Yahoo! June 25, 2001
Senator, South Florida React To Castro Collapse
WPLG Click10.com, 25 - A U.S. Senator is speaking out about what may soon be
a Castro-free Cuba following the collapse of the 74-year-old communist leader
during a televised speech.
Fidel Castro was about 2 hours into his speech in Havana Saturday when his
voice began to fade, he started to lose his balance and nearly passed out. He
recovered, telling the stunned crowd that he would finish his speech later.
Castro is reported to be in good spirits today.
Former vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) spoke
Sunday about the incident and about the state of Cuba after Castro's reign.
"Yesterday's events in Cuba … remind us that Castro is human and
mortal and there will be a post-Castro Cuba and what is critically important is
that a post-Castro Cuba be a free Cuba," Lieberman said.
Minutes after the collapse, Castro resumed his speech indoors. Cuban
officials are blaming the episode on fatigue and heat.
South Florida Reaction
Cuban Americans, particularly the exile community in South Florida, have
been keeping a close eye on Castro's deteriorating health. There have been
numerous rumors over the years that Castro is ailing.
"Castro's health is no secret to anyone that it has been worse in the
last couple of years. Even his mental health is not the greatest according to
what we have seen. We have information from inside Cuba, people around his inner
circle that are concerned as to the deterioration of this mental health. So (the
collapse) comes as no surprise," Ninoska Perez of the Cuban American
National Foundation said.
Coincidentally, it was exactly one year ago on Saturday that Castro
announced he was not worried about Cuba's transition after he dies.
He said that the socialist revolution would continue without him. In the
past, Castro has endorsed his brother, Raul, as his successor.
Lieberman Seeks Support for Cuba Bill
By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. 24 (AP) - Cuban-American leaders and Sen. Joseph
Lieberman (news - bio - voting record) said Sunday that Fidel Castro (news - web
sites)'s apparent fainting spell should encourage Congress to prepare to
encourage democracy in Cuba.
The "events in Cuba and the faltering of Fidel Castro remind us that he
is human and mortal,'' said Lieberman, the former vice presidential nominee. "What
is critically important is that post-Castro Cuba be a free Cuba.''
Lieberman, D-Conn., met with members of the Cuban American National
Foundation to build support for his pending bill that would promote democracy in
Cuba by providing cash, fax machines, telephones and other assistance to
dissidents.
His proposal, co-sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (news - bio - voting record),
R-N.C., ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would
provide $100 million in aid over four years.
The proposal has the support of President Bush (news - web sites).
Cuban-American leaders said the measure has added significance since Castro
slumped against his podium during a speech Saturday. Castro returned to the
microphone after being given oxygen, and by evening looked rested and cheerful
on live television.
"People will focus on the inevitable - that it may happen sooner than
people anticipate,'' said Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American
National Foundation, the largest and most influential of the Cuban exile groups.
"It's a positive step because what we do need to focus on is the future,
the future without Castro in power.''
Cuba Recovers From Castro Fainting
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 24 (AP) - Cuba was recovering Sunday from the shock suffered the day
before when Fidel Castro (news - web sites) apparently fainted briefly during a
speech in the hot sun and was led away by aides.
Castro returned to the podium a few minutes later, but the image of the
74-year-old leader growing weak during a live, televised speech Saturday morning
was unprecedented during his 42 years in power.
Before the government cameras turned away, viewers could see him slump over
the podium. In the crowd, many gasped.
"To lose Fidel is to lose everything,'' Exilia Llevat, a 71-year-old
retiree, said. "We would keep on fighting, but it would not be the same
with him out in front.''
When Castro returned to the podium less than 10 minutes after his apparent
fainting spell, he assured the 60,000 people gathered on the outskirts of Havana
that he was well and just needed some rest.
Later in the evening, a rested and jovial Castro appeared on state
television to finish his speech, which praised five Cubans recently convicted by
a Miami jury on espionage charges.
Cuban officials later blamed Castro's fatigue on the heat and Castro's heavy
schedule. The Cuban leader, who will turn 75 in August, said he barely slept the
night before.
Isaura Martinez, a 52-year-old teacher, on Sunday recommended that the
president "take better care of himself.''
Castro said during his Saturday night appearance that those who work with
him have suggested the same.
"I hope, please ... that they let me work in peace,'' he said with a
big smile.
