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Cuba Minister Simeon Said Dead at Age 61

HAVANA, 23 (AP) - Rosa Elena Simeon, Cuba's minister of science, technology and environment, has died, state television reported. She was 61.

Simeon died Friday night after a "grave and prolonged illness," state TV reported Saturday. She had suffered from cancer for several years.

Simeon was a ranking member of Cuba's political elite, serving on the Communist Party's ruling Central Committee and on the Council of State, the island government's executive body. She also was a deputy in Cuba's National Assembly and sat on the national committee of the Federation of Cuban Women.

Holding doctorates in medicine and veterinary sciences, Simeon had served as Cuba's Minister of Science, Technology and Environment since the cabinet post was created in 1994. Before that, she'd headed Cuba's Academy of Sciences since 1985.

One of her chief concerns was environmental protection and educating Cubans to care about the land, water and air.

There was no immediate information on survivors or funeral plans.

Castro Says He's Working Despite Injuries

By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer. Fri Oct 22.

HAVANA - Demonstrating he retains firm control over Cuba after fracturing his knee and arm in a fall at a public event, President Fidel Castro told of conducting government business by cellular phone during an ambulance ride and later refusing general anesthesia.

"I have not stopped attending to the tasks that I am responsible for, in coordination with the other comrades," Castro, 78, wrote in a lengthy note read Thursday night on state television.

Castro said he underwent a 3 hour, 15 minute operation to repair his left knee, which was broken in eight pieces, and the immobilization of his left upper arm, which suffered a hairline fracture.

He said he remained awake the whole time, anesthetized only from the waist down, so he could "attend to numerous important issues" with his chief of staff, who dressed in surgical scrubs.

Castro said earlier he remained in contact with his office via cellular phone during the ambulance ride back to Havana from Santa Clara, the central city about a three-hours drive away where the accident occurred.

Castro's message seemed at clearing up any doubts about his ability to govern this communist nation of 11.2 million people after 45 years in power.

His advancing age - and ultimately his mortality - was brought home when he was injured Wednesday night when he tripped and fell after a speech at the Santa Clara graduation ceremony.

But Castro has fought to dispel concerns about his health and his ability to keep governing.

"I'm all in one piece," Castro declared on state television Wednesday just minutes after he fell.

A medical examination early Thursday confirmed Castro suffered a broken left knee and a hairline fracture in his upper right arm, said an official notice carried by state media.

"His general health is good, and he is in excellent spirits," it said, adding that Castro hoped to be "back in place" soon.

Castro's health has long been closely watched - particularly by his political enemies in Miami, home to a large Cuban exile community.

"Sometimes, people have this idea that he's some sort of god, that he's omnipotent," said Yanisset Rivero, spokeswoman for the Cuban Democratic Directorate, a Miami group that supports dissidents on the island. "It's a sign ... that he's human."

Rights activist Elizardo Sanchez of Havana predicted the incident would not immediately affect government policies, but it "does put on the agenda the theme of the advanced age of various leaders."

In the last several years, Castro's knees have seemed more wobbly, his step less steady. Nevertheless, he maintains a busy schedule that frequently includes all-night meetings with aides and visitors.

Average Cubans did not seem as alarmed Thursday as they were three years ago, when Castro fainted in the scorching Caribbean sun during a live televised speech before a crowd of thousands.

"He needs to get well soon," Georgina Hernandez said Thursday as she walked on the streets of Old Havana. "The Cuban people need him and need him to last a long time."

In Washington, the State Department declined to wish a speedy recovery to Castro, who has remained in power during 10 American administrations.

"We, obviously, have expressed our views about what's broken in Cuba," said spokesman Richard Boucher.

The June 23, 2001, incident in which Castro collapsed behind the podium several hours into a speech prompted many Cubans for the first time to reflect on, and openly discuss, Castro's mortality and their country's future.

Castro's designated successor has long been his brother, 73-year-old Defense Minister Raul Castro, who fought with him in the Cuban revolution that overthrew President Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959.

Raul Castro is first vice president of both the government's ruling Council of State and of the Communist Party - directly after his brother. The constitution does not specify a No. 3 in the presidential succession.

