Video of a frail Castro prompt Cubans to imagine future without him

Video of a frail Castro prompt Cubans to imagine future without him
(AP)
16 August 2006

HAVANA - The government video of a weakened Fidel Castro convalescing in
bed brought an undeniable truth home to Cubans: neither he nor Cuba will
ever be the same.

The images Cuba's 80-year-old "unconquerable commander in chief"
reassured anxious Cubans that he was alive, comfortable and recovering
after surgery.

But the post-surgery photographs and video released by state-run media
in recent days also are helping Cubans "gradually grow accustomed to"
the idea of a Cuba without their "Maximum Leader" at the helm, according
to historian Manuel Cuesta-Morua, a government opponent.

"The video gives a positive idea, that he is recovering," said
Cuesta-Morua, who describes himself as a social democrat who wants more
civil liberties in Cuba. "At the same time, it gives me the impression
that he doesn't have the ability to return to his duties."

With the details of Castro's illness being treated as a state secret,
Cubans and the world are in the dark about how sick he really is, what
ails him, and what kind of surgery he had two weeks ago before
announcing July 31 he was temporarily ceding power to his younger
brother Raul.

Cubans have remained calm while awaiting further word from the Communist
Party, which has called on them to remain faithful to their leader and
his revolution.

"Get well, Comandante," Rolando Alfonso Borges, a Communist Party
Central Committee member wrote Tuesday in Granma, the party's newspaper.
"You know that our people are the guarantor, that the Revolution came to
stay, that we would defend it with blood and fingernails if necessary."

But Cubans have never before seen Castro as fragile as he looked Monday
night on the 10-minute video broadcast on state television, which showed
him receiving an 80th birthday visit Sunday from his brother Raul and
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The man who ruled Cuba for 47 years before stepping aside didn't once
lift his head from the adjustable bed, its back propped at an angle. His
long fingers rested in the hand of Chavez, who treated him with the
affection of a son for his father.

After returning to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Chavez said
Tuesday that Castro is like a father to him, and he said he told him so.

The Venezuelan president said that even though there was "still risk"
involved, Castro's post-surgery outlook was "much improved."

"I returned much more at ease," Chavez said. "The truth is we were very
worried about Fidel, who is so valuable to us and to all countries
fighting for their dignity, for justice."

Previously, Castro's most vulnerable moment came during an accidental
fall in October 2004 that shattered his left kneecap and broke his right
arm. Cubans were stunned to see him shortly afterward in a wheelchair,
then more astonished a few weeks later when he began walking again.

It was not entirely clear why the Cuban government, which has taken
great pains over the years to protect Castro's physically invincible
image, allowed him to be seen sick this time.

But the need to prove to Cubans and the world that Castro was still
alive, conscious and coherent after two weeks without any information
about his condition may have prevailed.

Seeing Castro convalescing elicited profound feelings of sympathy and
even affection among many Cubans who seem to consider him part of their
family, even if they don't always agree with him.

"We were so sad without knowing anything for so long" about Castro's
condition, said Coralina Bauta, 59, who works in Old Havana. "But this
made me happy."

"He looks sick, I think his recovery is going to take some while,"
43-year-old driver Manuel Gonzalez said Tuesday. "He needs a lot of
recovery time."

Privately, Cubans said that even if he recovers and reassumes the
presidency, the bearded former guerrilla, famous for staying up all
night and micromanaging multiple projects, will have to adopt a less
rigorous schedule and learn how to delegate.

Cuesta-Morua said Castro should consider stepping aside permanently and
"complete the succession process."

Other Cubans don't go that far.

"We're going to have the Comandante for a while," said 71-year-old
Manuel Raul Ruiz, who joined the Castro brothers in the guerrilla war
that eventually overthrew the government of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Although Ruiz said he didn't expect Castro to die soon, he did accept
that someday he'll be gone - something few Cubans would even admit
several years ago.

"The revolution will go ahead with or without him," Ruiz said.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/August/theworld_August563.xml&section=theworld&col=