Castro's fight against "the dragons which devour our electricity"

This was a pretty interesting article in the New York Times yesterday. it's all about the effort by Castro's government to switch Cuba's population from the use of ancient (50's models) American refrigerators to new, "improved" models which they buy from China. Simon Romero, the author of the article, describes the effort as "(getting rid) of some of the most resilient totems of American imperialism".

switching over to the new Chinese fridges is not as easy as it may seem:

"...unlike education and health care in Cuba, refrigerators are not free. A concern for Cubans is the cost of the new Chinese models: about $200, a small fortune in a country where the average monthly wage is about $15.

Ten-year payment plans have been made available.

TEN-YEAR PAYMENT PLANS. for refrigerators. oh boy...

anyway, though it's not mandatory to switch, to comply is seen as "patriotic", a way to become "the apple of Fidel's eye".

the article goes on to blame Cuba's economic plight on it's "economic isolation" from the world and the American embargo against it. the problem with this is that Cuba is free to trade with the rest of the world freely. maybe it's main problem is that their economic policies, socialism, and totalitarian government might be restraining the Cuban people from prospering? just a thought...

i work with a recent Cuban refugee who was just last week describing how Cubans kept all of their old clunker cars running..."they make things." replacement parts are non-existent. in the NYT article, a Cuban newspaper' headline asks: "Where do the old refrigerators go?"..."from them, everything is reclaimed". it shows how technicians swarm Cuban junkyards confiscating every little thing off of junked appliances, which in turn go to produce small items (like forks) for the people, or the scrap sold to China to be re-sold to Cuba in the form of new appliances.

the Chinese refrigerators are being lauded by the Cuban government for their energy-usage efficiency. but, they are loathed by the Cuban people because they're tiny in comparison, and they have acquired a nickname: "Llovizna" (that's "Drippy" in English...).

the article goes on to describe how some Cuban artists have used the discarded refrigerators to create art which celebrates the efforts to keep the old refrigerators running all of these years. one example was of a refrigerator having oars installed onto it...another was painted olive green, covered with medals and named "General Electrico". haha--that's pretty good...

i asked my co-worker if she wanted to return to Cuba...her response: "Si, yes, when he dies", as she stroked an imaginary beard.