Although China's burgeoning middle class and growing prosperity today are due to the reforms embraced after Mao's death, Castro rejects the Chinese model, Suchlicki said.
"He went to China and came back and said they're making great advances but this is not for Cuba," Suchlicki said. "He's afraid of it, just like he was afraid of perestroika and glasnost."
Despite their severity, Castro's moves have failed to stamp out dissent.
In an attempt to draw international attention to restrictions on use of the Internet, psychologist and Angola war veteran Guillermo Farinas has been waging a hunger strike since late January. The Ladies in White, relatives of political prisoners, still march after church on Sundays, demanding the men's release.
Caleb McCarry, the U.S. State Department's Cuba transition coordinator, sees the latest crackdowns as "a sign of weakness and fear on the part of the regime." He predicts the efforts will fail to fan the revolutionary embers.
"The genie is already outside the bottle," McCarry said.
