Fidel Castro's plan to ban smoking in public places, due to come into force on Monday, appears to be a revolution too far for most Cubans.

Mr Castro, 78, is clamping down on the island's Habano cigars and black tobacco cigarettes as part of a campaign to increase life expectancy to 80 years by 2010, up from the 75-76 average. But many doubt the “maximum leader” can make the law stick. Yuleisis Fonseca, a 27-year-old nurse, said Mr Castro would need an army of “extraterrestrials” to enforce the ban. “Where I work the doctors are the first to smoke and I promise you they are not about to stop.” The new law restricts smoking to designated areas in restaurants and nightclubs. “The objective is to contribute to a change in the attitudes of our population,” it states. That will not be easy.