Cuba tightens security as Fidel Castro, brother Raul remain out of sight

Cuba tightens security as Fidel Castro, brother Raul remain out of sight

by Isabel Sanchez Thu Aug 3, 6:00 AM ET

HAVANA (AFP) - Speculation has grew over
Fidel Castro's health following surgery as both the communist leader and
his replacement and brother Raul Castro remain out of sight while
security quietly tightens around the country.

Besides a perceptible mobilization of police in Havana and at the
country's exit points, Communist Party activists and rapid response
brigades were also on alert, as Cubans pondered the fate of their leader
of nearly five decades after he 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.

But neither he nor his brother Raul, whom he named as his temporary
replacement Monday, appeared in public, 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.

Castro's absence from public view has fueled speculation that he might
be gravely ill, if not already dead.

Juanita Castro Ruz, Castro's sister living in exile in Miami, told NBC
television that a Cuban source informed her that her ailing brother had
been released from intensive care and was "now waiting to see what happens."

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.

Additional security measures were barely visible in the country,
compared to huge military mobilizations during crises in the 1960s and
1970s, but local residents said that security-related groups were on alert.

Dissidents speaking on condition of anonymity said they had been given
warnings in visits or phone calls from state security.

In Miami, 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.

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.

Meanwhile, the White House urged Cubans both in the United States and
Cuba to stay put. "This is not a time for people to try to be getting in
the water and going either way," said spokesman Tony Snow.

Cuban American National Foundation leader Jorge Mas Santos called for "a
military or civilian uprising" in Cuba to force democratic reforms.

"Today there exists an opportunity for courageous men and women who want
Cuba to follow a different path," the president of the leading
organization of Cuban exiles in the United States told AFP in Miami.
"They should take advantage of this opportunity."

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.

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060803/ts_afp/cubacastro_060803094921