Cuba changes plans to reduce one million state jobs

The Cuban government has admitted that its plans to lay off a million state workers are behind schedule and will not be completed for at least five years.

The changes are part of a major restructuring of the economy which will see the introduction of more private enterprise and less central planning. The government sees it as vital to sustaining the communist system, rather than as a shift towards capitalism.

Dr Stephen Wikinson, director of the Centre for Caribbean and Latin American Research at London Metropolitan University tells BBC Radio 5 live Up All Night's Rhod Sharp that the process of reducing the state workforce has been successful.

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