Castro Jokes About Fainting Spell
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 24 (AP) - Fidel Castro (news - web sites) apparently fainted before
a crowd of thousands during a televised speech Saturday, but by the evening he
was joking that it was only a rehearsal to see what kind of burial he would get.
Aides helped Castro off the stage after his apparent fainting spell in the
hot morning sun, but the Cuban leader returned to the podium a few minutes later
to ensure the crowd he just needed some rest.
"I am whole!'' he insisted, to cheers.
By evening, Castro looked rested and cheerful as he went back on live
television - this time from an air conditioned broadcast studio. Those in the
studio gave him a standing ovation before he talked for more than two additional
hours.
"It is my fault,'' Castro said of his growing weak during his earlier
speech. "Collecting facts, reading so many documents'' until the wee hours.
He also added jokingly that he lasted longer than a lot of other people
during his morning appearance in the Caribbean sun.
"Another 665 citizens received assistance before I did,'' he said with
a smile, referring to the members of the crowd who were carried away in
stretchers by Red Cross workers.
"I joked that it was a rehearsal ... that I was playing dead to see
what kind of burial they would give me,'' Castro told the studio audience.
Castro said that after he was helped down the steps of the stage, he was
taken to a nearby ambulance and given oxygen. He said that as he was taking his
own pulse, he noticed that the ambulance was not moving and decided to return to
the podium.
"I know that this caused a lot of people a lot of worry and I really
feel bad about it,'' Castro added.
Late Saturday morning, the 74-year-old Cuban leader, wearing his traditional
long-sleeved uniform and heavy black boots, was about two hours into a speech
under the bright sun with temperatures in the mid-80s when his body began
listing to the side.
Government cameras suddenly pulled away and focused on the crowd, filled
with surprised and concerned faces. Some people gasped and some cried.
"Calmness and courage, we lift our flag,'' Foreign Minister Felipe
Perez Roque said, taking the microphone immediately after Castro appeared to
faint. "Companero Fidel obviously has had in the middle of the heat ... a
momentary fall.''
It was the first time Castro appeared to faint in public and the first time
in recent memory that he has been too weak to finish a speech.
People at the rally said the president never fell, and that he was
immediately helped off the stage by uniformed members of his security staff.
Perez Roque indicated Castro kept a busy schedule recently, speaking Friday
night at the opening of ballet school and then staying up late to prepare for
the Saturday morning speech.
Castro had made several other lengthy speeches over the past week.
In the late afternoon, state television began re-airing the morning speech,
in which the leader praised five Cubans who were recently convicted by a Miami
jury of espionage charges.
Havana has said the men were merely gathering information that Cuba needed
to defend itself against violent attacks by its enemies in Miami's Cuban exile
community.
"The commander in chief could not finish'' his speech, said a brief
statement read on television before the regular news broadcast. "The heat
and the excessive sun have produced fatigue,'' it added.
Castro has always kept a busy work schedule, giving several lengthy speeches
every week and reportedly sleeping only a few hours a day - if at all.
The health of Castro, who has been in power in communist Cuba for 42 years,
has been closely watched - particularly by his political enemies in Miami, home
to a large Cuban exile community.
Although there have been numerous rumors about Castro's health over the
years, the government never comments on them and rarely issues information about
his medical condition.
Castro regularly ridicules reports about his health. One, stemming from a
1998 interview with a purported doctor that said Castro had been sedated to
prevent a possible stroke, turned out to be false.
Elian Disappears Into Private Life
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
CARDENAS, Cuba 24 (AP) - Elian who?
One year after Elian Gonzalez returned to his communist homeland, the impish
little boy whose plight captured the hearts of two nations has all but
disappeared into private life.
Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s "battle of ideas,'' an ideological
campaign unleashed during the seven-month custody fight, goes on with weekly
rallies protesting U.S. policies toward the Caribbean island and daily
television discussions analyzing the political theme of the day.
But protected from reporters and other outsiders by his family and the
government, the boy whose plight started it all has rarely been seen since his
homecoming last June 28.
Three plainclothes officers standing outside the 7-year-old's home on a
narrow dusty street one recent morning told reporters the family was not home,
and was not expected back until very late.
Several blocks away, at the Marcelo Salado Primary School, a woman who
didn't give her name said the principal was not in and would not be returning
soon. Elian was busy in class and could not be disturbed, the woman said.
The Gonzalezes' neighbors in this coastal community a two-hour drive east of
Havana were reluctant to talk with outsiders about the little boy who once was
dubbed Cuba's "boy hero'' and "elfin prince.''
