By Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer / August 8, 2010
Mexico City
In his first official government act in four years, Fidel Castro only
spoke for about 10 minutes to the Cuban Parliament Saturday, nowhere
near the hours-long orations that marked nearly 50 years of the
revolutionary leader's presidency.
And instead of thundering on about Cuba and the issues that most Cubans
care about, including economic reform and freedom of expression, he
stayed close to the subjects that have marked his words since ceding
power to his younger brother Raúl Castro, including the threat of
nuclear war and climate change.
"If there is a war, the current social order will disappear abruptly and
the price will be immensely higher," Mr. Castro said at the Parliament
Saturday morning. "The planet's population could be regulated. Renewable
resources can be preserved. Climate change can be prevented."
"What continues to be noteworthy is that he is speaking about everything
but Cuban domestic policy," says Philip Peters, a Cuba expert at the
conservative Lexington Institute think tank in Arlington, Va. "He has
said nothing about prisoner releases, and nothing about economic policy."
Fidel's recent appearances
In the past few weeks, Mr. Castro, who reportedly came close to death in
2006 when he temporarily, and later permanently, stepped down from
office, has reappeared in public life, making appearances to small
groups and granting an interview aired on state television.
In his performance Saturday, he wore the standard olive-green uniform of
his past rather than the track suit that has come to symbolize his
recovery period.
Analysts have long suspected Castro of wielding considerable clout in
the political affairs of the country behind the scenes. He is still head
of the Communist Party, and writes in the state communist newspaper
Granma. His recent appearances have raised speculation that he will
assume a more public role after years in almost complete seclusion.
Most of his writings and themes have revolved around potential US-led
attacks against Iran and North Korea and the dire consequences for each
scenario. His reemergence in Cuba comes as President Raúl Castro
announced that government controls on small businesses will be scaled
back and as Cuba moves forward in its promise to release political
prisoners.
Conflicting emotions
Last week, the award-winning blogger Yoani Sanchez, a Cuban critical of
the government, wrote a column translated and published in The
Washington Post, saying that Castro's reappearance has generated
conflicting emotions.
"Many analysts have pointed out that the man who was known as the
Maximum Leader is hardly qualified to assess the innumerable problems in
his own country …," she wrote. "This pattern is familiar, with his
discussions of the world's environmental problems, the exhaustion of
capitalism as a system and, most recently, predictions of nuclear war.
Others see a veiled discontent in his apparent indifference toward
events in Cuba. Yet this thinking forgets the maxim: Even if he doesn't
censure, if Caesar does not applaud, things go badly. It is unthinkable
that Fidel Castro is unaware of the appetite for change that is
devouring the Cuban political class; it would be naive to believe that
he approves."
STORY: Meet Cuba's best-known Generation-Y blogger
His supporters seemed to care little about what he said Saturday,
putting their attention on the appearance itself. As he entered
Parliament, members called out in unison, "Long live Fidel!"
Castro spoke briefly and then sat next to Ricardo Alarcón, who is the
head of the Parliament. It was his first joint appearance with his
brother Raúl since the handover of power.
No comments:
Post a Comment