Raul Castro proposes political term limits in Cuba

HAVANA — Raul Castro proposed term limits Saturday for Cuban politicians — including himself — a remarkable gesture on an island ruled for 52 years by him and his brother. The 79-year-old president lamented the lack of young leaders in government, saying the country was paying the price for errors made in the past.

Castro told delegates to a crucial Communist Party summit that he would launch a "systematic rejuvenation" of the government. He said politicians and other important officials should be restricted to two consecutive five-year terms, including "the current president of the Council of State and his ministers" — a reference to himself.

Castro officially took over from his brother Fidel in 2008, meaning he would be at least 86 at the end of a second term, depending on how the law is written.

The proposal was made toward the end of a 2½ hour speech in which the Cuban leader forcefully backed a laundry list of changes to the country's socialist economic system, including the eventual elimination of ration books and other subsidies, the decentralization of the island nation's economy and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.

Still, he drew a line in the Caribbean sand as to which reforms should remain, telling party luminaries that he had rejected dozens of suggested reforms that would have allowed the concentration of property in private hands.

Castro said the country had ignored its problems for too long, and made clear Cuba had to make tough decisions if it wanted to survive.

"No country or person can spend more than they have," he said. "Two plus two is four. Never five, much less six or seven — as we have sometimes pretended."

Dressed in a white guayabera shirt, the Cuban leader alternated between reassurances that the economic changes were compatible with socialism, and a brutal assessment of the mistakes the country had made. Fidel Castro was not present for the speech.

Raul Castro said the monthly ration book of basic foods, perhaps the most cherished of subsidies, represented an "unbearable burden ... and a disincentive for work."

He said the changes he is proposing will come "without hurry, but without pause."

Still, he added that "there will never be room for shock therapy" in Cuba.