Regime prepared for Fidel's demise

Posted on Mon, Oct. 30, 2006

CUBA
Regime prepared for Fidel's demise
BY FRANK CALZON
www.cubacenter.org

October is coming to a close, but Fidel Castro hangs on. His regime is
now as ready as it ever will be to deal with the unthinkable: Cuba
without Fidel.

Newspaper obituaries have been updated and require only a date, time of
death and perhaps a comment or two from Gabriel García Márquez and other
such luminaries.

The world believes that El Comandante is on his deathbed. Yet he has
dodged the reaper before. His has been a life of caution, ruthlessness,
smarts and luck. There is a small chance that he will recover and
disappoint enemies calling attention to his crimes as well as friends
who have concluded that it's time for him to go.

Imagine: The most feared man in the history of the island is now old and
sick, sedated and hooked to a battery of the latest medical technology.
Relatives are gathering.

Then imagine that in the twilight of his mind, the aged dictator no
longer feels tired and is no longer old. He is barefoot, riding the
brown pony his father gave him for his seventh birthday. He is at the
edge of a creek that flows through the forest near Birán. Falling in and
out of consciousness, he is in mid-air with a slam-dunk on the
basketball court of the Jesuits' Belen Preparatory School.

Then, he is fleeing with a rifle, leaving others to die, be imprisoned
and tortured after a failed attack on Batista's army barracks. He has no
regrets as he runs. He must save himself for History -- for the
Revolution to come.

Then the reality: People he doesn't recognize are at his side. He is
cold. Dalia Soto del Valle, his wife of more than 30 years is
whispering. He is bewildered, why is this middle-aged woman kissing him
on his forehead.

Slipping into another dream, he is talking with Arnaldo, a brave man,
tough as nails. Arnaldo was a country hick when he joined the
Revolution, risking his life to protect Fidel. Now he is a general, back
from Africa where he was a splendid battlefield leader of Cuba's
expeditionary forces. Too bad, he's been making jokes about the
commander-in-chief and carelessly telling people that Raúl has been
covering up narco-trafficking through Cuba. For such disrespect Arnaldo
has been sentenced to die.

He could commute the sentence, but people don't understand the heavy
burdens of leadership. El guajiro has grown too big for his breeches. So
what if Arnaldo is popular. The more popular, the more dangerous he is.
Faced with disrespect and disloyalty, a leader does not hesitate.
General Arnaldo Ochoa must die.

The Comandante needs rest. Only brother Raúl and Fidel's wife -- Cuba's
unknown, unseen ''first lady'' -- are allowed in the room.

Hugo Chávez has called. Another wave of thoughts engulf the failing
leader, ``What might I have done if I had been born in Venezuela with
its oil reserves and I stood up to the Yankees. If Gorbachev had
listened to me, he would still be in the Kremlin. If it weren't for our
Revolution, Cuba would have no dignity. Cubans are lazy and ungrateful,
but we are an example to Bolivia, to North Korea, to Iran, to
progressives all over the world. We are not Costa Rica. We are not
Spain. We are not Chile. We defeated the Miami mafia.''

Someone adjusts the pillows. ``Why are they holding my hands? I am
tough, I am in one piece. It is 1992, and I am before the Congress of
Communist Youths. Let me remind them about the vices of prerevolutionary
Cuba. They must give me credit. I deserve credit. I remind them: `Today,
women are not forced to sell themselves to any man. Those who do it, do
it voluntarily. We can say that these women are the most educated and
healthy prostitutes in the world.'

'My father, the old Spaniard, used to say, `It is better to have a live
dog than a dead lion.' Why am I thinking about these things? Who is the
dead lion? Who is the live dog? I need to rest . . .

``The crowd is applauding in Revolutionary Square. I'll raise my hand.
Raúl is at my side. Arnaldo and Celia are at my side. We are a happy
family. Now all together, loud and clear:

``Socialism or Death! Victory is ours!''

It is too late. Imagine, across Cuba a new reality is taking hold: Death
is final. Cuba awaits a new dawn.

Frank Calzon is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba in
Washington, D.C.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15882328.htm