Communist Party board resurrected

Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006

CUBA
Communist Party board resurrected
In an effort to reassert its ideological influence and to prepare Cuba
for life without Fidel Castro, the nation's Communist Party has brought
back a powerful executive body.
BY ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HAVANA - Cuba's Communist Party on Tuesday resurrected a powerful
executive council to shore up its authority and reassert ideological
influence as President Fidel Castro nears his 80th birthday.

U.S. pressure has been building for sweeping democratic changes when he
dies.

The resurrection of the party's secretariat is the latest move aimed at
strengthening the island's political structure for an eventual future
without Castro, who has ruled Cuba for 47 years and turns 80 on Aug. 13.

Although Castro appears healthy and there are no signs he plans to
retire, recent moves on the island indicate a concentrated effort to
strengthen the rest of the communist leadership while he is still alive.

Cuba's previous Communist Party secretariat was dissolved 15 years ago
as a necessary cost-saving move amid an economic crisis caused by the
collapse of the Soviet Union, which had been the island's key economic
and political ally.

The resurrection comes at a time when communist officials say the U.S.
government is intensifying efforts to promote regime change on the
island after Castro is gone.

Later this week, the U.S. government is expected to release a new report
calling for additional measures designed to promote a transition to
multiparty politics on the island, rather than a continuance of
one-party rule.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said that the new secretariat will
``help in the daily work of the party and will be charged with
organizing and ensuring the execution and fulfillment of its accords.''

It will be headed by Castro, who is first party secretary, as well as
second party secretary Raúl Castro, the president's younger brother and
legally designated successor.

Among the other 10 members are top orthodox party leaders José R.
Machado Ventura, 75, and Estéban Lazo Hernández, 62. Most of the rest
are in their 50s or younger and hail from outside Havana.

Raul Castro, who often goes months without making public appearances,
has been shown frequently on state television in recent weeks and his
speeches have been reproduced in full in government newspapers.

The 75-year-old defense minister last month spoke of the eventual
succession of power in Cuba and indicated that a more collective style
of leadership will be necessary in the future.

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