Cuba - new beginnings?

Fidel Castro is stepping down as President of Cuba after 49 years in office. I was lucky enough to visit Cuba in 2001. It's a fantastic country and the people were extremely welcoming, but the poverty and hardship was evident. The EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel has already stated the EU reiterates its willingnew to engage with Cuba in a constructive dialogue. It will be interesting to see what this leads to. I think there would be mutual benefits to such a dialogue. Obviously the hope is that the people of Cuba will experience democracy and political freedom for the first time in nearly half a century, but I think we can also learn a lot from Cuba's health care and education systems which are widely plauded. More than 50% of 18-24 year old Cubans are university educated and life expenctancy and infant mortality in line with that of the US than Latin America. I would be intrigued to find out how they have sustained such important social institutions over the years with such a weakened economy.