Castro well, Cuba stable, officials say
By James C. McKinley Jr. The New York Times
Published: August 8, 2006
MEXICO CITY High-ranking Cuban officials are working hard to put out the
message that Cuba is stable after the transfer of power from Fidel
Castro to his younger brother last week.
Fidel Castro has remained out of the public eye since undergoing surgery
a week ago for an undisclosed illness that involved intestinal bleeding.
For the first time in his 47 years as Cuba's authoritarian leader,
Castro relinquished power, to his brother Raúl, who is the defense
minister, along with a cadre of cabinet officials. The government has
said Fidel Castro's health is "a state secret."
Although no detailed information on Castro's illness has been released,
the president of the National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcón, and the
minister in charge of the island's economy, Carlos Lage Dávila, both
said Monday that Castro was recovering rapidly.
Speaking in Bogotá, where he was attending the swearing in of President
Álvaro Uribe, Lage Dávila said Castro would be able to return to his
duties "in a short time," according to Mexico's and Cuba's official news
agencies. He said the Cuban leader "finds himself well cared for in a
hospital and has been conscious the whole time."
Alarcón, meanwhile, scoffed at Cuban exiles in Miami and conservatives
in Washington who believe that the Communist government could not long
survive without Castro at the helm.
"All those who have been dreaming, or trying to fool the world and put
out the idea that something terrible would happen in Cuba, that people
would take to the streets, that there would be great instability, all
those, the door slammed on them and they must have swollen hands now,"
Alarcón said, speaking on the Venezuelan network Telesur.
On Friday, Cuba's health minister, José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, also
said that Castro was "recuperating satisfactorily." His comments came as
he visited Guatemala for the opening of a hospital built with Cuban aid.
Over the weekend, other rumors swirled through Latin America about the
leftist icon's health. The Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo
reported that the Cuban authorities had told the Brazilian president
that Castro had cancer and would not return to his duties, a report the
government later denied.
One member of Cuba's Council of State, or cabinet, Roberto Fernández
Retamar, told reporters at a news conference in Havana that the country
had set in motion a peaceful political succession. It was not clear
whether he meant that the transfer of power to Raúl Castro would turn
out to be permanent, but the statement was clearly meant to suggest that
the Castro government was not about to crumble.
Fernández Retamar, a writer, told Reuters, speaking of American
officials: "They had not expected that a peaceful succession was
possible. A peaceful succession has taken place."
President George W. Bush, at a news conference in Crawford, Texas, spoke
of the United States' desire to see Cuba change from a one-party
autocracy to a democracy with freedom of speech and competing political
parties.
Still, American officials said last week that there were no plans to
interfere with the current transition of power, nor plans to invade the
island, something Cuba's propaganda machine warns of constantly.
"Our desire for the Cuban people is to be able to choose their own form
of government," Bush said. He added: "Cuba has the possibility of
transforming itself from a tyrannical situation to a different type of
society. The Cuban people ought to decide."
MEXICO CITY High-ranking Cuban officials are working hard to put out the
message that Cuba is stable after the transfer of power from Fidel
Castro to his younger brother last week.
Fidel Castro has remained out of the public eye since undergoing surgery
a week ago for an undisclosed illness that involved intestinal bleeding.
For the first time in his 47 years as Cuba's authoritarian leader,
Castro relinquished power, to his brother Raúl, who is the defense
minister, along with a cadre of cabinet officials. The government has
said Fidel Castro's health is "a state secret."
Although no detailed information on Castro's illness has been released,
the president of the National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcón, and the
minister in charge of the island's economy, Carlos Lage Dávila, both
said Monday that Castro was recovering rapidly.
Speaking in Bogotá, where he was attending the swearing in of President
Álvaro Uribe, Lage Dávila said Castro would be able to return to his
duties "in a short time," according to Mexico's and Cuba's official news
agencies. He said the Cuban leader "finds himself well cared for in a
hospital and has been conscious the whole time."
Alarcón, meanwhile, scoffed at Cuban exiles in Miami and conservatives
in Washington who believe that the Communist government could not long
survive without Castro at the helm.
"All those who have been dreaming, or trying to fool the world and put
out the idea that something terrible would happen in Cuba, that people
would take to the streets, that there would be great instability, all
those, the door slammed on them and they must have swollen hands now,"
Alarcón said, speaking on the Venezuelan network Telesur.
On Friday, Cuba's health minister, José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, also
said that Castro was "recuperating satisfactorily." His comments came as
he visited Guatemala for the opening of a hospital built with Cuban aid.
Over the weekend, other rumors swirled through Latin America about the
leftist icon's health. The Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo
reported that the Cuban authorities had told the Brazilian president
that Castro had cancer and would not return to his duties, a report the
government later denied.
One member of Cuba's Council of State, or cabinet, Roberto Fernández
Retamar, told reporters at a news conference in Havana that the country
had set in motion a peaceful political succession. It was not clear
whether he meant that the transfer of power to Raúl Castro would turn
out to be permanent, but the statement was clearly meant to suggest that
the Castro government was not about to crumble.
Fernández Retamar, a writer, told Reuters, speaking of American
officials: "They had not expected that a peaceful succession was
possible. A peaceful succession has taken place."
President George W. Bush, at a news conference in Crawford, Texas, spoke
of the United States' desire to see Cuba change from a one-party
autocracy to a democracy with freedom of speech and competing political
parties.
Still, American officials said last week that there were no plans to
interfere with the current transition of power, nor plans to invade the
island, something Cuba's propaganda machine warns of constantly.
"Our desire for the Cuban people is to be able to choose their own form
of government," Bush said. He added: "Cuba has the possibility of
transforming itself from a tyrannical situation to a different type of
society. The Cuban people ought to decide."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/08/news/cuba.php
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