Video of frail Castro sobers Cubans

Video of frail Castro sobers Cubans

By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 16, 2:04 AM ET

HAVANA - The government video of a weakened
Fidel Castro convalescing in bed brought home a growing awareness to
many Cubans on Tuesday that neither he nor the country will likely be
the same again.

The images released Monday night of 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 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 on Tuesday, Chavez said that
even though there was "still risk" involved, Castro's post-surgery
outlook was "much improved." He noted Castro was now eating normally
after several days of being fed intravenously.

"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.

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.

Associated Press Writer Andrea Rodriguez contributed to this report.

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