ID:61555
Date:2006-04-24 15:33
06HAVANA8769

VZCZCXRO2781
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RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHUB #8769/01 1141533
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 241533Z APR 06
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5884
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0073
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL
RUESDM/JTLO MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 
01 OF 03 HAVANA 008769 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2016 
TAGS: PGOV, SOCI, ECON, CU 
SUBJECT: CASTRO'S YOUTHFUL RECRUITS WAGE WAR ON CORRUPTION 
 
REF: A. HAVANA 8017 
     B. 05 HAVANA 23177 
 
Classified By: MICHAEL E. PARMLY FOR REASONS 1.4 b/d 
 
1. (C) Summary: One of Castro's top concerns this year is 
the battle against corruption.  In a campaign that began 
five months ago, hundreds of state workers have been fired 
or transferred.  Thousands of "social workers" (unemployed 
youth) were enlisted to man the gas pumps and oversee the 
books at hotels.  The military took over the Port of 
Havana.  GOC agents continue to carry out "hit and run" 
raids on markets, bakeries and restaurants.  The 
administration of state farms has reportedly been 
tightened and consolidated.  The anti-corruption campaign 
is geared to stem graft at all levels, but the wielding of 
social workers in the effort appears to have a corollary 
social goal:  The inculcation of Cuba's alienated, 
underemployed youth with revolutionary ideals.  End 
Summary. 
 
Anti-Corruption: One of Castro's Top Three Pastimes 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2. (C) Castro has busied himself with three major 
campaigns this year:  The "Energy Revolution" to end 
blackouts (ref A); the propaganda response to U.S. policy 
and so-called "terrorism"; and the battle against 
corruption.  Of the three, the anti-corruption campaign 
has had the most tangible effects on the Cuban public. 
 
3. (C) Castro enlisted 20,000 "social workers" from Havana 
and the provinces to implement his anti-corruption 
campaign, initiated five months ago following major 
speeches in October and November addressing the topic. 
The campaign first took the form of a rumored "13 
measures" followed by a murky operation called "The Rich 
Folks of Today" (ref B).  While the general public has not 
been informed of Castro's exact targets, the GOC has 
cracked down on the gas stations, ports, markets, 
bakeries, hotels, and state farms.  Details of the 
operations filter through the rumor mill - some are 
confirmed, others are hearsay. 
 
Gas Stations 
------------ 
 
4. (C) In October, hundreds of youthful "social workers" 
were bussed to the capital and sent to take over the 
city's gas stations at 4:00 a.m. (the regular gas station 
employees were sent home on full salary).  The social 
workers have been there ever since, manning the pumps and 
handling gas receipts.  Social workers were expected to 
man the pumps for 45 days, but five months and several 
rotations later they are still there. 
 
5. (C) The fate of the regular gas station employees is 
unknown, though they are among hundreds of state employees 
dismissed or transferred during the anti-corruption 
campaign.  One former attendant is now a cashier at an 
adjoining "Rapido" fast food operation, but her father is 
a colonel and she has presumably benefited from his 
leverage.  Other former attendants have probably been 
moved into less attractive jobs or manual labor (like 
cutting grass along the roadways). 
 
6. (C) The social workers say the four-month operation is 
finally coming to an end and they will be sent home May 1 
"to await the next mission."  The GOC is rumored to be 
hiring a new crop of permanent employees, but are 
doubtless vetting them closely.  Meanwhile, locals and 
foreigners have commented that revenues at the pumps 
doubled immediately upon the dismissal of the regular 
employees and replacement by social workers. 
 
Ports 
----- 
 
7. (C) Another major but more obscure operation has been 
the military takeover of the ports between October and 
November of 2005.  A general was placed in charge of the 
Port of Havana to end the theft of imported goods.  This 
operation was also supposed to be in effect for 45 days 
but has apparently been extended.  An American visitor in 
Cuba told P/E officer that his friend, a container 
inspector, used to do so well he could afford to invite 
his foreign friends to dinner in hard currency restaurants 
 
HAVANA 00008769  002 OF 003 
 
 
(a rare reversal of the usual dynamic).  The inspector 
reportedly complained, however, that the port takeover had 
deprived him of his usual means of support (thieving) for 
the past five months, imposing serious financial hardship 
as a result.  According to the American, the port 
inspector was looking forward to a possible transfer to a 
port in Venezuela, where oversight might be more lax. 
 
