CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Cubans get an eyeful of Castro recuperating

Cubans tried to decipher the meaning behind new photos and a videotape of ailing leader Fidel Castro.

Miami Herald Staff Report. Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

HAVANA - Cubans crowded newsstands Monday for a closer look at a new and more downbeat batch of photos of ailing leader Fidel Castro -- this time showing him confined to a bed even as he greets friend and ally Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

The seven new photos published in Cuba's leading Granma newspaper and a video of Castro came one day after the smaller Juventud Rebelde on Sunday ran the first photos of Castro since his intestinal surgery, apparently sitting on a chair.

But Monday's images showed Castro lying in a hospital bed, looking tired and with sheets covering him to his torso. The government later released a 10-minute video of the Chávez meeting, dousing speculation about the photos' veracity.

For many Cubans, the latest images confirmed that the man who has ruled them for 47 years was still alive, but did little to ease their anxiety over a future without him.

On Sunday, a foreboding message from Castro cautioned that while he was continuing to recover, risks remained and Cubans should be ready for "adverse news.''

''A lot of people were surprised to see [the photos] because they thought he was dead,'' a young man named Alexi told The Miami Herald, adding that he would ''adapt'' to whatever comes. "Nobody is eternal.''

''He's getting better, that's good,'' said a store clerk named Yanine. "But a lot of people wish he'd die.''

MEANING OF PHOTOS

Given the careful cultivation of Castro's image throughout his rule, it remained unclear whether the new pictures of the bedridden leader meant that his health had weakened after the the first batch was taken, or he's exaggerating his ailment in order to stage a more triumphant comeback.

Castro, who turned 80 on Sunday, is recovering from surgery for intestinal bleeding due to undisclosed causes. U.S. specialists have said such bleeding could be the result of a half-dozen ailments, including an ulcer or cancer.

The pictures released Sunday and Monday offered no medical clues: There was no evidence of Castro connected to any tubes or other devices, such as intravenous bags.

The new set of photos appeared to have been shot in the same white room as the previous set, although Castro now lay in a hospital-type bed to the right of the normal bed shown in Sunday's photos. The two-bed arrangement is usual for Cubans who like to sleep next to their loved ones in hospitals.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

A wall outlet similar to those seen in hospitals for oxygen and other hookups can be seen in one of the photos. Heavy tree branches showing through a window indicate the room is not a ground-floor room. The Cuban government has never identified Castro's hospital.

All the photos show Castro with a bedsheet covering him from around mid-torso down. He wears a bright red shirt, Chávez's signature color, emblazoned with the Venezuelan and Cuban flags and the words ''Venezuela-Cuba.'' Chávez, the Venezuelan president, also wears a red shirt. Also in some of the photos is Defense Minister Raúl Castro, the younger brother who Castro anointed as his temporary replacement two weeks ago.

Oddly, on a nightstand to the left of the hospital bed are a pair of foot-high dolls of Castro and Chávez, similar to bobble-heads.

MOOD OF THE PEOPLE

Throughout Castro's convalescence, the government appears to have been operating normally, though the population's mood has been described by foreigners as dark, confused and anxious over the future.

Raúl Castro's appearance in the photographs -- also a first since he assumed control -- may signal that he will assume a more active and visible role.

Whether Castro resumes control or Raúl remains in power, some Cubans said they don't expect much to change, while others expressed fears of the reputedly heavy-handed Raúl. But it's difficult to decipher real sentiments in a country where criticizing the government can land people in jail.

''People are afraid about the future,'' a baker named Denis told The Miami Herald. "They don't know what will happen next. People are afraid of change.

''The people chant revolutionary slogans on the street, but they complain in private at home,'' he added.

Fernando, who was buying a lunch of rice, beans and a piece of meat, said it is a delicate time for Cuba. ''The American government will try to take advantage of any weakness, pushed by the Cubans in Miami,'' he said. "We must be careful.''

Copies of Monday's edition of Granma were selling quickly, as Cubans swarmed newsstands. On Sunday, few people seemed to be aware of the photos published by Juventud Rebelde.

In an article accompanying the photographs under the headline An Unforgettable Afternoon Among Brothers, Granma reported that Castro and Chávez shared "more than three hours of emotional exchange, anecdotes, laughs, photos, gifts, a frugal snack and the happiness of close friendship.''

The video of the encounter, which aired on Cuban television Monday night, showed Chávez and Raúl doing most of the talking, but Castro is heard in the background laughing and saying a few hard-to-decipher words.

