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The Miami Herald,
Dec. 26, 2002
Castro says a bug bite caused leg infection
By Anita Snow. Associated Press Posted On Thu, Dec. 26,
2002.
HAVANA - Out of the public eye for more than a week, President Fidel Castro
told Cubans in a letter published Wednesday that he is recovering from a serious
infection caused by a bug bite to his left leg.
''I am fine, dear compatriots, and I feel more optimistic than ever about
the future of the Revolution,'' the 76-year-old leader wrote in the letter,
titled ''Chronicle of Repose'' and published on the front page of the Communist
Party daily Granma.
The letter was the first public word about Castro's current illness since
Saturday, when he excused himself from a session of the National Assembly,
Cuba's unicameral parliament, saying doctors had ordered him to rest following
an unspecified injury in his leg.
HEALTH RUMORS
The health of Castro, who is regularly seen in public several times a week,
is a constant source of speculation by Cuba watchers. Persistent rumors of
ailments -- including prostate cancer, heart troubles, Parkinson's disease and
stroke -- have circulated for years.
Castro's designated successor is his 71-year-old brother, Raúl
Castro, Cuba's defense minister.
Castro, who has ruled Cuba for nearly 44 years, said in the letter that the
infection began after he started scratching a bug bite on the lower part of his
left leg the night of Dec. 16.
Castro said he followed doctors' instructions to keep the leg elevated and
apply cold compresses when resting and continued with his regular work schedule.
But by the morning of Dec. 19 the bite was bothering him more.
BED REST
Doctors informed him that he had a staphylococcus infection and ordered more
cold compresses, antibiotics and -- to his dismay -- bed rest.
''I didn't have any other alternative but to resign myself,'' Castro wrote.
He begrudgingly canceled a Friday night appearance at the anniversary
celebration of the Federation of University Students and missed a Saturday
morning session of the National Assembly.
''It was my duty to protect my beloved left leg,'' he wrote. "With it,
I have practiced many sports, including soccer, have run in races, jumped, swam,
climbed mountains. . . .''
''It had never betrayed me,'' the Cuban leader wrote of his left leg. "I
couldn't betray it now.''
Doctors who initially prescribed three or four days of bed rest later
extended that to a week but now ''it will be a very short time before my left
leg is totally new again,'' Castro wrote.
He did not say, however, exactly when he would be back at work.
Younger travelers send number of holiday trips to Cuba soaring
By Larissa Ruiz Campo. Lruiz@Herald.Com. Posted on Wed,
Dec. 25, 2002
Cuba-bound U.S. flights and reservations are reaching historic levels during
the holiday season this year, according to several travel agencies.
''This month of December has been extraordinary,'' said Armando García,
vice president of Marazul Charters. "The number of reservations is almost
double those in July and August, when there is also an increase in sales.''
Not only are there more travelers but they are younger.
''When I started my transportation business in 1991, the average age of
people traveling to Cuba was 68 to 75 years old,'' said John Cabañas,
owner of C&T Charters in Miami. "Now, the average age is 40 and
below.''
The spike in reservations for this month is up an estimated 35 percent to 40
percent compared to December 2000, when Miami experienced bookings not seen
since 1959, agents said.
Additionally, the actual number of flights to Cuba also has increased. C&T
Charters, for example, has scheduled at least 27 flights to Cuba this month
compared to its average of 16 monthly flights.
''All the flights are full,'' Cabañas said. "We are at a 93
percent of our capacity for all the month of December in airplanes that have 206
seats.''
That amounts to about 5,000 travelers in December, up from the average of
3,200 passengers on C&T Charters flights each month.
ROBUST NUMBERS
Overall, at least 26,500 passengers were booked on 240 flights out of Miami
this month, agents said. At Miami International Airport, a total of 99 flights
left between Dec. 16 and 24, and an additional 11 are scheduled for Christmas
Day, an MIA spokeswoman said. Compare that to a total of 144 flights in the full
month of November.
''In general, there has been an increase from year to year,'' said Zachary
Mann, a spokesman for U.S. Customs in Miami. "As additional airlines have
been given permission to travel, there are more flights and more travelers.''
National statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration were not
available.
Analysts attribute the rise to a change in travel policy, as well as to a
new breed of younger travelers.
''Most of the Cuban-American community that travels to Cuba nowadays is
younger than it used to be,'' said Pedro González Munné, director
of a Miami-based company that promotes travel to Cuba. "They are people who
came to Miami in the past eight or nine years and also the second generations
born here who are in touch with their families in Cuba.''
Cabañas also attributed the increase to newer arrivals.
''More people are in touch with their families in Cuba and that is something
crucial to explain this growth. Family is family and it surpasses any political
situation,'' he said.
Mariza Surribas is among the new, younger travelers.
The 29-year-old from Hialeah left to her native Havana from Miami on
Christmas Eve. It was her first trip since she left the island four years ago.
Traveling with Surribas to Cuba were cherished presents for her mother and
grandmother: los nietos.
''I'm bringing the grandkids as the Christmas present for them,'' said
Surribas, as her 2- and 5-year-old children scurried around the luggage at the
check-in line. ''I'm very nervous but happy at the same time.'' Surribas' older
son, Kevin Velando was only 1 when the family left Cuba. The younger, Kristian
Velando, was born here.
GRANDPARENTS' TIME
''I'm going to see my abuelitos [grandparents],'' Kristian said, smiling and
showing two fingers to indicate his age.
Junior Mauris also traveled Tuesday to Cuba for the first time since he left
2 ½ years ago.
''I'm a little bit nervous for the trip,'' said Mauris, 24, of Hialeah. "But
I think it's worth it because I'm going to see my father and the family I left
behind when I came to Miami.''
Surribas and Mauris are among 20,000 Cubans who are granted legal exits from
Cuba each year as part of migration accords with the United States.
Family reunification is not the only reason people travel to Cuba. More
native-born Americans also are starting to travel to the island, González
Munné said.
"People are receiving more information about Cuba, its culture and
reality, so they find it interesting and travel to learn more about its art, its
music and everyday life.''
An estimated 180,000 Americans visit Cuba each year, and about 30 percent of
those are not on the island to visit relatives, Cuban government statistics
indicate. About 50,000 of the travelers go through third countries,
circumventing the U.S. travel ban to Cuba.
Under current U.S. laws, legal travel to Cuba is restricted to people with
relatives there, students, educators and such professionals as journalists,
doctors and athletes. Cultural exchange programs count.
Bob Guild, Marazul Charters New York's organizer of trips for professors and
students, agrees that this year there is a bigger interest among Americans in
travel to Cuba. The agency sent 1,300 academic travelers to Cuba this year,
compared to 800 last year.
''We found out,'' Guild said, "that Cuba is a particularly intriguing
place for people to go compared to other destinations.'' | 