The only news of the family they did reveal was Elian has a new half
brother, born recently to his stepmother and his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.
Elian also has another half brother, Hianny, about 2.
Aside from such bits, there has been little news of the boy who played and
posed before news cameras last year when he lived with his Miami relatives.
Elian's mother and 10 others died at sea in November 1999 when their
U.S.-bound boat capsized off the coast of southern Florida. Elian was rescued by
two men on a fishing trip and went to live temporarily with his paternal
relatives in Miami.
The Miami relatives, backed by anti-communist Cuban exiles, fought to keep
the boy with them in the United States. Elian's father, backed by Castro's
government, battled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) and
won the right to take his son back to Cuba.
After Elian returned to Cuba, Castro's government promised to protect the
child from the media spotlight. He last appeared on Cuban television six months
ago during his December birthday party here in Cardenas, attended by Castro.
Since, there has been only the odd photograph, such as the one that appeared
in government newspapers in March of Elian with South African President Thabo
Mbeki. Or the occasional reference to the seven-month custody fight over Elian
in a political speech or government editorial.
The posters of the little boy with dark hair and eyes came down when Elian
returned to Cuba with his father a year ago, although a few fading "Save
Elian'' T-shirts can be seen on Havana streets.
While Elian is being kept out of the limelight, the ideological campaign
launched during the custody fight last year grinds on. Political rallies are
held in a different community every weekend, and two-hour ideological
round-table discussions are shown on state TV every weeknight.
Now, however, the theme of the day is almost everything but Elian.
Many of the same government journalists who analyzed legal developments in
the custody struggle now appear on the program to discuss topics as varied as
Cuba's national baseball team, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S.
military exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
For three nights last week, discussions centered on the Miami court
conviction of three Cuban agents on espionage charges. Havana has characterized
them as heroes, saying they were only working to provide Cuba with the
information it needs to defend itself from attacks by its enemies.
Castro himself attends the nightly sessions in the television audience and
often speaks out on the subject at hand. Last Tuesday, he denied reports from
the United States that Cuba was receiving arms from China.
If the battle over Elian has left a lasting legacy in Cuba, it is the round
table shows and the Saturday rallies.
"The combat for the return of the kidnapped Cuban boy has become the
first episode of a much more prolonged struggle,'' said an oath Cubans were
asked to sign during the heat of the custody battle.
Cuban Boy Can Stay in U.S.
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 22 (AP) - Yusniel Hernandez, 11, appears calm despite all that is
happening: his mother died last weekend, he has moved in with his birth father,
and the stepfather he lived with for nearly a decade wants him to live with him
in the United States.
Yusniel's stepfather, Dr. Leonel Cordova, made a dramatic defection to the
United States last year after abandoning a Cuban medical mission in Zimbabwe,
and now lives in Miami. Cordova had been working on getting U.S. visas for
Yusniel, Yusniel's mother Rosalba Gonzalez, and a 4-year-old daughter the couple
had later.
But Gonzalez died in a motorcycle accident in Havana Sunday and Yusniel went
to live with his birth father, Lazaro Hernandez, whom Gonzalez divorced nine
years ago.
Hernandez, a 33-year-old gardener, said Thursday that he had given his
ex-wife legal authorization to take the boy with her in the United States before
she died and that he would let the boy live with Cordova in Miami if Cuba grants
Yusniel permission to leave the country.
The boy had lived almost all his life with Cordova, and would miss his half
sister Giselle if the 4-year-old goes to the United States without him,
Hernandez said.
But Yusniel's trip to Miami is far from certain.
The communist government has not commented on the case since Gonzalez's
death and there has been no indication whether authorities will grant the
authorization needed for Giselle and Yusniel to leave Cuba.
"The authorization of the Cuban government is still lacking,'' said
Hernandez, who also wants to head for the United States for better economic
opportunities.
Relatives say Giselle's chances for an exit visa seem better than those of
her stepbrother. While Yusniel still has his birth father in Cuba, Giselle's
only surviving parent is in Miami.
If Havana denies an exit visa to Yusniel, he will stay in Cuba with his
birth father. Although Yusniel knows his mother died, he is excited by the
possibility of living with his stepfather in Miami, Hernandez said.
Giselle, meanwhile, lives with her aunt in a community west of Havana. The
girl does not know that her mother his dead and speaks with her father in Miami
several times a week, said Tania Cordova, who is Cordova's sister. | 
