Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Pro-Castro folk star impatient for some change in Cuba
12-01-2006

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Silvio Rodriguez, a folk star whose songs are the soundtrack of Cuba's revolution, told AFP he was eager for change in his country.

Though he backs Latin America's only communist regime, and will headline a concert Thursday to celebrate Fidel Castro's 80th birthday, Rodriguez said Cuba "needs changes. Not changes to capitalism, we need to deepen socialism."

But changes are needed "in lots of areas; I don't want to get into it more specifically. Just let me put it this way: I live in the hope that that will happen in my country sooner rather than later," added Rodriguez, 60.

He said he was certain Cuba's system would survive even when Fidel Castro, who has been ailing since intestinal surgery in July, is gone. Many Cubans wonder if Raul Castro, Cuba's interim leader, will opt for economic reforms on the Chinese and Vietnamese models.

Fidel Castro "has been part of our lives for half a century. I don't doubt that it is going to be painful. It already is. I think that we are going to miss his wisdom, but I think that we will move forward.