CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

June 28, 2001



Cuba News

Miami Herald

Published Thursday, June 28, 2001 in the The Miami Herald

Dissident skeptical on 'Castroism without Castro'

Does Fidel Castro's near-collapse as he gave a speech under a searing sun last weekend signal that the 74-year-old leaders' days in power are numbered? Will there be a "Castroism without Castro'' after his death?

This week I posed these questions to Cuba's best-known dissident, Elizardo Sánchez, head of Cuba's Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation. He has been in Miami since the death of his son in May, and plans to return to Cuba shortly.

Sánchez, 57, a former professor of philosophy who still considers himself a socialist -- "I am too old to change'' he quips -- is one of the founders of Cuba's human rights movement. His opposition to Castro's dictatorship has cost him eight years in prison, while his condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba drew criticism from hard-line Cuban exile leaders in Miami.

"I don't wish anybody's death, not even those who persecuted and put me in prison in Cuba,'' he told me, referring to last weekend's episode. "Rather, I look at Cuba with anxiety.''

"The country is in ruins. The most optimistic in Miami say the reconstruction will take a few years, but I think it may be a matter of 10 to 20 years . . . Cuba has one of the world's highest per capita foreign debts: we owe $11 billion to Western countries, and more than $20 billion to Russia. What's worse, it will be very difficult to restore certain key values, such as the importance of work as a source of well-being, and political tolerance.''

Last weekend's incident will trigger "deep reflections'' within Cuba's nomenklatura, because "it is evidence that this is the final phase,'' he said. Asked about predictions that after Castro's death his brother Raúl Castro or others will lead a "Castroism without Castro,'' he reacted with skepticism.

"That phenomenon could happen, but it would be a very rare historical exception. It is a proven fact that when the days of charismatic caudillos are over, their ideologies are also over. The current political model, which we could define as tropical totalitarianism, is in its final phase, although this phase could stretch out for another two, five or eight years.''

Sánchez says the situation in Cuba is so dramatic that he supports "any formula that would lead to bring to an end as soon as possible the Cuban nation's agony,'' even if that means making a deal "with Satan himself.''

The best thing Washington and Latin American countries could do is start preparing for a post-Castro Cuba, he said. "There should be a Marshall-type plan to start the reconstruction of Cuba, which has been devastated by 40 years of totalitarian inefficiency. Since this will take time, the sooner we start the process, the better.''

I noted that current U.S. law prohibits ending the trade embargo or assisting Cuba until after Castro and his cronies have left power, and that many U.S. officials are are wondering why should Washington help an agonizing totalitarian regime.

Sánchez did not go into details, but I sensed that he does not oppose gradualism, or tit-for-tat conditions on aid to Cuba. "I'm talking about a dual process, which would include the gradual dismantling of the totalitarian model, and the equally gradual lifting of unilateral sanctions.''

But Sánchez says the current Helms-Lieberman bill to provide $100 million to Cuban dissidents on the island is "a political blunder.''

"First, money doesn't bring about freedom. Second, this has only helped the totalitarian regime, giving it new excuses to step up political repression against us.'' In Poland, U.S. aid worked because it was given out discreetly. In Cuba, "they want to do it with a municipal bank,'' he said.

Sánchez said Cuba's dissident movement has grown from less than ten activists in the eighties to "several thousands'' today. Asked what percentage of them he believes are government infiltrators, he responded: "There is a partial number of police infiltration, which is of between 1 and 5 percent.''

Interesting. I especially agree with Sanchez's skepticism about the "Castroism without Castro'' scenario. Fascism did not survive Benito Mussolini in Italy, Francoism did not survive Francisco Franco in Spain, and Castroism is not likely to survive Castro in Cuba.

Thirty years of Cuban flavor

Versailles celebrates anniversary

By Paul Brinkley-Rogers. pbrinkley-rogers@herald.com.

LANDMARK: Above, Felipe Valls Jr., left, president and CEO of Versailles, shares the restaurant's 30th anniversary with his father. Below, Zoraida 'Tia' Hernandez, 69, who with 30 year on the job is the longest-serving waitress, waltzed up to founder Felipe Valls Sr, also 69, on Wednesday, kissed him and made him blush.

Its name -- Versailles -- speaks of grandeur, but the Little Havana restaurant celebrating its 30th anniversary Wednesday is not a palace, although more than any other Miami dining spot, it's for Cuban Americans the place to eat, talk and be seen.

