Castro proposes Cuban term limits

HAVANA, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Cuban President Raul Castro convened the country's first "National Conference" in a half century this weekend to approve term limits for presidents.

Under Castro's proposal, presidents would be able to serve no more than two five-year terms, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported. It would be a major departure for Cuba, which was ruled by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 2008, when he was succeeded by his 80-year-old brother.

"The reforms and changes that have been made by the Cuban government are not only remarkable but indeed stunning," Kirby Jones, a scholar at the University of Maryland, writes in an article in Latin America Advisor.

Since becoming president, Castro also has made a stab at economic liberalization, moving thousands of employees from the state sector to become small-scale entrepreneurs. But he has been unwilling, so far, to privatize state enterprises.