By Gary Marx
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published February 8, 2007
HAVANA -- Six months after ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily
ceded power, young hard-liners linked to Castro have all but disappeared
from public view as economic czar Carlos Lage -- a moderate reformer --
has seen his profile grow, diplomats and analysts say.
Notably absent from the spotlight since Castro handed authority last
July to his younger brother, Raul, are Otto Rivero, Hassan Perez and
other young radicals collectively known by diplomats and some Cubans
here as "the Taliban."
The so-called fourth-generation revolutionaries were promoted to key
positions by Fidel Castro but may not fit into Raul Castro's priorities,
suggesting less focus on ideology and international affairs, and more on
governing efficiently.
A member of Cuba's powerful Council of Ministers, Rivero, 38, was
selected by Castro in 2005 to run the massive social investment program
under what the Cuban leader described as his "Battle of Ideas." It was a
campaign designed to boost revolutionary fervor and return to socialist
orthodoxy in this impoverished nation.
With Castro's blessing, Rivero and his young advisers spent hundreds of
millions of dollars a year in state funds to build and repair hospitals,
health clinics, schools, recreational facilities and other projects. In
doing so, Rivero often wielded more power than government ministers.
Impaired by corruption
But the effort was hampered by corruption and inefficiency, and in
recent months Raul Castro stripped Rivero and other young ideologues of
much of their authority and returned power to various ministries.
"They have lost the kind of power that Fidel gave them to go everywhere
giving orders and saying what should be done," said a Havana-based
diplomat who asked not to be identified.
"The ministries have returned to their logical role. Raul wants an
effective organization," the diplomat said.
One Cuban official who has benefited from the realignment of power is
Carlos Lage Davila, 55, a pediatrician who is credited with implementing
limited reforms that rescued Cuba's faltering economy in the 1990s.
Diplomats noted that Lage was chosen to give a prominent speech during
Fidel Castro's delayed 80th birthday celebrations in December.
And last month, Lage -- secretary of the executive committee of the
Council of Ministers, a top policymaking body -- led a high-level
delegation to Venezuela to sign economic accords that further cemented
ties between the two leftist nations.
A second envoy said he recently spotted Lage playing racquetball at the
exclusive Club Havana, quipping that the brilliant economist is
preparing for his enhanced role in the spotlight as Cuba's unofficial
prime minister.
"He looked like a politician trying to get into shape and polish his
image," the envoy said.
At the same time, the role has diminished of Cuban Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque, 41, the former personal secretary of Fidel Castro,
analysts say.
Before Fidel Castro's illness, Perez Roque was the second-most visible
leader in Cuba after the commander in chief himself. He often spoke at
political rallies and appeared as Castro's heir apparent.
"He was clearly more prominent than any minister of foreign affairs in
any other country," said the Havana-based diplomat. "He was the maximum
interpreter of Fidel Castro's ideas. Now, he is just the minister of
foreign affairs."
Although Fidel Castro ruled unchallenged for nearly a half-century and
talk of his death was long taboo, the Cuban leader prepared the nation's
leadership, if not the nation itself, for this moment.
Shortly after the revolution's triumph in 1959, Fidel Castro named Raul
Castro, a top commander during the revolutionary war, as his successor.
Cuban authorities also developed a detailed succession plan.
In addition to calling up army reserves and flooding the country with
police and security agents, Fidel Castro named Raul Castro to head a
small governing council that includes Lage, Perez Roque and longtime
Communist Party loyalists Esteban Lazo Hernandez and Jose Ramon Machado
Ventura. Also aiding Raul Castro are several top generals.
Not only was Rivero omitted from the inner circle but so, too, was
Hassan Perez, a 29-year-old communist youth leader whose national
profile soared following the battle over Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy
rescued at sea, brought to the U.S. and returned to Cuba in 2000.
Analysts say Raul Castro's steps to reorganize the government are
logical given that he is a different leader from his older brother, who
is likely never to return to power.
Raul eschews spotlight
While Fidel Castro consolidated authority in his own hands and used his
charisma to push the country in whatever direction he chose, Raul Castro
avoids the spotlight, delegates responsibility and, above all, demands
results.
"The government now is institutionally focused," said Daniel Erikson,
head of Caribbean programs at the Inter American Dialogue, a Washington
policy group. "It's not going to be a cult of the personality."
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gmarx@tribune.com
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