Posted on Tue, Apr. 24, 2007
CUBA
Castro migrates to elder-statesman role in Cuba
By Pablo Bachelet
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Fidel Castro's health is improving and the 80-year-old
leader increasingly is involved in Cuba's foreign affairs, but he's
unlikely ever to take full command again, a senior U.S. intelligence
official said Tuesday.
The comments suggesting that Castro is settling into an elder-statesmen
role come after China's Xinhua news agency reported that Castro was in a
hospital when he met Friday with a top Beijing delegation.
The Cuban government released photos of Castro at the meeting, looking
healthier than in previous appearances and wearing a track suit. But
Xinhua's mention of the hospital suggested that Castro's health is still
precarious after his announcement last July 31 that he'd undergone
surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment.
The U.S. intelligence official said the photos themselves suggested that
while Castro may indeed be recuperating, he's not out of the woods.
"An 80-year-old man who's gone (from public appearances) nine months and
still wears a track suit when he meets with foreign dignitaries suggests
this is an extremely serious illness still," the official said in a
briefing for two journalists who cover Cuban issues.
The official, who spoke anonymously as a condition for the briefing,
which is customary for intelligence matters, gave the most complete
assessment of Castro's health since then-Director of National
Intelligence John Negroponte said in December that Castro had "months,
not years" to live.
The intelligence community thinks that Castro may suffer from multiple
ailments, including Parkinson's disease, diverticulitis and Crohn's
disease, an inflammation of the digestive tract.
Castro, according to the official, underwent a botched operation for
diverticulitis - an inflammation of the colon - before July 31. The
intelligence community initially thought that Castro had cancer because
his recovery was taking longer than is usual for a diverticulitis
episode, according to the briefer.
CIA doctors long have thought that Castro has Parkinson's disease, which
"adds to the larger picture of how much he can recover," the official
said. And amid the "barrage of reporting" on Castro's health there was a
"suggestion" that he may have Crohn's disease.
"All these possibilities are not mutually exclusive," the official said.
"What seems obvious is that over the past couple of months, Castro's
health seems to be on the upswing," he said. "He seems to be following,
particularly foreign affairs, very carefully."
But he added: "It still seems unlikely, at least to me, that he'll
regain the full range of control he had before the end of July."
Cuba has been run since August by a collective leadership headed by
Fidel's younger brother Raul and six other trusted aides.
"I think they've been very careful to hide cracks," the official said.
"One assumes there are differences within the regime on a variety of
lines: civilian-military being one, generational is probably another and
perhaps geographic. We get hints once in a while . . . that's happening,
but I would say the senior level of regime know they hang together or
hang separately."
Fidel's continuing presence is holding back Raul and others from
embarking on any reforms, the official noted, though he doubted reports
that Raul would enact ambitious political or Chinese-style economic
reforms. "I think that's really strongly against Raul's basic instincts."
There were reports that Raul didn't have as close a friendship with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as Fidel did, but the official
predicted that "they would find a way to cooperate, as both sides had so
much invested in that relationship."
Chavez provides Cuba with about $2 billion in oil subsidies every year.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17128605.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation
CUBA
Castro migrates to elder-statesman role in Cuba
By Pablo Bachelet
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Fidel Castro's health is improving and the 80-year-old
leader increasingly is involved in Cuba's foreign affairs, but he's
unlikely ever to take full command again, a senior U.S. intelligence
official said Tuesday.
The comments suggesting that Castro is settling into an elder-statesmen
role come after China's Xinhua news agency reported that Castro was in a
hospital when he met Friday with a top Beijing delegation.
The Cuban government released photos of Castro at the meeting, looking
healthier than in previous appearances and wearing a track suit. But
Xinhua's mention of the hospital suggested that Castro's health is still
precarious after his announcement last July 31 that he'd undergone
surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment.
The U.S. intelligence official said the photos themselves suggested that
while Castro may indeed be recuperating, he's not out of the woods.
"An 80-year-old man who's gone (from public appearances) nine months and
still wears a track suit when he meets with foreign dignitaries suggests
this is an extremely serious illness still," the official said in a
briefing for two journalists who cover Cuban issues.
The official, who spoke anonymously as a condition for the briefing,
which is customary for intelligence matters, gave the most complete
assessment of Castro's health since then-Director of National
Intelligence John Negroponte said in December that Castro had "months,
not years" to live.
The intelligence community thinks that Castro may suffer from multiple
ailments, including Parkinson's disease, diverticulitis and Crohn's
disease, an inflammation of the digestive tract.
Castro, according to the official, underwent a botched operation for
diverticulitis - an inflammation of the colon - before July 31. The
intelligence community initially thought that Castro had cancer because
his recovery was taking longer than is usual for a diverticulitis
episode, according to the briefer.
CIA doctors long have thought that Castro has Parkinson's disease, which
"adds to the larger picture of how much he can recover," the official
said. And amid the "barrage of reporting" on Castro's health there was a
"suggestion" that he may have Crohn's disease.
"All these possibilities are not mutually exclusive," the official said.
"What seems obvious is that over the past couple of months, Castro's
health seems to be on the upswing," he said. "He seems to be following,
particularly foreign affairs, very carefully."
But he added: "It still seems unlikely, at least to me, that he'll
regain the full range of control he had before the end of July."
Cuba has been run since August by a collective leadership headed by
Fidel's younger brother Raul and six other trusted aides.
"I think they've been very careful to hide cracks," the official said.
"One assumes there are differences within the regime on a variety of
lines: civilian-military being one, generational is probably another and
perhaps geographic. We get hints once in a while . . . that's happening,
but I would say the senior level of regime know they hang together or
hang separately."
Fidel's continuing presence is holding back Raul and others from
embarking on any reforms, the official noted, though he doubted reports
that Raul would enact ambitious political or Chinese-style economic
reforms. "I think that's really strongly against Raul's basic instincts."
There were reports that Raul didn't have as close a friendship with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as Fidel did, but the official
predicted that "they would find a way to cooperate, as both sides had so
much invested in that relationship."
Chavez provides Cuba with about $2 billion in oil subsidies every year.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17128605.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation
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