Hank Tester. NBC. June 27, 2001
Despite the fact that Fidel Castro fainted during a speech over the
weekend, NBC 6 Reporter Hank Tester says that Castro's political machine is far
from dead.
Fidel's got one foot in the grave is the word from Little Havana. Emotions
ran high as word spread through the Cuban Exile Community that Fidel Castro had
fainted while delivering one of his marathon speeches. The video was dramatic
and seen worldwide. Cuban state run media outlets had no choice but carry the
story. The news was too big to suppress. Castro took a few hours to recoup and
was right back at it with a televised continuation of his delayed speech. It was
vintage and dramatic Fidel at his best, joking that he'd "seen the preview
of his funeral."
Lost in the flurry of covering Castro's fainting spell was what "El
Commandante" is really up to. Castro might be slowing down but he's is not
out of the business of being Fidel. He is working up another massive public
relations attack on the United States.
"It is going to be a lot like the Elian protests Castro staged during
that crisis," says Antonio Jorge, a FIU Professor of International Law.
Already Cuban television is broadcasting the nightly "Round Table"
discussion, and the t-shirts have been silk-screened. There has been one massive
rally, and we are told marches through the streets of Havana are being
organized. The target of the latest project is the return of the five Cuban
spies convicted in Federal Court here in Miami.
A Miami jury, with not one Cuban American on the panel, found the five were
indeed spies that had penetrated a South Florida military facility and a number
of Cuban Exile groups. Castro calls them "patriots" who were keeping
an eye on the "Miami Mafia." During his aborted speech the Cuban
leader detailed a score of plots, incidents of sabotage, the Bay of Pigs
invasion, and the bombing of hotels, all the product of "The Evil Industry"
as Castro's supporters like to dub the high profile exile groups based in Miami.
They needed to be watched, Castro argues.
So look for plenty of pictures out of Cuba, pictures of the five jailed
spies, sound bites from their relatives, plenty of information about the spy's
background, education, accomplishments, and a raft of evidence of U.S
wrong-doing in dealing with the island nation. Castro will lead the charge,
taking advantage of the opportunity to portray himself as being energized, not
diminished at all by the fainting incident. The Cuban Leader is a master of
turning what appears as bad news into an opportunity that enhances his image at
the expense of his perceived enemies. The best example is Elian Gonzalez. The
little boy's mother was fleeing the Castro controlled Island when she died.
Castro turned around the issue, made it his own, got on the side of American
public opinion and in the end slam-dunked Miami's Cuban Community.
Can he do it again with the spy issue? It is a bit trickier but Castro has
already gained big mileage out of the seven-month long trial. The American
defense lawyers for the five convicted spies used material provided by the Cuban
Government to paint local exile groups as terrorists. During the entire trial
Castro and his propaganda machinery were muted, they did not need to do much as
testimony was often negative towards Exile leaders such as Jose Basulto of
Brothers to the Rescue. With the trial over, Castro can now take it to the
streets and to the international court of public opinion.
Can Fidel spring the spies? Probably not I am told. For sure he won't be
able to in the short haul, but he can sure generate a big issue that will put
him in the spotlight on the international stage, and in the process turn the
fainting spell and the spy conviction to his advantage. He's done it before;
just ask Elian's Miami family.
Hank Tester is a veteran television journalist who has been delivering
newscasts since 1962. He often reports on the Cuban Exile Community and the
Florida Keys. | 
