Yahoo! May 14, 2001
Castro's Brother Sees No Changes
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 14 (AP) - Cuba's No. 2 man, Gen. Raul Castro, said in comments
published Sunday that the communist government would easily survive the death of
his brother Fidel.
"There will be no problem,'' he said in an interview with Juventud
Rebelde, the newspaper of Cuba's communist youth. "We, of course, want
Fidel to live many more years. But eternity is not possible.
"In our case, we will not die with the physical death,'' said Raul
Castro, who at 69 is five years younger than his brother. "We will live or
die depending upon what happens with the revolution. If it dies, we will be
dead. If it lives on, we will live.''
Although Fidel Castro (news - web sites) appears to be in vigorous good
health, his death, as well as its political and economic consequences, are
constant fodder for speculation in the United States and Cuba.
Raul Castro has made similar comments in recent months, even encouraging
Washington to make peace with Havana while his brother is still alive and
hinting that he may be much tougher to deal with than his brother.
Any uncertainty over the regime's future, he said, "is a fairy tale of
the enemy.''
The latest comments came as Fidel Castro was out of the country on a visit
to Arab and Asian nations.
The younger Castro fought with his brother during the 1959 revolution and is
now defense minister and the No. 2 man both in the government and the Communist
Party. The president has described his younger brother as his replacement.
During the interview given to a Juventud Rebelde reporter in Ciego de Avila
province, Raul Castro noted that the socialist leadership has survived an
economic crisis since the fall of other communist countries a decade ago.
"We have gone through 10 difficult years. There are still problems, and
there always will be, but we will go ahead,'' he said. "We are interested
in the continuity of the revolution. The enemy is talking about the post-Castro
era, analyzing foolishness.''
Raul Castro praised his brother for his role in what he called "the
beautiful battle'' last year to return the Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez to his
native country.
Elian, who is now 7, returned to Cuba in late June after a protracted
custody fight by his father against his Miami relatives, who wanted to keep the
boy in the United States.
Fidel Castro Praises Colin Powell
By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia 12 (AP) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro (news - web
sites), on a state visit to Malaysia on Saturday, praised U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell (news - web sites) for "daring'' to say something nice
about Cuba.
"I do not think that he is a warmonger,'' Castro said. "He is the
only one who has dared say that Cuba has done something good.''
Castro made his comments to reporters while dozens of shoppers inside the
world's tallest buildings - Malaysia's Petronas Towers - scrambled to greet him.
A few lucky ones did.
Powell last month told U.S. lawmakers that Castro has "done good things
for his people'' - the first time in four decades even faint praise was accorded
the Cuban leader by a senior U.S. official.
But Powell was quick to add that Castro remains "trapped in a time
warp,'' the Bush administration will continue to shun Castro politically and
diplomatically. Castro said Powell "has to take the same line as the
government.''
Castro's comment followed days of harsh criticism of the United States
during visits to Algeria, Iran and Malaysia - three nations sympathetic to his
communist revolution.
On Friday, he told a group of Malaysian businessmen and academics that
globalization was a threat to nations' sovereignty and praised Malaysia's "spirit
of rebellion.''
For the past week, Castro has been taking his case against the United States
to friendly audiences in the Middle East and Asia.
Castro played tourist on the second day of his three-day Malaysia tour
Saturday, visiting the world's tallest buildings before retiring to private
meetings with officials and businessmen.
"I was closer to heaven here,'' Castro told reporters after touring the
Petronas Towers, one of several mega-projects undertaken by Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir, like Castro, is an outspoken critic of Washington and what he
calls an unfair international financial system. He's given the Cuban leader an
extraordinarily warm welcome, with the two countries signing an accord Friday to
bolster cooperation in trade, science and technology.
"We are the rebels of the West,'' Castro said. "And Malaysia is
the rebel of the East.''
Castro, 74, and Mahathir, 75, both among the world's longest-ruling leaders,
share a deep suspicion of the United States.
But Castro's communist Cuba is one of the region's poorest nations, while
capitalist Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia's richest. And while the United
States is Malaysia's largest trading partner, Cuba languishes under a
four-decade U.S. trade embargo. | 