PRAISE FROM CHAVEZ

Granma quoted Chávez, Castro's closest political ally and economic supporter, as expressing wonderment over Castro's toughness in the face of his health crisis.

''What kind of human being is this?'' Chávez reportedly asked. "What material is it made of?''

Granma's lead front-page photo showed Chávez and Raúl standing at Castro's bedside. All three smiled as Chávez and Castro held the edges of a large portrait of the Cuban leader. The newspaper said it was a gift from Raúl to Chávez.

The newspaper described the visit as "unforgettable, shared by brothers linked by blood and cause, which brought renewed strength and encouragement to the Comandante, bloodied in a thousand battles and seeking a new victory for life.''

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow sidestepped a question about whether ''adverse news for Cuba'' would be "good news for the White House.''

''We'll have to find out. I mean, heaven knows,'' Snow said.

Drew Blakeney, spokesman for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, said the Cubans' reaction to the photographs fell into three main categories:

''One being fear of and uncertainty about a future without the leader,'' Blakeney told The Miami Herald via e-mail. "After all, most have known nothing else, and all their lives have been deprived of information about the outside world. Their fears have been shaped and stoked by a lifetime of propaganda.

''Another common reaction is frustration that the long nightmare continues,'' Blakeney said. "Finally, some people feel genuine affection and sympathy for the leader.''

This report came from Miami Herald staff writers in Havana; Lesley Clark in Washington; Juan O. Tamayo in Miami, and translator Renato Pérez. It was written by Nancy San Martin in Miami.

Cuban doctors defect, speak out

Two Cuban doctors who defected gave an inside account of the Cuban- Venezuelan health program.

By Steven Dudley, sdudley@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

CARTAGENA, Colombia - Carlos Rodríguez and his girlfriend, Johan Mary Jiménez, had little hope of leaving Cuba. They were both physicians, her father was a known dissident, and Rodríguez himself was an outspoken critic of the system.

Still, in May 2004, a Cuban government seemingly desperate to satisfy Venezuela's need for doctors slotted the two into Misión Barrio Adentro, President Hugo Chávez's campaign to provide healthcare for his country's poorest people.

They fled to Colombia seven months later and obtained political asylum. They are now scratching out a living doing odd jobs near this Caribbean city -- and offering insights into the Cuban doctors program in Venezuela.

Since taking power in 1999, Chávez has increased trade with Cuba and sought to benefit from its expertise in health, education and defense. Barrio Adentro, or ''Inside the Neighborhoods,'' was one of several programs Chávez set up with the help of Cubans, and an estimated 20,000 Cuban medical personnel are working in Venezuela.

Many of these Cubans wind up defecting. Exact numbers are impossible to get, but Julio Cesar Alfonso of the Miami-based Solidarity without Borders, a group that helps Cuban doctors abroad who defect, estimates that more than 500 have escaped the programs in many countries.

DIFFICULT LIFE

Cuban doctors working abroad do not have an easy life.

Cuban officials monitor them closely, Rodríguez and Jiménez told The Miami Herald. They could not speak with the media, and there were regular ''code reds'' -- alerts for unspecified reasons during which they couldn't leave home.

Rodríguez, 30, and Jiménez, 28, were working in the town of Lagunillas, near Venezuela's northwestern border with Colombia. Like many Cuban medical personnel, they went to Venezuela with the hope of saving a little money, or at least returning home with some consumer goods hard to find on the island.

''Cubans look for a way to change their lives,'' Rodríguez said. "Going to another country to work was one way to do that.''

Venezuela turned out to offer few benefits, however.

The couple said they each received the equivalent of about $200 a month as salary. The Venezuelan government provided them with separate housing and the state oil company, PDVSA, subsidized their food.

But money was still tight because of Venezuela's high cost of living, they said, and other doctors did not even receive the PDVSA food subsidy.

Barrio Adentro was also disappointing, they said.

Although it was promoted as a way to help poor people who had minor illnesses, aches, pains and infections, Rodríguez and Jiménez said their Cuban supervisor made it clear that they also had to campaign for Chávez in the lead up to a 2004 recall referendum, which Chávez won handily.

''The idea is good,'' Rodríguez said of the mission. "But that wasn't what the mission was for. The coordinator told us that our job was to keep Chávez in power.''

The coordinator also required the doctors to put up Chávez posters in the small clinics they established in poor barrios, and told them to tell patients "to vote for Chávez.''

''I wouldn't do it,'' Rodríguez added. "I told them that I was happy to do the work as a doctor, but I won't campaign.''

