THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
After Fidel and Raúl, Alejandro and Antonio?
The Oppenheimer Report: After Fidel and Raul
Andres Oppenheimer talks about his discussion with Cuban dissident,
Guillermo Fariñas and his views on the Castro dynasty.
Miami Herald Studio
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas is making headlines around the world
with his 6-week-old hunger strike to denounce Cuba's dictatorship. But
what struck me the most in an interview from his hospital bed was the
modesty of his demands, and the pragmatism of his expectations.
Fariñas, a 48-year-old psychologist and independent journalist whose
father fought beside Che Guevara, and who himself fought in Angola as a
Cuban soldier, says he does not believe there will be any changes in
Cuba while Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl are alive.
The changes will start when the next generation of Castro family members
-- Fidel and Raúl's sons -- take over, he says.
And Fariñas' conditions to lift his hunger strike -- which he is now
conducting from a hospital in Santa Clara, where he is being fed
intravenously -- do not include that Cuban dictator Gen. Raúl Castro
step down, nor that he call elections, not even that he release the more
than 200 political prisoners who are in jail for voicing their opinions,
he said.
``My demands are minimal: that they release 26 prisoners of conscience
who are dying in Cuban jails, and who the regime's own military doctors
are saying need urgent attention,'' Fariñas told me. ``None of them will
endanger the stability of the Cuban government, because they are so ill
that they will have to focus on their health rather than doing politics.''
THE LONG VIEW
What do you say about Raúl Castro's claims that Orlando Zapata -- who
died Feb. 23 after an 83-day hunger strike -- and you are ``common
criminals'' and ``mercenaries'' of the United States and Europe, I asked.
``For Fidel and Raúl Castro's government, there is not one single
legitimate oppositionist. In their mind-set, any person who opposes
Fidel and Raúl Castro is a common criminal,'' he said.
As for the ``mercenaries'' charge, Fariñas said it's a typical
manipulation of the Castro regime, to divert attention from the internal
struggle within Cuba between the regime and peaceful oppositionists, and
make it look as if it were a conflict between Cuba and foreign powers.
``This is a conflict among Cubans,'' he said.
Do you expect any changes in Cuba, I asked.
``As long as the current generation of Castros are around, there won't
be changes of any kind,'' he said.
``That's because the current generation have their hands soaked in
blood. Remember that to take power through a revolution that supposedly
was meant to restore democracy, they shed a lot of blood. They can't
make any changes because they know they would be held accountable by all
of those who they betrayed.''
According to Fariñas, what's more likely to happen -- and what he said
he hopes will happen -- is a process of change that will begin once Raúl
and Fidel Castro die, and their respective sons take their places.
``This is a family dynasty. They are preparing [Raúl's son] Col.
Alejandro Castro Espín and [Fidel's son] Dr. Antonio Castro Soto del
Valle to take power,'' Fariñas said. ``None of them has their hands
soaked in blood. Therefore, they could start trying to make changes.''
He said that both are regularly seen next to Raúl in official functions,
``whispering to his ears.'' He added that ``ministers no longer meet
with Raúl. They meet with Alejandro, or with Antonio. They are a sort of
chiefs of staff at this moment.''
The next Communist Party Congress is likely to promote them to top
positions, and Alejandro -- who is already a colonel -- could be made a
general anytime by a simple signature of his father, he said.
THE OBVIOUS TRUTH
My opinion: The strength of Fariñas' case -- and that of the Damas de
Blanco, the ``Ladies in White'' who march in Havana regularly to demand
the release of their relatives -- does not rely on his high ideals, but
on the modesty of his demands.
They are revealing the Castro regime for what it is: a military
dictatorship that is so unsure about its legitimacy that it can't even
allow a few dying prisoners of conscience go home.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/08/1568500/after-fidel-and-raul-alejandro.html
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