Castro opts for steam power

Pressure cookers and rice steamers, essential tools in Cuban kitchens, are the weapons in Fidel Castro’s latest battle to reassert control over the nation’s economy, while keeping the island’s home cooks happy.

During an unusually optimistic 5-hour speech broadcast live on Tuesday night on state television, President Castro announced that 100,000 new pressure cookers would be distributed for sale at government-subsidised prices every month from April, underscoring his move toward greater political and economic centralism.

After recent discoveries of oil deposits off Cuba’s coast and increasingly strong economic alliances with Venezuela and China, President Castro clearly believes the island is strong enough to return to a more centralised economy.