Not all of the barrio residents were sympathetic to the Cubans. Anti-Chávez neighbors called them ''Fidel's ambassadors'' and refused to go to their clinics, the couple said.

BOXES OF MEDICINE

The Cuban medical personnel also provided the Venezuelans with Cuban medicines. Rodríguez, who was part of the team that distributed the medicine to neighborhoods, said ''boxes and boxes and boxes'' arrived weekly from Cuba via military aircraft.

Whether Cuba donated the medicines, or the Venezuelan government paid for them, was impossible to establish.

Since the Venezuelan program was launched, Cubans on the island have complained about a significant drop in the number of doctors there and the already low supplies of medicines there.

''I was worried about all this medicine leaving Cuba,'' Jiménez said. "What about the Cubans?''

In the past, Chávez has alluded to the medical program as a swap of Cuba's human resources for Venezuela's natural resources -- mostly oil -- and part of his campaign to strengthen relations with Latin American nations and distance them from the United States.

Cuba, for instance, receives upwards of 90,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Venezuela on easy repayment terms. Most nations that host Cuban medical personnel also make per-doctor cash payments directly to the Cuban government, but it's not clear whether Venezuela is making such payments or writing off the amounts against its oil deliveries.

Neither Venezuela nor Cuba has provided any public accounting of the costs for their Cuban doctors arrangement, but a recent Bush administration report estimated Venezuelan energy subsidies to Cuba at $1 billion.

For Rodríguez and Jiménez, the best part of their deployment to Venezuela was that it offered them an escape hatch.

They met with a Colombian friend of another doctor, who arranged for them to cross the Colombian border in a car for about $50. They left in the early morning hours of Dec. 11. By noon, they were in Cartagena.

Bush seeks change in Cuba; strategy unclear

Besides urging Cubans to push for change, it is not clear what other options the Bush administration is considering to prod change in Cuba.

By Lesley Clark. lclark@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

WASHINGTON - The question has long hung darkly over U.S. policy on Cuba: If Fidel Castro's rule starts to wobble, does Washington try to push it over the edge, or help it survive in order to avert chaos 90 miles from South Florida?

Now, two weeks after the Cuban leader temporarily ceded power amid a health crisis, the Cuban system shows little instability. And it remains unclear what President Bush is prepared to do, beyond urging Cubans on the island to push for change.

''This is a matter for Cubans to resolve,'' Caleb McCarry, the State Department's Cuba Transition Coordinator told reporters. "It is their nation, they must lead the way forward.''

But others with close ties to the administration insist it is waiting for an opening and is prepared to take advantage -- to prod the country into democracy, even one with problems.

''I know that President Bush does not believe that a stable dictatorship is better than an unstable democracy,'' said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, a vociferous critic of the Castro regime. "He does not believe in the status quo just because it's more manageable . . . when you know who the players are.''

Ros-Lehtinen said she believes the U.S. government -- at the appropriate time, ''will take a forceful stand in order to tip Cuba into democratic side,'' but added that "no one is talking military action.

''But no one is saying that we will ignore the situation and just hope for the best,'' she said.

Others are not so convinced. They note U.S. laws on the trade embargo against Cuba largely tie Washington's hands in the face of less than a radical move toward democracy on the island.

''They are left without a position,'' said Wayne Smith, a former head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana and a frequent critic of U.S. policy on Cuba. "They called for a democracy, yet they have no means of bringing that about. All they can do is issue calls for the Cuban people to work for democracy.''

Others note there are sections of the U.S. government that are uninterested in engaging Cuba, particularly at a time when Washington is preoccupied with the war in Iraq, turmoil in the Middle East and the threat of terrorism.

''The goal of this administration, of the president is unquestionably to do everything possible to . . . work to see change,'' said Mauricio Claver-Carone, who heads an anti-Castro lobbying group, the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee. "At the same time, there are people within the bureaucracy and there are career people who will always put stability before change.''

Among those sectors is the Pentagon, where senior officials have long been known to be arguing for permission for military-to-military contacts with Cuba in order to at least prevent any misunderstanding in case of an emergency. The requests have been denied, on the argument that such contacts might serve to support a post-Castro military rule perhaps led by his brother, temporary president and Defense Minister Raúl Castro.

Observers also suggest the government is more interested in preventing a repeat of the 1980 Mariel boatlift and 1994 balsero crisis that sent tens of thousands of Cubans streaming toward U.S. shores.

''U.S. policy is status quo,'' said Joe Garcia, a former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and a director with the New Democrat Network. "The question is do we want a crisis here, and what political interest could it be to destabilize the Cuban government?''