Romance. Deal-making. Politics. Gossip. Intrigue. They all happen here at the sprawling stucco complex with its separate bakery, outdoor coffee stand and vast dining area, with 350 seats surrounded by mirrored walls and lit by glistening chandeliers right out of a Las Vegas gambling joint.

Although Felipe Valls Jr., 42, president and CEO of Versailles, says blandly, "We don't allow campaigning inside the restaurant per se,'' more than one -- and probably hundreds -- of politicians have chosen Versailles as a place to glad-hand. That includes local types like Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.

This week, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft -- shadowed by reporters and TV cameras -- had a private lunch with Cuban-American leaders. Former President Bill Clinton stopped by to thank "those members of the Cuban community that had voted for him -- the few,'' Valls said, "and then popped in two more times for coffee.''

Almost every Florida governor and congressional type of the last three decades has tasted grilled palomilla steak and masitas de puerco, fried pork chunks.

Asked about the fact that so many politicians haunt the place but campaigning is not permitted, Valls grinned: "We don't put up any billboards. . . . But the politicians -- they like to be seen here.''

For the common man in search of good food and conversation, Versailles is paradise, but not an expensive one.

"The presence of politicians does not necessarily cause indigestion,'' said Hector Ramirez, 53, who was munching plantain pie with picadillo, price $6.45.

"I met my wife for the first time here,'' said insurance agent Antonio Miranda, 42, seated at one of the formica-topped, cafeteria-style tables. "I first told her I loved her here. At lunch, I do business. I put away the ropa vieja [shredded beef]. And then I come back at night, after we go dancing, for dessert and very good coffee.''

Alma Lucero, 42, says she stops by two or three times a week.

"Oh, this is where my girlfriends and I can laugh and cry,'' she said.

Cry?

"Yes, because after lunch or dinner, then we have to worry about our waistlines, especially when dessert is flan with coconut,'' she said.

For members of the Valls family, Wednesday's anniversary was like a nonstop party. Green and yellow paper streamers and balloons fluttered in the air. Zoraida "Tia'' Hernandez, 69, who with 30 years on the job is the longest-serving waitress, waltzed up to Versailles founder Felipe Valls Sr., also 69, kissed him and made him blush.

Teams of busy waiters wearing green vests and gold party hats, and waitresses in white feather tiaras, delivered steaming dishes to customers.

When they filed past the Valls table at the rear of the restaurant near the kitchen, many stopped by to congratulate father and son.

The way Felipe Jr. tells it, his dad -- a native of Santiago de Cuba -- was penniless when he fled Cuba in 1960 for Miami, right after Fidel Castro won his revolution. The elder Valls owned a big Texaco gas station, a nightclub called El Lido and a Hatuey beer bottling plant, all of which was good, except that the new government vowed to nationalize private businesses.

"We came here and stayed with relatives,'' Felipe Jr. said. "I was 2, and I basically slept in a drawer. My parents slept on a mattress on the floor. Dad washed dishes at a hotel on Miami Beach, and mom worked, too. It was difficult to find jobs and housing. Anglos were worried about what was happening.''

But eventually Felipe Sr. "got a job with a nice Jewish fellow on North Miami Avenue who sold used restaurant equipment. This gave him the idea to import espresso machines from Europe, but the owner was doubtful, so dad had to finance it. He was a good salesman, and they started selling right away.''

The Cuban community was rapidly expanding, and soon, Felipe Sr. was setting up Cuban-style outdoor coffee stands around town. He started Badia's Restaurant at Eighth Street and 16th Avenue. Then came the beginnings of Versailles, a cafe with 60 seats, at its present location on Calle Ocho and 35th Avenue. It sits in a small shopping mall that is now the headquarters of the Versailles business empire, which also includes eight La Carreta restaurants and Casa Juancho, which serves Spanish cuisine.

"Friends and business people told him he was crazy to put a Cuban restaurant so far out here away from downtown,'' Felipe Jr. said. "But look at it now.''

As Valls talked, TV cameras filmed the noisy lunch-time crowd. An NBC crew was there looking for local reaction to an interview the network had aired that morning from Cuba with Juan Miguel González, the father of little Elián.

Other reporters waited their turn, and outside, Spanish-language radio stations asked a crowd for its opinion.

"You get used to this,'' he said.

Copyright 2001 Miami Herald

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