Where Are Fidel and Raul Castro?
Two days after the unprecedented handover of power in Cuba from dictator Fidel Castro to his brother, Raul, neither man has made a public appearance or been show in media reports. The questions being asked by many is, where are Fidel and Raul, what is happening out of sight, behind the scenes, and — most important of all — is Fidel Castro dead?
Demonstrator in Miami’s Little Havana with sign Is Castro Dead?”
A slight but perceptible mobilization of police in Havana’s streets was accompanied by a tightening of security at the country’s exit points, along with a mobilization of Communist Party activists and rapid response brigades. Cubans are pondering the fate of their leader of nearly five decades after he reportedly underwent gastrointestinal surgery.
A top official said Wednesday that Fidel Castro, 79, remained “very alert” following his operation, and continued to closely follow domestic and international affairs. However, no pictures have been shown of the island nation’s leader, and he has not been seen since last week.
As the hours have lengthened into days since the announcement of Fidel Castro’s health crisis, neither he nor his brother Raul, named as temporary replacement to Fidel on Monday, have appeared in public or made any direct statements to the media. Their continuing absence, along with the increasing security measures in Cuba, are stoking concerns over the country’s future.
National Assembly Speaker Ricardo Alarcon told US-based Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now” show that he had spoken Monday and Tuesday with Fidel.
“Of course, he is forced to have a period of rest. He underwent complicated surgery,” said Alarcon. “But he is very alive and very alert as always, very interested in what’s going on around him and around the world,” he said.
Despite Alarcon’s claim to have spoken with with Castro, the ailing dictator’s absence from public view has continued to fule speculation that he might be comatose, more gravely ill than reported…or worse.
Details of Castro’s health have been declared an official state secret because of, Cuban government sources state, the continuing threat posed by the United States. Rather than bringing reassurance, the move has prompted questions of what health details could be dangerous to the state — except confirmation of Castro’s death.
“They should have appeared,'’ said Rolando Anderson, a vendor in Havana’s historic center. “There are many people asking questions.'’
More news from Cuba and Florida below the fold.
No photographs or television pictures of Fidel Castro have been released since his reported operation for intestinal bleeding and there was also no sign of defense minister Raul, 75, Castro’s designated successor.
Since assuming his brother’s positions Monday as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, commander in chief and president of the government, Raul Castro, 75, has also not addressed or appeared to the Cuban people. Political analysts believe this demonstrates the weakness of Raul’s position as designated successor to the charismatic Fidel.
Three general officers of the Cuban military with widespread popular support represent potential stumbling blocks to the effective rule of Raul. One of them is definitely opposed to him and has not spoken to Fidel’s brother in years.
“We don’t know what’s going on. We’re waiting for Raul to speak,” said Vilma Gutierrez, a mother of three who works in a ramshackle state-owned shop selling subsidized potatoes and bananas. Her part of town saw riots in 1994 during the economic crisis set off by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A finger to her lips, she said: “People are keeping their mouths shut. They don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Alarcon on Tuesday assured the public that Fidel Castro’s last moment was “far away,” and that even after a delicate operation “he keeps track of the smallest detail and takes steps to confront any enemy aggression.” A statement read on the air on Cuban state television purporting to have been written by Castro after his surgery gave the impression of having been authored by an attending physician and touched up by a political operative. Reports from Cuba indicate a growing unrest among the populace.
Despite the affirmations that all was well, there appeared to be an increase in police patrols in some working-class neighbourhoods and in coastal areas that have seen civil disturbances in the past, like during power blackouts last summer.
The committees for the defence of the revolution, the government’s neighbourhood watch group, stepped up volunteer night patrols. The pro-government rapid action brigades, used in the past to handle civil disturbances, were placed on standby. Some Cubans with relatives in the security forces said military and other uniformed personnel had been mobilized in barracks and police stations as a precaution.
Dissidents speaking on condition of anonymity said they had been given warnings in visits or phone calls from state security.
Cuban family watching scant televised news of Castro’s fate
But in Miami, Florida, US lawmakers of Cuban American descent who met with officials Wednesday said President George W. Bush’s administration would be making important announcements soon.
According to Representative Lincoln Diaz Balart, the announcements will include changes in US immigration policy regarding Cuba.
“There is a realization in the current administration that the goal must be changed in Cuba, as soon as possible, for free elections, for the release of political prisoners,” Diaz Balart said.
“Even in immigration policy, for example, we will see announcements, we will allow the administration to make those announcements in the next days,” he said.
He added that Cubans and Americans “will see announcements focused on the right goals, the right approach, change.”
US laws grant immediate residency rights to Cubans, who arrive to the United States legally or illegally, but under the “wet feet — dry feet” policy, migrants intercepted in the high seas have to be returned back to Cuba.
Many analysts said the communist government appeared to be rehearsing its transition strategy, possibly to build public confidence in Raul Castro, long the island’s defense minister. His personality is far less known than his charismatic brother, and he has publically indicated that he feels a post-Fidel Cuba should be administered by a committee rather than solely by him.
The Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma glowed at the naming of Raul as interim leader, saying it was a turn of “historic justice.”
“The fact that the leader of the revolution has temporarily handed his powers to Raul Castro is not only in line with the constitution, but also a historic justice done,” it said, referring to Raul’s leadership.
“Raul was the organizer of the armed forces, and the organizer of the party within its command. … From the earliest years of the struggle, he has won the historic right to continue the process, something very natural for Cubans,” the paper said.
It remains to be seen if the people of Cuba, the large Cuban exile community in Florida — and the Cuban military — share the glowing assessment of Raul Castro as successor to his brother. Each day that passes without an appearance by him in public makes the smooth transition the Cuban Communist Party envisions less likely.
A leading Cuban exile group in Miami called for military officials and civilians to establish a provisional government to “end the dictatorship of the Castro brothers.”
“We are asking those in the military in Cuba to take hold of their own future to establish a provisional authority with the civil and military members of Cuba who do not want this succession of power,” said Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos.
More news as it develops.
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