Also mentioned as possible successors have been Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, 39, a former personal secretary to Castro, and Vice President Carlos Lage, 53, who as Cabinet secretary has broad experience in helping oversee the economy and government.

Exclusive APTN footage of Castro's fall on Wednesday showed the Cuban leader tripped after descending the stairs from the stage after his speech and fell forward, hard on his right side.

Cubans watching on state television did not see the fall, only security men running off to the side.

Aides and security agents immediately surrounded the president and helped him to a folding chair.

"I will do what is possible to recover as fast as possible, but as you can see I can still talk," Castro told television viewers. "Even if they put me in a cast, I can continue in my work."

Cubans Seek to Draw Attention to Embargo

HAVANA, 23 (AP) - Cuba's parliament speaker blasted America's four-decade embargo against the island nation as "genocide" on Saturday, as thousands gathered to draw attention to the upcoming U.N. vote to condemn the sanctions.

Ricardo Alarcon noted that 70 percent of Cuba's 11.2 million citizens were born after the United States imposed trade sanctions in the early 1960s in an effort to undermine Fidel Castro's communist government.

"It's a policy of genocide ... aimed at causing suffering and hunger," Alarcon said.

The rally was the first major political gathering in Cuba since the 78-year-old president tripped and fell after a graduation ceremony speech in the central city of Santa Clara Wednesday night.

Since then, Castro has assured the Cuban people he is well and remains firmly in control of the country he has ruled for 45 years.

Conspicuously absent from Saturday's rally was 73-year-old Defense Minister Raul Castro, the president's younger brother and his designated successor.

Among those in the audience was Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who will travel to New York next week for the embargo vote scheduled for Oct. 28.

For 12 consecutive years, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to urge the United States to end the embargo.

Last year, the nonbinding resolution passed overwhelmingly with only Israel and the Marshall Islands joining the United States in voting against it.

Cuba has been under a U.S. trade embargo since Castro defeated the CIA -backed assault at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Americans are barred from traveling to the Caribbean island nation except with a U.S. government waiver.

Shipwrecked Cuban boy: 'Get well, Fidel'

HAVANA, 23 (AFP) - Shipwrecked Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez, who reached US shores and triggered an international custody battle, wished President Fidel Castro a speedy recovery from a broken knee.

"Dear Commander," as Castro is known, "I want you to get well and to take care of your sick knee," wrote Elian, now 10.

"I liked your message to the people and my family ... and I were happy to know that you are better," said the boy's letter, which appeared in the official Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma. "Get better soon. We love you very much."

Elian became possibly the most famous Cuban after Castro himself when he was plucked from the sea off Florida's coast on November 25, 1999. An overcrowded motorboat had capsized en route from Cuba, killing Elian's mother, her boyfriend and nine others seeking to enter the United States illegally.

He became the center of a custody tug-of-war between his father -- backed by the Cuban government -- who wanted the boy to return to the Caribbean island and his Miami-based relatives, who are staunch opponents of Castro's communist rule. Eventually, US federal agents snatched Elian from a relative's house and returned him to his father.

Elian and Castro have become something of a duo, celebrating birthdays and other events together.

Castro has held Elian up as a symbol of his regime's resistance to the United States, and of the idea that Cubans should choose life in their country, despite tough economic conditions, over emigrating.

Cuba's population tops 11 million. Yet emigration has been an embarrassment during Castro's rule. There are more than 800,000 Cuban-Americans in the nearby US state of Florida alone.

State Department Mum on Castro's Health'

AP, October 22, 2004.

The Bush administration chose Thursday to urge change in Fidel Castro's Cuba rather than speculate on the health of its aging leader.

Expressing uncertainty as to the seriousness of Castro's condition following a fall that left him with a fractured knee and arm, spokesman Richard Boucher said, "I guess you'd have to check with the Cubans to find out what's broken about Mr. Castro."

He added: "We, obviously, have expressed our views about what's broken in Cuba."

Asked specifically whether he wishes the 78-year old leader a speedy recovery, Boucher said, "No," acknowledging that Castro's health is of little concern to the administration.

In contrast, he said, the situation of the Cuban people is of "enormous importance."

Cubans, Boucher said, "have suffered very long" under Castro's rule. "And we think that the kind of rule that Cuba has had should be ended."

Castro fell after a graduation speech in central Cuba.

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