Former Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich urges patience.

''I worked with President Bush for three and a half years,'' Reich said. "He wants freedom for Cuba and he's not going to trade stability for freedom.''

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday flatly ruled out any type of military intervention, telling Meet the Press that "the notion that, somehow, the United States is going to invade Cuba because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched, and it's simply not true.

''We are not going to do anything to stoke a sense of crisis or a sense of instability in Cuba,'' Rice said. "This is a transitional period for the Cuban people. We are going to stand with them for the proposition that there should not simply be the return from -- or the end of one dictatorship and the imposition of another dictatorship.

''But our role,'' she said, "will be to help the Cuban people, when the time comes, to have a peaceful and stable democratic transition.''

Her deputies at the state department Friday declined to discuss what steps they'd consider should the Cuban government start to wobble.

And in Miami, Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation, said his group had hoped for a more forceful reaction.

''We got the impression [the administration] would recognize the opportunity and react positively . . . but obviously from the messages we have seen right now they are not going to take advantage of those opportunities,'' Hernandez said. 'They're telling us, 'Stay back, don't interfere.' This is what they are telling the exile community in Miami: 'Don't rock the boat right now,' '' he added.

Hernandez said he's sympathetic, if disappointed, by the apparent U.S. stand.

''It would be really very difficult for us to deal with a situation in Cuba now where have to commit resources of any kind,'' he said. "The only thing we can say is how unlucky we have been. Every time, through these 50 years, . . . every time, some other interest interferes with the freedom of Cuba.''

6 nations refused to take Posada

As Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles asked a federal magistrate to release him, the U.S. government revealed that at least six other countries had refused to take him in.

By Alfonso Chardy, achardy@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

EL PASO - The U.S. government revealed Monday that it has asked six countries, including Mexico and Canada, to take Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles -- but they all refused.

The disclosure came during a two-hour hearing in federal court, in which an elegantly attired Posada asked U.S. Magistrate Norbert Garney to free him from immigration detention. Posada, 78, has been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an El Paso detention facility since immigration officers detained him in Miami-Dade County on May 17, 2005.

Venezuela and Cuba accuse the CIA-trained Posada of terrorism, including the bombing of a passenger jet in 1976 that killed 73 people. Posada has long denied involvement.

Monday was the first time the U.S. government has publicly disclosed the number and names of foreign countries it has approached in an effort to remove Posada from the United States. An El Paso immigration judge last year prohibited his deportation to Cuba or Venezuela but ordered his expulsion to any other country willing to take him.

Besides Canada and Mexico, the other countries that rejected Posada were Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Eduardo Soto, Posada's lead attorney, told Garney that the government's disclosure -- made by an ICE officer called as a witness -- proves the United States cannot deport Posada and, thus, he should be released. Failure to do so, Soto added, would violate the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision against indefinite detention of foreign nationals who cannot be deported.

Ethan Kanter, a Justice Department attorney, who represented the U.S. government at the hearing, asked Garney to deny Posada's request for release because efforts to expel him are continuing and because the high court's 2001 ruling allowed for the indefinite detention of detainees deemed a ''danger to the community.'' An ICE letter to Posada in March said he continued to ''present a danger to the community'' and "a risk to the national security of the United States.''

Garney told Posada that he would issue his decision later. Felipe Millan, an El Paso attorney retained by Posada, said he expected Garney's ruling in the next few days.

Posada was charged with being illegally in the country and placed in deportation proceedings. The ICE letter listed all of the charges and allegations against Posada outside the United States. These include the bombing of a Cuban jetliner off Barbados in 1976, the bombing of hotels and tourist spots in Cuba in 1997 and 1998 and a thwarted assassination plot against Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000. Posada has denied all the allegations.

Posada's daughter, Janet Arguello, 35, was among a small group of supporters at the hearing. Outside the courtroom, Arguello wiped away tears as she spoke about her elderly father.

''He is getting old . . . and he is suffering from a heart condition,'' Arguello said, adding that her father had fainted several times while in detention in El Paso. "My fervent hope is that he spend his last years in freedom, with his family.''

The hearing was the first in Posada's efforts in federal court to obtain freedom. Though he won protection in immigration court from removal to Cuba or Venezuela, ICE has decided to keep him in custody. Posada was born in Cuba but is a naturalized Venezuelan citizen.

Soto said if the ruling goes against Posada, then he would appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if ''necessary.'' If the case goes that far, it could be the first test of the high court's 2001 ruling exemption for ''dangerous'' detainees.

