Think tank tinkers chat about the state and prospects of the Cuban military.
Points of note:
Since end of Cold War, military downsized to 50,000 from over 250,000 (though theoretically every Cuban is a soldier in the face of an invasion). A major challenge is where in society to place the hundreds of thousands that now find no positions in the armed forces.
At least half of new recruits must come from the children of workers and peasants.
Around the 20:40 mark Klepak speaks disparagingly--if obliquely--of Fidel's leadership of the military vis-a-vis Raul's. He refers to the previous administration's micromanaging and blathering without calling Fidel out by name. Is he worried about getting his next visa application rejected? Or has he been thoroughly socialized into the culture of not naming certain names?
Social density, nosiness and gossip prevent people from engaging in large scale corruption.
The British guy is not saying anything revelatory. But gives a good summary of the major moments in Cuban political economic history in the last 50 years.
The guy from the US War College drops names and intimates future courses based on officers' personal interests that he intuits. He says the military is as important if not more than the communist party. Then he notes that a key will be to see how far up the party structure the newer officers climb. Wait, what?
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