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When Castro falls for good
Deseret
Morning News (Utah) editorial. October
25, 2004.
Rarely does a stumble become a symbol.
But when Fidel Castro fell onto concrete
last Wednesday after delivering a graduation
speech, it looked eerily similar to the
way the statue of Saddam Hussein fell after
coalition troops occupied Baghdad last year.
As any observer with an ounce of sense knows,
this temporary stumble, which broke Castro's
knee and arm, is nothing compared to what
will happen when Cuba's dictator dies. Doctors
can help mend the 78-year-old leader's broken
bones, but mending Cuba's broken nation
will be much more difficult.
True to the form of a dictator, Castro
went to extraordinary lengths to show Cubans
he was not seriously hurt, at least not
in the way a mere mortal would have been.
He issued a lengthy statement read on state-run
television painting a picture of himself
heroically conducting state business by
phone from the ambulance, and of refusing
general anesthesia during a 3 hour 15 minute
operation, so that he could continue running
the country.
No doubt when he dies some day Castro
will have made provisions for an underling
to release a statement maintaining he is
still in charge from realms beyond.
Leaders of free societies don't worry
about going under general anesthesia. That
is because they arrive at power legitimately,
under the consent of the people. They also
operate within systems of government that
provide for orderly transitions of power.
Castro, apparently, can't bear the thought
of anyone else leading Cuba.
Oh, there is a plan. His brother, Raul
Castro, is the designated successor. But
he is 73 and may lack the energy and support
to take over. More likely, a power vacuum
will occur, and it may be exacerbated by
Cuban refugees in Florida who return to
the island in hopes of reclaiming freedom
and lost property.
The hope is that all Cubans will unite
in the cause of establishing a truly free
government, but that is uncertain after
45 years of Castro. Besides, power vacuums
tend to result in no shortage of people
eager to step in.
Cubans have no one to blame for this uncertainty
than Castro, himself - just as they have
no one else to blame for their own economic
woes.
The U.S. State Department got it right
when it refused to offer any sympathy for
Castro's injuries. As spokesman Richard
Boucher said, "We, obviously, have
expressed our views about what's broken
in Cuba." And that won't be easily
fixed.
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