Time for action, not anger, in Cuba

Posted on Sun, Sep. 03, 2006

AFTER CASTRO
Time for action, not anger, in Cuba

It does not matter whether Fidel Castro is dead. He will be soon enough.
Conspiracy theorists need not worry about whether those in power around
him are stalling announcing what is or will be true soon enough. Anyone
who has had to coordinate a Cuban funeral for someone they loved
understands the delay if he is dead. Imagine having to prepare coffee
for un velorio -- somewhere between a viewing and a wake -- for more
than 10 million people. Imagine having that many memorial cards printed.
I do not know if Castro, like my mother, purchased a pre-need funeral
package. No matter how much the person has planned, the arrangements are
not easy for those left behind.

I am one of millions in the diaspora that he caused. When I heard that
he may be dead, I thought: ''What now?'' A dear friend reminded me that
it was too late for her parents.

It is too late for my mother. My father is alive only because his
doctors have not figured out what has not killed him. All that remains
of my mother are memories, some personal items and her body in a coffin
in a mausoleum north of Hialeah that has more rules than has my condo
association.

The one thing I can recommend to my kin in Cuba and outside the island
is that instead of flowers (including wreaths in the shape of the Cuban
flag, the Cuban seal or the saint of your choice), you should send
paint, lumber, nails and anything else that it will take to rebuild the
island. If you mourn memories, and you have seen those pictures of a
decaying capital or of your home town, send everything that you can buy
that will replace the rot.

My father told me three years ago after he was given six months to live
that he did not know who to be angry at anymore. He said that many of
those with whom he fought in the '60s are dead (some in drawers next to
where he expects to place his ashes).

My translation of his face and shoulders was ``What am I suppose to do?''

I do not speak for anyone else or represent any organization. I never
have. My childhood was spent accompanying my parents to dances and
gatherings where all talked of ''the day.'' That day was when Castro
would die. He survived so many.

But his will be one more memorial card that fades with time. We need to
clean up now. It is time to clean up after we all have a cafecito and
gossip about the casket-jumpers who made a scene at the velorio.

JUAN CARLOS GOMEZ, Miami

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15419352.htm