CUBA/USA: Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro remains absent from birthday celebration in Havana

Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro remained absent on Wednesday (November 29) from continued celebrations honoring the leftist leader's 80th birthday in Havana, Cuba. Wednesday's events featured roundtable discussions and gave the chance for many to express their concern for Castro's health as well as their gratitude for the revolutionary leader. A Cuban child named Osmany echoed the sentiments of many when he said he hoped Castro would overcome his illness. "He (Fidel Castro) is a truly a very, very special person and I hope keeps on living," the child said. One Cuban man said that people want to see Castro, who hasn't appeared in public since he underwent intestinal surgery in late July. "Everyone wants to see him. After seeing him, then we can draw conclusions," the man said. Castro also missed Tuesday night's opening gala. In a message read to 5,000 supporters and admirers from dozens of countries, Castro said that doctors had not allowed him to attend the packed event in Havana's Karl Marx theater. Andres Gomez, a Cuban American, said he too would like to see the ailing leader but that he thought it was positive he was following doctor's orders. "I would like to see him. I would like to see him well, well enough to be here. But if we don't (see him) it's that he's doing what the doctors say and that makes me feel good," Gomez said. Castro's birthday was Aug. 13, but he postponed celebrations after undergoing emergency surgery for an undisclosed illness that forced him to hand over power temporarily to his brother Raul in late July. At the roundtable discussions the united politicians, intellectuals, and journalists from around the world, Argentine artist Claudia Camba recognized the presence of Palestinian leader Nayef Hawatmen and called for international solidarity with country's struggle in the Middle East. "Amongst the delegates in the audience is our comrade Nayef Hawatmen, the Palestinian leader- all our solidarity to those dear people," Camba said. Hawatmen stood to receive the applause the participants and held his hands in the area in a gesture of victory and unity. Although most think Castro's absence at the this week's functions means his rule has come to end and his health situation is very poor, Pablo Guayasamin of the Guayasamin Foundation maintained hope that Castro would appear again. "We at the Guayasamín Foundation had expressed publicly that it was not important that the Castro be at these round tables, at these meetings in his honor. There will be an opportunity to see him, if it's tomorrow or in two months or three months, in the time that he considers sufficient," he said to the gathering. Hebe de Bonafini, one of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo - a group of women who have fought to find the identities of disappeared people during the dictatorship in Argentina - said Castro's health is another battle amongst many. "We won't accept that you are still sick.' As the people won't give in, because life comes first. You have won many battles and we have you as an example. Now the battle with your health," Bonafini said. The leftist firebrand who seized power in a 1959 revolution could still make a brief appearance at the closing event, a military parade in Havana's Revolution Square where workers are erecting an elevated platform. But, after the release on Oct. 28 of a video that showed a gaunt, shuffling Castro, many Cubans believe he is too old and too ill to resume governing. Whether or not Fidel Castro reappears in public, most Cuba watchers agree a successor government led by his brother and designated heir Raul is firmly in place. For four months, the low-key Raul Castro -- the world's longest serving defense minister -- has run the country with few speeches and less fanfare than his brother. Government sources say the acting president has been very active holding dozens of meetings, strengthening the ruling Communist Party and coming to grips with Cuba's economic problems. While the transition in Cuba has been smoother than most anticipated, many in the U.S. government had hoped Castro's illness would cause a major shake-up and mark the end of communism on the island. State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said the U.S. does not see the rise of Raul Castro as a positive move for the island nation. "That the creation of some sort of Castro dynasty simply by transferring power to Raul Castro and having him to continue to operate the same undemocratic, repressive policies as his brother, is certainly is not a solution that we think is viable," Casey said. Cuban officials have not disclosed Castro's illness, but have said repeatedly he is getting better and will run the government again.

ITN Source | November 30, 2006

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