Cuba allows sale and purchase of private property
REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY -- In its latest and potentially most far-reaching economic reform, the Cuban government Thursday formally legalized the sale and purchase of private property.
Not since the early days of the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power have Cubans been allowed to trade in real estate. Castro's younger brother Raul, who took over as president when Fidel's health declined, has ushered in a series of free-market reforms in a bid to salvage the nation's moribund economy.
Thursday's announcement was made in official Cuban media, which said the new rules will take effect Nov. 10.
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-- Tracy Wilkinson
Photo: A Cuban reads the Granma newspaper announcing the new private-property law Thursday in Havana. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
