Castro welcomes "new generation" of leaders of Cuba, but called old guard - Christian Science Monitor

Mexico City

The theme of the sixth Congress of the party in Cuba seemed clear enough: President Raul Castro, opened the Summit Saturday saying that a new generation of Cuban politicians was necessary to ensure that the Socialist Revolution.

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Even former Cuban leader Fidel Castro seemed to embrace the message. "The new generation is called to correct and change everything without hesitation that must be corrected and changed", he wrote in the journal of State Granma.

But at the time where as the wrapped Congress Tuesday, the new leaders have been appointed to the Communist Party, and none of the three top positions went to any person under the age of 78, leaving the old guard in power and thwart these hungry Cubans of a political reorganization.

"Raul Castro said they had to bring new leaders, bring the new generation," says Wayne Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International policy in Washington and former American diplomat in Cuba. "But he appointed its long date no. 2 No. 2".

The Congress is important because Fidel Castro was appointed not the head of the party for the first time since its formation in 1965. Instead, Raul Castro will formally assume this role.

Cuban watchers were anxious to see if a young leader could be chosen as a position for a long time of Raul Castro as Second Secretary. But the veteran José Ramón Machado Ventura, 80, will take place, while Ramiro Valdes will resume the No. 3 role. Both have worked with the Castro brothers since at least the 1950s.

Raul Castro discussed the apparent contradiction in his closing speech. "We have kept several veterans of the historic generation, and it is logical from the consequences of the errors that have been made in this area," he was quoted by the Associated Press said in his closing speech. "These have stolen us a rear bench of mature substitutes with enough experience to take on the top positions of the country.".

Two young politicians were appointed to executive positions, including Marino Murillo, who oversees economic reform in Cuba. They could later groomed first positions. And even only rhetoric is a change that Mr. Smith sees as important.

"" At least they speak of the need to highlight the young generation, and do not have the same leaders decade after decade "says Mr. Smith." "" At least it is a sign encouraging that [Raul Castro] is talking about. ?

The Congress was the first in 14 years and comes in the midst of the economic changes that Raul Castro has made, including the announcement last fall that half million jobs a million State will be reduced. Delegates debated some 300 economic proposals, but few details were released. Instead, they stressed their commitment to future changes.

"It could have been a Congress that declared new policies with annexes to them... who appointed a bunch of new people," said Philip Peters, an expert at the Institute of Lexington from Cuba. "Instead of this he was a Congress who expressed commitments for future action."

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Departure place: A generation of dog-eat-dog Zuckerberg

By Douglas MacMillan

(Bloomberg) — The Facebook application High School memories lets people share memories of adolescence. It might surprise some users to learn that the creator of the application is not old enough to school himself.

Cyrus Pishevar, a resident of 13 years of Palo Alto, California, developed High School memories after seeing how was popular for his friends of "tag" photos with each other on the social network.

"The big idea is to make memories a social thing to do," said Cyrus, who learned the spirit of his father, the founder of five startups business. "When you type in your memories, he speaks more than just pictures, especially when your friends help you through."

Cyrus is part of the second generation of Silicon Valley of innovative Web - youth who grew up with Internet and has been witness to the rapid rise of Facebook Inc. and other companies nearby. Raised by the workers of the technology and introduced to computers and business from the beginning, many young people of the region have chosen to build their own applications or create entire companies instead of sports after school or summer camps.

"I was surrounded by daily tech for if, long time that I acquired a natural interest in it," said Daniel Brusilovsky, an 18-year-old of San Mateo, California, including a software education - manager father and a mother veteran Oracle Corp. has led to found two startups before he was old enough to vote.

It is easier for teens to become entrepreneurs Web these days because the writing of software is less expensive and simpler, said Daniel Gross, the founder of 19 years of Internet Research Inc. Greplin San Francisco-based startup.

"The tools require less expertise," said Gross. "Build a Facebook application requires that you have four years of computing."

Mentoring programs also appeared to help the young entrepreneurs to build their businesses. In September, Facebook investor Peter Thiel is committed to 20 grants as much as $100,000 each for adolescents with startup ideas. He said that to want youth to pursue their dreams, rather than the college education because traditional steer them away from the spirit of enterprise and stable jobs.

"We need to encourage young Americans to take more risks," Thiel, who co-founded PayPal Inc. and now runs the Clarium Capital Management investment company, said in an interview at the time.

These efforts have attracted criticism for encouraging students to fall in the same way that a dream to play in the National Basketball Association could prevent some children remain in school.

Pursuing entrepreneurship should not come before education, said Vivek Wadhwa, researcher invited to the school of Information at the University of California, Berkeley.

"These are child-soldiers of Silicon Valley," he said. "The vast majority of them fail miserably." Then they have screwed their career. ?

Facebook, Director General Mark Zuckerberg did not fall from the University of Harvard, until his company gaining traction, while he was 20. It is a model which should take account of young people, said Wadhwa.

"If happen you by any chance of achieving success that Zuckerberg, then drop out of school," he said. "" "". Screw but do up your education until you did. ?

For Cyrus Pishevar, who was present at the meetings of his father business while he was a young child, the inspiration came long before having to make decisions about college.

"He used to crawl between the legs of the members of the jury when I had meetings at home," said Shervin Pishevar, who helped found the manufacturer of software development Web WebOS Inc., mobile-app startup Social Gaming Network, and three other companiesall since 1997.

At the time wherever he was 6, Cyrus was learning how to use a computer and feedback to his father on the applications. Last year, Shervin Pishevar him presented Zuckerberg, now 26, to a projection of film in Palo Alto. At that time, the upcoming pre-adolescent with his idea for a Facebook application.

Living in Silicon Valley means that children have easy access by programming. Memories of High School, Cyrus received help from Ryan Romanchuk, an engineer for 25 years and friend of the family who works at a startup in the vicinity. During this time, his father, contributes $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 for the project, especially to pay for advertising.

Cyrus is working on the app almost every day after he finished his work at home in Palo Alto coffees or the garage of the headquarters of the Social gaming network, a two-storey house, converted into an Office near the campus of Stanford University.

Romanchuk, an employee of the social shopping site Blippy, helped him to write the code and the problems that arise, such as for example how to get more new users arriving by advertising purchased on Facebook. If the app takes off, Cyrus plans to expand the service on a separate site with more features, and a version for the Apple Inc. iPhone.

Brusilovsky started a startup incubator, Tech Labs, this year in support of other young adolescents innovators. Even more entrepreneurial youth not always taking the right decisions, he said. Brusilovsky himself was transferred from internship year last technology blog TechCrunch to accept donations of startups in exchange for coverage.

Another challenge: young entrepreneurs are not taken seriously by the venture capital companies.

"When I was tongue VCs three years ago, the first thing they said was, it's really Mignon," Brusilovsky said. "I do not want to be cute, I'm serious about it.

Teens in Tech, based in Palo Alto, laboratories selects five teams of entrepreneurs in the summer and connect with accomplished mentors, including Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite and David Hornik, a partner at August Capital venture capital company.

"These entrepreneurs could not get an idea of billions of dollars today," but allows for the preparation, said Brusilovsky. "When they have completed high school or College, then perhaps they will have an idea of billions of dollars and they will know what to do with it."

Still, would-be parents Mark Zuckerbergs are careful to preserve a certain normality of childhood. Cyrus takes kung fu lessons each week.

"Make sure that he takes the time to be a kid," said his dad.

MacMillan is a reporter for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek in San Francisco.

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