Odds and ends

• This report in El Nuevo Herald says that the Cuban press is reporting that last year’s new regulations on labor discipline are not having much of an effect. There’s only a slight decrease in absenteeism due to workers leaving their jobs to runs errands in government offices, go shopping, etc. Meanwhile, there’s still no word on the new salary policy which was to have been formulated last summer. Maybe there’s a connection.

• From Miami journalist Michael Putney, a colorful and even-handed preview of the Congressional race between Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez.

• Frank Calzon asks how Cuba’s military will act “when the all-powerful dictaror Fidel Castro dies,” and he sounds a little optimistic. Professor Jaime Suchlicki, in a new essay (posted here), looks ahead and sees a quick succession followed by a slow transition in Cuba.