Can the impoverished country make sacred cattle multiply like rabbits?
By Richard A. Muller Technology for Presidents September 12, 2003 ‘Don’t drive at night!’ That was the warning of a Cuban, given to me on my recent visit to his country. He wasn’t concerned about my safety but about my freedom. A recent law, strictly enforced, could be loosely translated as: ‘Kill a cow, go to jail.’ You need a permit even to slaughter your own cattle, and permits are hard to get. ‘Do you know what we have in common with India?’ my friend asked me. His answer: ‘Cows are sacred.’ Cuba hopes sacred cows will help rebuild its economy. In the former communist world, Cuba supplied the sugar, and the Soviet Union sent back oil. But the Soviets abandoned Cuba in 1991, stranding it in market economics, that ‘unfair’ system that bases price on supply and demand rather than on labor. Brazil, India, and China had more modernized (cheaper) sugar production, and Cuba couldn’t compete. With no exchangeable currency, and no gasoline for their tractors, the Cuban people began to starv