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DIEHL: "What is possible? That has become an important question as Raúl Castro's not-reform creeps forward and as Congress considers legislation that would shred what remains of the U.S. trade "embargo" by lifting all restrictions on travel to Cuba and further liberalizing food exports. So far, two dozen imprisoned dissidents have been released into exile in Spain, the United States and Chile; the regime has publicly committed to free 28 others of the more than 100 who remain. On Aug. 1 Raúl Castro announced that the government would allow more private businesses and self-employment activity, in part as a way to occupy the 1 million workers -- 20 percent of the state labor force -- whom the government plans to lay off. One view is that this is a replay of the standard Castro strategy for extracting the regime from a bind."
