> To my eye it looks suspiciously like what was being heard about Gorbachovs
> programme in say 1988 or 1987.
Paul,
I agree with Juan Carlos Monedero that a more appropriate analogy is NEP. Why? Because, however years of deprivation and economic decay may have weaken it, the mass impetus for socialism remains alive and strong in Cuba today. Of course, it has been assisted by the developments in the rest of Latin America and the world. But the process conducted by the party, for its breath and depth, in spite of all, was crucial. Largely, it seems to me, the Cubans are solidly united around the guidelines that the communists just approved. Fidel lifted Raúl's arm to show his support for the outcome of the congress.
New problems will arise.
Here's Lenin at the peak of his experience as a revolutionary and of his intellectual game:
http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/nov/05.htm