Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Reading tea leaves in Havana
Covering the subtle twists and turns in Cuban politics is a bit like reading tea leaves.
It’s been six months since Fidel Castro handed power over to his younger brother Raul – in theory a temporary measure while he recovered from intestinal surgery. He hasn’t made a public appearance since then and we haven’t even had any photos or video of him since October. At dinner with foreign journalists talk is all about Fidel, his health and the opaque world of Cuban politics. We are overnight experts on diverticulitis and peritonitis – conditions reportedly ailing Fidel. The 8-page daily Communist paper Granma has turned into a kind of oracle and we all comb through its pages seeking signs. Is a three-page spread on one of Fidel’s victory speeches an indication that the government already thinks of the ailing leader in past tense or a sign that he is still calling at least some of the shots? Everyone has a reliable source who turns out to be wrong. This was one of the few weekends we weren’t woken out of our sleep because someone in Miami heard on a ham radio that el Comandante had died or started chemotherapy. Fidel and what comes next also dominate conversations with Cubans. Many yearn for economic changes but worry they could bring crime and drugs and greater inequalities. Their fears and hopes are perhaps exacerbated by the lack of information. The official media has no health updates or stories on where the government is going. Instead, this past week has been all about the 154th birthday of Jose Marti. The poet and patriot died during the fight for Cuba’s independence from Spain. Fidel has always said he didn’t want to encourage a cult of the personality. He may be the only leader 70 percent of Cubans have ever known, but I have never seen a statue of him anywhere. Some see Marti as a kind of stand-in. Busts of the mustachioed freedom fighter are literally all over the island. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day cards are inscribed with quotes from Marti. As students and doctors and farmers across Cuba laid their wreaths at the base of Marti monuments this last week, I couldn’t help wondering what will happen the day Fidel goes. It’s easy to imagine bearded statues erected next to Marti and quotes from his lengthy speeches appearing on greeting cards. Easier than reading the political tea leaves. From CNN Havana Producer Shasta Darlington. 2 Comments
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Excellent article and oh how true !! Only those that have been to Cuba repeatedly have ever really experienced the surreal absurdities of her politics and beaurocracy,the warmth and suffering of her people,the gentle beauty of her blue-green sea and ondulating landscapes, the devastation due to neglect of her grand cities.Above all,the deliberate destruction of Havana,one of the world�s great cities.
As a Cuban-American,I am quite happy he is leaving.Ironic that he is suffering in his belly for that is where he inflicted the most pain upon the Cuban people in the form of hunger. I doubt the Cubans in Cuba will even be aware of changes.That type of indifferent hopelessness is something I experienced in Cuba .I pray that with "El Caballo"(the horse;Fidel) gone,the Cubans will slowly rebuild their society with a minimum of the ills that plague our country today.The bubble surrounding Cuba has burst.I last went ot Cuba in 2000,legally,to visit family.As to Cuba�s transition or mutation,perhaps it has already been on the way,in the black market,on the street,in the churches and not in the politburo.With Fidel hopefully gone,only time will tell.....
I always fail to understand how we only see fit to blame Castro for Cuba's problems and fail to recognize that we have as much to do with the problems on the island. Sure American companies lost money in 1959, but how can that justify imposing the worlds harshest economic embargo for nearly 50 years. An embargo that is directly responsible for maintaining people in poverty and suffering by forcing foreign and US companies to avoid that country. By perpetuating that embargo, we, Americans, are directly responsible for the lack of medicine, supplies or food in Cuba, and all in the name of American interests!
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