CUBA:Six months after Cuban leader Fidel Castro handed over power provisionally to his brother Raul, signs of an opening in public debate are emerging.
Articles have appeared in the government-controlled media since October uncovering theft in state enterprises and other previously unmentionable deficiencies in Cuba's economy. In unusual public statements, Cuban intellectuals have denounced the resurfacing of censors who were responsible for blacklisting writers and homosexuals 30 years ago.
The state conceded it had made a mistake and allowed 400 writers and artists to hold an unprecedented meeting on Tuesday to discuss the cultural purges of the 1970s.
The new climate of debate emerges amid deep uncertainty over Cuba's future. Dr Castro's brother and designated successor, Raul Castro (75), once seen as a Communist hardliner, in 1996 emphatically ruled out a Cuban "glasnost". He is believed to favour a Chinese-style opening of the economy.
Fidel Castro relinquished power on July 31st a few days after he was rushed to hospital with intestinal bleeding. He has not reappeared in public since.
Cuban TV showed a video of him on Tuesday meeting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez the day before. Dr Castro looked frail but stronger than in footage released in October.
Some Cubans welcome the change from Fidel Castro's ideologically driven speeches to his brother's more practical focus.
"Raul has made a point of abandoning Fidel's practice of scapegoating others. Instead, he is admitting that the revolution's problems are serious and home grown," said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst.
"The good thing about Raul is that he listens," said a Cuban economist who asked not to be named.