The 2001 ruling said foreign nationals who cannot be deported must be released under conditions of supervision no later than six months after deportation orders have become final and there is no likelihood any country will take them. But the ruling indicated that exceptions could be made for "specially dangerous individuals.''

Even if Garney decides Posada should be released, his ruling may not result in immediate freedom. It would amount to a recommendation to U.S. District Judge Philip Martinez who is overseeing Posada's lawsuit against the federal government seeking release.

Turning 80, ailing Fidel vows to 'fight'

Miami Herald Staff Report. Posted on Mon, Aug. 14, 2006

HAVANA - After days of upbeat reports about Fidel Castro's health, Cubans tried to make sense Sunday of his latest message, a sobering statement that urged optimism but warned of a potentially grim prognosis.

Many Havana residents spent Castro's 80th birthday as they would any other sweltering Sunday -- at the beach, playing dominoes and trying to beat the heat. But some of the few who had read or heard the latest on Castro's health said they were saddened but optimistic.

''I'm not worried,'' said Luis, 43, as he strolled down the seaside Malecón. He said the dark message Sunday was meant to prepare the population for the inevitable, although he doesn't believe it will happen anytime soon. "I have hope.''

The Castro brothers broke two weeks of silence Sunday, a day the ailing Fidel marked his birthday with a communiqué in which he vowed to ''fight'' for his health.

For the first time, Cubans saw photos of their leader after his surgery for intestinal bleeding. And they saw images of his brother, acting president Raúl Castro, at the airport warmly greeting Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as he arrived in Havana to visit Fidel.

Chavez met with the ailing elder brother in the afternoon and gave him a dagger and a coffee cup that had belonged to South American independence fighter Simon Bolivar, Venezuela's state news service ABN said. No other details were provided.

Cubans interviewed seemed conflicted, many eager for their comandante's recovery but at the same time ready for change. But outsiders find it difficult to tell when Cubans are telling their true feelings or holding back out of fear of the government.

The throngs that attended a birthday concert Saturday night in front of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana seemed swept up in nationalistic fervor, eager to defend not just their nation, but their leader, too.

''It makes me sad, because we need him tremendously, not just Cuba, but all of Latin America,'' said a man named Tomás as he walked along the Malecón with his 1-year-old daughter.

On Sunday, Cuba's Juventud Rebelde newspaper published the first photographs of Castro since his illness, showing him in a red, blue and white warm-up suit -- the colors of the Cuban flag -- under the headline, I feel very happy.

RISKY PROGNOSIS

In a statement published on the paper's front page, Castro says he's better but admits the recovery period could be long and the prognosis risky. Cubans, he said, should brace themselves.

''I suggest to all of you to be optimistic, and at the same time to be always ready to confront any adverse news,'' the statement said. "To affirm that the period of recovery will last a short time and that there is no longer any risk would be absolutely incorrect.''

By Sunday evening, few Cubans had heard of the latest statement, apparently because Juventud Rebelde -- Rebel Youth -- has a much smaller circulation than Granma, the Communist Party's newspaper.

In Miami, exile leaders attacked alleged irregularities in the photos, saying the copy of Granma that Castro holds up looks more like a photocopy, which could have been made anytime.

''The pictures are an insult to the Cuban people, who deserve at least a public address,'' said Cuban radio host Ninoska Pérez.

The photos released Sunday were credited to Estudios Revolución, a division of Castro's personal support group. The Associated Press could not independently confirm their authenticity.

''To all who wished me good health, I promise that I shall fight for it,'' the statement read.

Castro announced two weeks ago he had ''complicated'' surgery to stem intestinal bleeding. The next day he declared his condition a ''state secret,'' and the public had not heard from him or his brother Raúl since.

The Cuban government had originally planned days of festivities to celebrate the Cuban leader's birthday. The parties have been postponed until Dec. 2, the anniversary of the armed forces.

BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Despite the delay, on Saturday thousands of people gathered outside the ''Plaza of Imperialism'' outside the U.S. Interests Section in Havana for a late-night concert in Castro's honor. According to wire service reports, even U.S. Interests Section chief Michael Parmly showed up.

On this night, the black flags erected earlier this year to block the electronic billboard sign posted on the Interests Section were replaced with Cuban flags.

''Cuba yes, imperialism, no!'' one announcer yelled soon after the party kicked off. It was not just a party to celebrate Castro, but also to celebrate Cuba as some thumbed their nose at the United States.

The crowd stretched for blocks under the watchful eye of Cuban police.