Markets, Bakeries 
----------------- 
 
8. (C) In addition to these more deliberate efforts, the 
GOC has increased "hit-and-run" raids on state operations. 
Farmer's markets have been a prime target, with GOC 
operatives rounding up vendors to check their licenses and 
verify that only farmers were selling produce (as opposed 
to paid middlemen).  Reuters journalist Marc Frank told 
P/E Officer the GOC also conducted a recent raid on 40 
hard currency "Sylvain" bakeries.  Employees were rounded 
up and sent outside while GOC inspectors looked for stolen 
goods.  According to Frank (who enjoys good contacts 
inside the GOC), every single bakery harbored stashes of 
sugar or flour for sale on the black market. 
 
Hotels, Private Restaurants, State Farms 
---------------------------------------- 
 
9. (C) Dutch consultant Genevieve van der Vlugt told P/E 
Officer that social workers had replaced general managers 
at every hotel in Old Havana run by Habaguanex (Eusebio 
Leal's chain of luxury tourist accommodations).  This had 
thrown a wrench in the daily workings of the hotels, since 
"now everyone has to behave like saints and hide their 
cell phones."  (Not only are Cubans prohibited from buying 
cell phones, but hotel employees living righteously off 
their state salary should not be able to afford one.) 
 
10. (C) Another foreigner commented to P/E Officer that 
social workers had been taking over the accounting of "all 
major industries" (not just hotels), but this rumor has 
not been confirmed.  Similarly, the GOC is said to be 
tightening up the administration of its large state farms, 
or Basic Units of Cooperative Production (UBPCs), but 
again, the restructuring has not been confirmed. 
 
11. (C) Finally, Havana paladars (private restaurants) 
were subject to raids by inspectors in November.  Some 
observers predicted a general shutdown of paladars, but 
they are so far still in operation (if beleaguered by the 
steep hike in electricity bills) (refs A, B). 
 
The Brawn Behind the Operation 
------------------------------ 
 
12. (C) Castro's social workers are not trained 
professionals, but rather youth who are not otherwise 
occupied with school or jobs (i.e., dropouts).  P/E 
Officer's Cuban neighbor complained the social workers 
earned 300 pesos a month (12 USD), exceeding her husband's 
military pension.  (Note: the sum is a pittance, but still 
considered a decent salary for Cubans without access to 
hard currency.  End note.) 
 
13. (C) The social workers' youth and inexperience is 
painfully obvious to all who interact with them, and 
Castro has since buttressed his original 20,000 recruits 
with an additional 10,000 social workers from Carlitos 
Lage's Federation of University Students (FEU).  These 
"University Brigades of Social Workers" (Brigadas 
Universitarias de Trabajadores Sociales) have gained 
prominence of late and can be seen around town, at GOC 
functions and in the media sporting their red "BUTS" t- 
shirts.  USINT has not been able to clarify the division 
of roles between the two classes of social workers, nor 
are we able to confirm the total number of social workers 
involved in the campaign. 
 
14. (C) Juxtaposing youth with age, Raul Castro recently 
introduced "Duos" into the anti-corruption mix (two-person 
teams of several thousand retired military and regime 
faithful tasked with sniffing out illegal practices). 
According to secondhand descriptions of a newly-circulated 
video featuring Raul Castro, one pair of "Duos" uncovered 
2,000 tons of missing product from a wholesale food 
operation; a theft that went undetected despite 14 visits 
by regular GOC inspectors.  In the video, Raul Castro 
reportedly questions his GOC audience (apparently without 
 
HAVANA 00008769  003 OF 003 
 
 
irony), "How can you explain this?" 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
15. (C) The anti-corruption campaign is geared to end 
pilferage from top to bottom, but the incorporation of 
Cuban youth also implies social aims.  Not only will the 
campaign help mop up unemployment, it will supposedly 
encourage Cuban youth to invest in revolutionary ideals. 
The incorporation of university students could also be 
intended to smooth out class divisions by forcing the 
elite to mix with the popular classes. 
 
16. (C) Castro has given fewer public speeches of late, 
and has not touched on the issue of corruption for several 
months.  But the ubiquitous social workers and release of 
the Raul video indicates anti-corruption is still very 
much in fashion with the Castro leadership.  Corruption 
has become the modern bane of the Revolution, and unlike 
his simultaneous campaign against "U.S. terrorism," in 
corruption Castro faces a real enemy. 
 
PARMLY