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Sunday, August 05, 2007

Exiles' frustration at Castro status quo

Exiles' frustration at Castro status quo
By Emilio San Pedro
BBC Americas Editor

It was the moment the Cuban exile community in Miami, which numbers more
than a million, had been awaiting for decades - the news that Fidel
Castro had for one reason or another transferred or left power altogether.

The official news a year ago was that Mr Castro had undergone emergency
intestinal surgery and was transferring power for the first time since
he took over in 1959, but only temporarily, to his brother Raul, his
designated successor.

Minutes later, exiles in Miami began pouring into the streets of the
city's Little Havana district to celebrate the news which many of them
believed signalled the end of Mr Castro's rule.

Most of them - being used to having to extrapolate different meanings
from the news that comes out of the island - were certain that the
transfer had occurred because Mr Castro had possibly already died.

'Focal point'

Their speculation was fuelled even further by the secrecy with which the
Cuban authorities dealt with Mr Castro's illness, which has been
designated a state secret.

Soon there were thousands of people gathering or driving by the
emblematic late-night Cuban cafe, Versailles, which became the focal
point of the celebrations.

Leading political figures of the exile community also took part in the
celebrations, echoing the thoughts of people on the streets that the end
of the revolution was nigh.

There was a great deal of talk about Raul Castro and whether he would
differ or remain the same as his older brother if he were to remain in
power, even for a short while.

The celebrations continued for nearly a week, but began to dwindle as
the news from Cuba seemed to indicate that Mr Castro had indeed survived
his operation and that little had changed either politically or on the
streets of the island.

Renewed frustration

There were no signs of popular revolts against the regime as many in
Miami had hoped for or predicted.

Nor was there any sign that the carefully crafted plans for a smooth
transition of power had suffered any kind of internal revolts within the
all-powerful Communist Party.

That initial euphoria in Miami has turned into renewed frustration among
exiles as the political change they believed was possibly imminent has
failed to materialise.

Dissidents on the island have also not received the support they needed
from the international community
Andro Nodarse Leon
Cuban American National Foundation

For Andro Nodarse Leon, of the Cuban American National Foundation, a
large part of the blame lies with the United States and the
international community.

"A significant opportunity was missed by them to effect real democratic
change on the island," says the 30-year-old, who grew up in Cuba but now
lives in Miami.

"More pressure should have been put on the communist regime and a
greater attempt should have been made by the US, the EU and others to
identify people within the communist power structure who want change,
but need some kind of incentive before they act," he added.

"Dissidents on the island have also not received the support they needed
from the international community," says Mr Nodarse Leon.

This lack of pressure had only helped to solidify "the legitimacy of the
Castro brothers and their attempt to push some kind of a monarchical
type succession on the Cuban people rather than a real transition of any
kind", he said.

"Nevertheless, we're still hopeful that Raul will have a legitimacy
issue on his hands, when his elder brother is no longer around to
provide moral support as he's been doing from behind the scenes," he says.

This is a clear reference to the fact that most Cuban exiles are banking
on political change happening once Fidel Castro has either passed away
or been removed from power altogether due to his illness.

Recovery

However, in the latest instalment of his series of articles for the
state-owned newspaper, Granma, the Cuban president said he was
recovering and promised he would continue to struggle to help strengthen
the Cuban revolution.

He also praised his brother, Raul, and the leadership of the Communist
Party for the way they had handled the difficult political situation
sparked by his illness last year.

And he lambasted the United States which he described as "the only real
and destructive empire in the world".

It would, therefore, appear that a year on from what many analysts
described as a seismic shift in Cuban politics, both the Cuban
government and its exiled counterparts in Miami remain entrenched in the
same diametrically opposed political positions they have occupied for
decades.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6927964.stm

Published: 2007/08/02 15:02:26 GMT

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