Young blood: continuity and change within Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.(Reports)

Perhaps no other institution of the Cuban regime has undergone such fundamental changes in its mission, structure, and personnel in the last decade-and-a-hall than the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR). The Cuban armed forces shifted its focus flora proletarian internationalism to assuming responsibility for reforming and managing the economy in an effort to survive the Special Period. It is the institution responsible for introducing and implementing the sistema de perfeccionamiento empresarial (SPE), a system that introduces principles of capitalist organization and management as a means of making the economy more efficient and competitive. Troop strength declined significantly after 1990 from over 200,000 to approximately 45,000 active soldiers in 2004, and its budget was equally slashed by nearly 50 percent over a period of almost a decade. Finally, since the early 1990s new generations of FAR officers have been promoted to general officer rank, holding key positions in the military high command and in state-controlled economic industries. Such change in what is arguably the Cuban Revolution's most important and powerful institution--key to its consolidation and survival--is worthy of careful analysis. Yet, despite the restructuring and the reformist economic outlook of many of its leaders, the Cuban military remains very much an institution loyal to the regime and to its succession strategy when Fidel Castro passes from the scene. It begs the question, is the FAR an agent of change or continuity? Answering this question can help shed light on future prospects for democracy and market economy in a ...