At midnight, partyers didn't sing Happy Birthday, but rather the Cuban national anthem. A photo of Castro waving a high-powered rifle flashed across TV screens before a still crowd of mostly young people born long after the revolution's triumph.

Mabelle, 22, echoing the sentiments of many Castro supporters that the revolution is bigger than him, said the "revolution is eternal.''

''We want him to get better,'' she said.

But if he should die, she said, "[The revolution] will not end. The person he's put in charge will continue the struggle.''

But not everyone there wished Castro well.

''The majority of Cubans want him gone,'' said one architecture student. "He's a rigid dictator.''

Even Ricardo, a medical technician and self-proclaimed fidelista, conceded things need to improve.

''There are some things that need to be changed in Cuba,'' he said, not offering any details. "But if you compare Cuba to other Latin American countries, it will surpass all of them.''

NO SPECIAL PRAYER

Unlike the previous Sunday, when Catholics were asked to pray for the president's recovery, there was no official or unofficial proclamation at two Masses attended, including the Cathedral in Old Havana. Castro wasn't even mentioned in the part of the service where the congregation is asked to pray for world peace, the sick and the poor.

Asked why there were no birthday wishes at Iglesia del Santo Angel Custodio in Old Havana, the Rev. Jorge Serpa said, "There are plenty of other people celebrating their birthdays today.''

One bookseller named Blas may have best summed up the Cubans' apparent sentiments these days.

Castro, he said, "is like the weather. You can't do anything to affect him, so there's no use worrying about it.''

This report came from Miami Herald staff writers in Havana; Breanne Gilpatrick and Andrea Torres in Miami; and translator Renato Pérez. It was written by Frances Robles in Miami. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

Text of Fidel Castro's message

Posted on Mon, Aug. 14, 2006

Here is the text of a message from Fidel Castro published Sunday in the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde as translated by The Miami Herald:

Dear compatriots and friends in Cuba and the rest of the world:

Today, the 13th, I have arrived at the age of 80.

To say that objective stability has improved considerably is not to invent a lie. To affirm that the period of recovery will last a short time and that there is no longer any risk would be absolutely incorrect.

I suggest to all of you to be optimistic, and at the same time to be always ready to confront any adverse news.

To the people of Cuba, [my] infinite gratitude for your loving support. The country goes on and will continue to go on perfectly well.

To my comrades in the struggle, eternal glory for resisting and defeating the empire, demonstrating that a better world is possible.

Today, Aug. 13, I feel very happy.

To all who wished me good health, I promise that I shall fight for it.

Fidel Castro (signed facsimile)

Castro's message sheds little light

A close reading of statements on Fidel Castro's health crisis raises many questions and provides few answers.

By Juan O. Tamayo. jtamayo@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Aug. 14, 2006

The skeletal, 151-word statement issued in the name of Fidel Castro on Sunday did little to dispel the mystery cloaking the illness that forced him to surrender power two weeks ago.

Most Cuba-watchers believe Havana officials prefer not to lie when it comes to sensitive topics, and instead tend to issue carefully crafted declarations that gloss over or leave out unpleasant details.

Castro has declared the details of his health crisis a ''state secret.'' But a close reading of some of the statements about his condition raises significant questions about the nature of his illness and his chances of recovery.

From Sunday's statement published in the Juventud Rebelde newspaper:

o To affirm that the period of recovery will last a short time and that there is no longer any risk would be absolutely incorrect -- The recovery will not be short and risks do remain. What risks? The 13-day gap between his surgery and the first photos of a recovering Castro indicate the surgery was indeed ''complicated,'' as he said on July 31. Or is Castro over-dramatizing his condition, in order to make a triumphant return later?

o I suggest to all of you to be optimistic, and at the same time to be always ready to confront any adverse news -- Optimism is not a medical prognosis. And ''adverse news'' hints at a serious risk. In the kind of formal Spanish that the 80-year-old Castro often uses, when families pass around word to be ready for ''adverse news'' about someone, it indicates the person is critically ill.

o To say that objective stability has improved considerably is not to invent a lie -- Does ''stability'' refer strictly to his short-term status following surgery, or the broader condition that required the surgery? There's still no explanation of why the surgery was required, beyond intestinal bleeding. A bleeding ulcer is one thing. Bleeding due to something worse, such as cancer, would be far more serious.

o To all who wished me good health, I promise that I shall fight for it -- He's fighting for something he doesn't have -- good health.

o Four photos of Castro published Sunday, also by Juventud Rebelde -- All show him only from the chest up, wearing a warm-up suit. One is a close-up of a pensive Castro, with a thin smile and his right hand under his chin. His hair seems darker than his usual gray. Two others show him with a phone to his ear.

