Photo: voxphoto (flickr)

In a span of just ten days, 7,400 Cubans signed new mobile phone contracts. On April 14, President Raul Castro lifted a ban restricting ordinary citizens from purchasing personal cell phones. The number of contracts is impressive, the BBC reports, considering that a cell phone in Cuba costs six times the average monthly salary.

Under Raul's brother Fidel, only government officials and people working for foreign firms were allowed to own cell phones. In addition to lifting the ban on personal cell phones, Raul Castro has lifted restrictions on DVDs, car rentals and other goods.

What more changes in Raul Castro's Cuba lie ahead?

Although Cuba's new leader says he will continue to run the country under a socialist framework, economic changes may soon be underway.

According to The Economist:

In his speech, Raúl also gave broad hints of economic changes. He recalled a commitment by Fidel in 2005 gradually to revalue the peso. Since many prices are set in hard currency, that is essential if wages are to rise above their average of $20 a month. This would take time, he said, but would involve moving away from the state-run rationing system and taking more account of wages and prices. That amounts to a move towards market mechanisms. And he praised decentralisation.

Some predict that Cuba will try to mimic progress made in Vietnam in Cuba by embracing markets while still adhering to the concept of socialism. This would be a substantial change for Cuban economic policy.

Fidel has resigned, but a Castro still rules over Cuba. What are the differences between Fidel Castro and his brother Raul, and what will these differences mean for a post-Fidel Cuba? While there is a general consensus that Fidel's official resignation is unlikely to bring substantial political and economic change in Cuba in the near future, there have been indications that Raul may follow the "Chinese model" and gradually open up the Cuban economy while maintaining strict political control.

Many Cubans say Raúl will have no option but to give Cubans more leeway, economically if not politically. “People here say they are fidelistas, but not necessarily socialistas,” said an analyst in Havana, who asked to remain anonymous. Without Fidel, “Raúl will have to renegotiate an agreement with the Cuban people”.

Raúl is hardly likely to jettison half-a-century of socialist reforms and throw the country open to foreign capital, as Russia did in the 1990s. But he has hinted that he wishes to gradually open up the system, acknowledging the “excessive number of prohibitions” in Cuba and starting a national debate about the shortcomings of the regime.