THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - April 26, 2018 - Topic 2
After the Castros: on Cuban politics
As Miguel DÃaz-Canel
Bermúdez assumes charge as Cuba’s first ‘non-Castro’ leader in decades,
Havana-watchers will look for cues of change or continuity in a country that
once symbolised global anti-imperialist revolution. With Latin America’s socialist
upsurge of the last decade in retreat and Cuba’s economy in anything but robust
health, the answers should be evident. Mr. DÃaz-Canel is a veteran Communist
Party apparatchik, who served as Vice President during Raúl Castro’s second
five-year term since 2013.
It will be no easy task for the former education
minister, handpicked by Mr. Castro, to stamp his authority over a rigid
bureaucratic and party apparatus. But Mr. DÃaz-Canel can count on Mr. Castro’s
political backing as the latter is expected to continue as head of the party
and the armed forces for some more years. Sustaining Cuba’s education and
health-care services will be a formidable challenge for the President. In the
absence of the handsome bailouts of the Venezuelan oil boom time or the Soviet-era
subsidies, the government should prioritise attention to these basic services.
Another challenge is to reform the economy to attract more investment to major
industry sectors and to boost growth and jobs.
Mr. DÃaz-Canel is the
country’s first high-ranking politician to be elevated from among those outside
the young guerrillas who fought in the Cuban revolution. It may therefore be
reasonable to expect a more pragmatic stance on Havana’s part towards its
ideological opponents, notwithstanding the pre-eminence of the Communist Party
— even if the détente between the U.S. and Cuba that began during Barack
Obama’s presidency has been in something of a limbo under Donald Trump. The
spotlight in recent days has inevitably shone on the transition after the long
Castro legacy in Latin America. In this process, an important aspect about the
beginning of a new chapter should not be overlooked. Mr. DÃaz-Canel’s ascent
bucks the regional trend where leaders routinely seek recourse to
constitutional meddling to secure extensions of presidential tenures. The
succession plan was more or less scripted by Mr. Castro at the commencement of
his second term in 2013, when he spoke of age and term limits for high office.
It would be cynical to dismiss the development as no more than a cosmetic
change within the larger framework of Cuba’s one-party rule. But then, there
are countries across the world where many populists and strongmen have tinkered
with the constitution to extend their terms in office, reducing competitive party politicsto a charade. Mr. DÃaz-Canel’s is a leadership change that Cuba should make
the most of, in order to refresh its domestic and foreign policies.
Vocabulary
Assumes: suppose to be the case, without proof
Example: You're afraid of what people are going to assume about me
Synonyms: presume, suppose, take it (as
given), take for granted, take as read
Revolution: an instance of revolving.
Example: One revolution a second
Synonyms: turn, single
turn, rotation, circle, spin, circuit, lap
Apparatchik: a member of a communist party apparat.
Example: You write that in four of these five states the current
rulers are former apparatchiks of the Communist Party.
Evident: plain or obvious; clearly seen or understood.
Example: She ate the cookies with evident enjoyment
Synonyms: obvious, apparent, noticeable, conspicuous, perceptible, visible
Robust: strong and healthy; vigorous.
Example: The Caplans are a robust, healthy lot
Synonyms: strong, vigorous, sturdy, tough, powerful, solid, muscular, sinewy
Formidable: inspiring fear or respect through being
impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable.
Example: A formidable opponent
Synonyms: intimidating, forbidding, daunting, disturbing, alarming, frightening
Prioritise: designate or treat (something) as more important
than other things.
Example: Prioritize your credit card debt
Synonyms: emphasize, concentrate on, put
first, focus on, fast-track, expedite
Attention: the action of dealing with or taking special care
of someone or something.
Example: The business needed her attention
Synonyms: consideration, contemplation, deliberation, thought, study
Pragmatic: dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a
way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
Example: A pragmatic approach to politics
Synonyms: practical, matter-of-fact, sensible, down-to-earth, commonsensical
Inevitably: as is certain to happen; unavoidably.
Example: Inevitably some details are already out of date
Synonyms: naturally, necessarily, automatically, as
a matter of course, of necessity
Recourse: a source of help in a difficult situation.
Example: Surgery may be the only recourse
Synonyms: option, possibility, alternative, resort, way
out, hope, remedy
Tinkered: attempt to repair or improve something in a casual
or desultory way, often to no useful effect.
Example: He spent hours tinkering with the car
Synonyms: fiddle with, adjust, fix, try to
mend, play about with, fool with, futz with