The fourth photograph shows him apparently sitting and holding up a Saturday copy of Granma, the Communist Party's newspaper. It proves he's alive. Just below the newspaper is the front tip of a narrow black armrest. Could it be a wheelchair? It's not clear from the photos if he's in a hospital room or at a house.

o René, Antonio, Gerardo, Fernando, Ramón: We will triumph over the monstrous injustice! Fidel. August 13, 2006, 12:39 a.m.'' -- Despite the crisis, the notoriously night-owlish Castro is still staying up late. Juventud Rebelde on Sunday also published this handwritten Castro note to five Cubans who were convicted in Miami of spying-related charges and last week lost their appeal for a new trial.

From a Granma report Saturday:

o "A friend tells us that just a few hours ago, upon visiting the Comandante ... he witnessed some good news . . . how the Chief of the Revolution, after receiving a little physical therapy, took some steps in his room and then, seated in a chair, conversed animatedly'' -- Almost two weeks after surgery, Castro takes only "some steps.''

From Castro's Aug. 1 statement, at least one day after his surgery:

o I cannot invent good news, because that wouldn't be ethical. . . . And if the news were bad, the only one to benefit is the enemy -- Plainly, he has no good news. And there may be bad news.

o A real evolution of the state of one's health requires the passing of time. . . . The most I could say is that the situation will remain stable for many days before a verdict can be delivered -- Why does a prognosis require ''many days''? Any biopsy should take only a couple of days. Could he perhaps need a second surgery? Maybe chemotherapy?

From Castro's July 31 note first disclosing the surgery:

o Days and nights of continuous work, barely able to sleep, my health, which has withstood all trials, was subjected to extreme stress and broke down -- Many physicians doubt stress alone would have caused the serious intestinal bleeding that forced surgeons to operate on such an elderly patient.

o This provoked an acute intestinal crisis, with sustained bleeding, that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation -- No explanation of exactly why or where the bleeding occurred.

o Postponed his birthday celebrations Sunday until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of the landing of his boat, the Granma, on Cuba's eastern coast -- That would be about four months after his surgery. A very long recovery.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, on Thursday:

o Castro is waging a "great battle for life'' -- Initially dismissed as a rhetorical flourish -- Chávez added in the same speech that he had received a message from Castro that filled him with optimism -- it seems to parallel Castro's statement Sunday.

New photos raise new questions about Castro's condition

By Martin Merzer, mmerzer@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Aug. 14, 2006

The Cuban government released seven new pictures of Fidel Castro today -- all of them showing the Cuban leader confined to bed during a birthday visit from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Given the careful cultivation of Castro's image during his 47-year domination of Cuba, the pictures could be interpreted as further evidence that he remains critically ill and could suggest that he may not have had the strength Sunday even to sit in a chair.

Castro turned 80 on Sunday.

He was hospitalized in late July and underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment that the Cuban government said caused serious intestinal bleeding. Specialists in the United States said the symptoms could indicate cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.

Several photos taken earlier and released Sunday showed an apparently fatigued Castro sitting in a chair.

Also on Sunday, a statement released in Castro's name strongly hinted that his condition remained serious and his prognosis could be grim.

The statement urged Cubans to ''be optimistic,'' but it also make clear that any recovery would take quite some time and Cubans should prepare themselves "to confront any adverse news.''

Among older generations of Cubans, the term ''adverse news'' often is used as short-hand for "a death in the family.''

Cuban militant to make bid for freedom

Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press. Posted on Mon, Aug. 14, 2006

EL PASO, Texas - A Cuban militant accused of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner wants a federal judge to let him out of jail while the U.S. government continues searching for a country where it can deport him.

Luis Posada Carriles was ordered out of the United States last year. But an immigration judge said the government couldn't send him to Cuba, where he was born, or Venezuela, where he is a naturalized citizen, citing the possibility he could be tortured. So far, no other country has been found.

Posada, a former CIA operative and a fervent foe of Cuban President Fidel Castro, is accused by Cuba and Venezuela of plotting the jetliner bombing while living in Venezuela. He has denied involvement in the bombing, which killed 73 people.

He was jailed last year on immigration charges after being accused of sneaking into Texas from Mexico in March 2005.

Felipe D.J. Millan, an El Paso immigration attorney, said he and Posada's Miami lawyers will ask a federal judge on Monday to let Posada live with his family in Miami while he waits to be deported.

Millan said the government has had plenty of time to find a country to take Posada and he doubts his 78-year-old client will ever leave the United States.

