here, you have to suffer," he said. "The agricultural sector is primordial."

That's why he laughs with joy at the idea of buying an American-made tractor or having pesticides available from American companies. "It's an injection into this sector that is hard to explain," he said.

Whether or not U.S. help materializes, Cubans say massive changes are still needed to their economic system.

A frequently cited suggestion is that the government expand the number of private-sector jobs. Currently, the government lists fewer than 200 jobs that can be performed by cuenta propistas, which loosely translates to "self-employed workers."

Most of those jobs are in basic services, such as restaurant proprietors, taxi drivers, barbers and artisans. You can now sell things that you make, but you still can't buy products somewhere and resell them at a higher price, a core capitalist endeavor.

Torres Pérez said government officials haven't even categorized the new workers as business owners."They're not registered with a chamber of commerce," he said. "They're not allowed to import or export. They're not businesses according to the law. They're 'self-employed.'"

Despite those limitations, Cubans say the changes represent the first significant steps toward a more promising economic model.

Marilin Valdes, 55, an elementary schoolteacher, recently moved from a rural city in central Cuba to Havana. She tried teaching for a while in this bustling capital city but said she just couldn't connect with the city kids.

As she struggled to figure out what to do next, she realized that the location of her apartment provided a great opportunity. Sitting on a busy avenue, Carlos Tercero, she started renting out the front room of her house to the new class of private workers. She now has seven people working there, and the rent she collects from them ends up bringing in more than her teaching job.

"People have more liberty to do their own thing now," she said.

Lazaro Mendez-Valdez, 43, said his life is a lot easier now that he can work as a cobbler and make his own decisions about what kind of materials to buy, how much work he does and who he hires to work for him.

"We don't have the pressure anymore," he said of the government bureaucrats who used to dictate his daily operations. "The administrators were all over you all the time."

The economic system in Cuba has been so destructive that it has led to repeated rounds of mass migrations out of the country. What started in the early 1960s as political refugees has morphed into a largely economic exodus over the decades, with wave after wave of Cubans braving the deadly 90-mile stretch of ocean to reach Florida.

Many on the island still want to leave, tired of waiting for things to finally improve. But the economic changes, combined with the new deal struck with Obama, have given islanders their first reason to hope in a long time.

"I love this country. I don't want to leave it," Perez-Garcia said. "But this economy needed to change. Let's see if it really does."