"There is no foreseeable opportunity that he will be removed," he said. "He just wants to go home and die in peace."

Posada's health is declining, and he needs heart surgery to implant a pacemaker, Millan said. The El Paso detention center, where Posada has been held since last year, lacks the necessary health services, he said.

"The people who run the detention center ... treat Mr. Posada very well," Millan said. "They've done their part, more than their part. But they can only go so far. It's a detention center, not a hospital."

Millan said he was not sure if Posada, who has applied for U.S. citizenship, would testify at Monday's hearing. But his doctor is expected to take the stand and several of Posada's relatives, including his daughter, are expected to be in court.

Video depicts a crude side to Raúl Castro

Home video footage shot in the early 1990s, being rebroadcast on Miami Spanish-language TV, shows a side of Raúl Castro few get to see.

Watch the clips.

By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sun, Aug. 13, 2006

In one scene, Cuban Defense Minister and interim leader Raúl Castro holds up a bar of soap in the shape of breasts and, after taking a sniff, remarks how good it would be if all women "had them like this.''

In another, he pokes fun at former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. And in a third he ogles a uniformed female marine and then tells how, as a child, he was sexually aroused after peering at a girl through a window.

The crude behavior is no parody. They are snippets of a video shot in 1992 by an unidentified U.S. physician and broadcast by several Miami stations in the 1990s. It is currently being rebroadcast by Miami's Spanish-language Channel 41, América TeVé.

At one point in the video, when the physician tries to take on a more serious tone, Raúl Castro says, "If we didn't take things lightly, we would die of bitterness.''

The unusual footage offers a peek into the private side of a 75-year-old revolutionary leader who has headed Cuba's military for 47 years and now temporarily controls the island's future as older brother Fidel Castro recuperates from gastrointestinal surgery.

''This is a side of him few people see,'' said Miguel Cossio, América TeVé's news director. "He hardly ever comes out in public, and speaks even less.''

'THE REAL RAUL'

''People are discovering a Raúl Castro they did not know -- the real Raúl,'' Cossio added.

The station would not reveal the name of the doctor or the circumstances surrounding his unusual access to Castro. But Cossio said Cuban officials have never challenged the video's authenticity.

''The video is real,'' he said.

Since the Castro brothers began plotting their revolution in the early 1950s, Raúl has operated in his older brother's shadow. He has often been described as an avowed communist and ruthless leader with the organizational skills of a perfectionist.

But he also has been described as an engaging and easy-going family man who loves to tell jokes, as well as a heavy drinker who sometimes goes over the line of good taste, especially when drunk.

In the footage, dated Feb. 9, 1992, and recorded with a video camera that was not hidden, Raúl Castro does not appear drunk. But within about 25 minutes, there are at least eight instances of behavior befitting a comedian, not a statesman.

The video starts in an office and moves through a visit to several military installations.

In one exchange, Castro opens a gift of a bar of soap in the shape of a heart with breasts. He smiles, holds the soap to his face and takes a deep breath.

RAUNCHY EXCHANGE

''If all [women] had them like this, it would be very good,'' he says with a chuckle, adding that he must keep the gift away from his grandson, otherwise the boy "would take it and start touching the little breasts.''

Later in the video, Castro tells the American that he resembles former Soviet leader Gorbachev.

''But you are better than Gorbachev,'' Castro says. "You are capable of opening someone's chest, changing his heart and keep him living. Gorbachev made the heart of the Soviet Union change and killed it.''

When the physician jokingly challenges Castro about the number of Cuban generals, saying he had heard that, if one drills for oil in Cuba, a general pops up, Castro retorts with a joke of his own. ''Or a mulatta,'' he says.

Shortly afterward, as a unit of female troops marches past him in a formal ceremony, Castro chases after the unit and reaches over to tap one uniformed female's face from behind.

"Now, this is a good unit to be part of.''

He goes on to tell a lengthy story about having to confess to a priest when he was a youngster studying in an all-boys Catholic school. Castro said he told the priest that he had looked through a window, saw a girl and had "bad thoughts.''

''What else?'' Castro said the priest asked him. "Well, Father, that night, you know, I masturbated.''

Castro turned to one of the Cuban military officers around him and said the men in the unit were lucky: "They have girls here. They don't have to masturbate.''

Cuba experts said the crude behavior might raise questions about Raúl Castro's ability to rule Cuba.

''Raúl is the provisional leader of Cuba,'' said Andy Gomez, a senior fellow at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. "Is he capable of handling that leadership? That's a big question.''

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