VARIOUS: Cuba says peaceful succession in underway

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday (August 7) that Cubans on the communist-ruled island should decide the future of Cuba once President Fidel Castro passes from the scene and not Cuban exiles in the United States. Bush, at a news conference at his Texas ranch, said he knew little about Castro's condition because Cuba "is not a very transparent society." "The only thing I know is what is speculated and that is that on the one hand he's very ill, on the other hand he's coming out of the hospital. I don't know. I really don't know," Bush told reporters. Meanwhile in Bogota, Colombia, Cuban vice president Carlos Lage, on an official visit to attend Colombian president Alvaro Uribe's second inauguration said Fidel Castro is "making favourable progress and we are sure that he will recuperate as he said and in a few weeks he will get back to work." In Havana, Cuban officials mocked opponents who had hoped that unrest would erupt in the Communist-ruled nation following the hospitalisation of veteran leader Fidel Castro. A member of the Cuba's state council said a peaceful transfer of power to Castro's younger brother had begun. "All those who have been dreaming ... that something terrible would happen in Cuba, that people would take to the streets, that there would be great instability, the door slammed on them," National Assembly head Ricardo Alarcon said. A leading intellectual and Cuban government member said the country had set in motion a "peaceful succession" -- the first official to use the word succession. It was not clear whether his use of the term implied that Castro's handover of power to his brother Raul will turn out to be permanent. Roberto Fernandez Retamar, a writer and member of the Council of State, said the U.S. government had expected chaos after Castro handed over power to his brother. "They had not expected that a peaceful succession was possible. A peaceful succession has taken place in Cuba," he told a news conference. Analysts agree there has been a succession of power in Cuba and although Fidel Castro may return to power, many feel his functions will be diminished. "I think power has passed to the hands of Raul even though Fidel is very ill and even if he comes back, Raul will remain in control. I don't think Fidel will resume all the functions that he had before, in effect, power has passed into the hands of Raul," said Director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, Jaime Suchlicki. Fidel Castro remained convalescing out of sight on Monday, one week after surgery for internal bleeding forced him to put Raul Castro provisionally in charge of the island he has dominated for 47 years. Senior officials have in the past few days assured Cubans that Castro, who is due to turn 80 next Sunday, is on the road to recovery. Cubans in the island remain hopeful and wish their leader a speedy recovery, though they are prepared for anything. "What we all want is for him to recover, but well, as with all of these things, he is in a medical process, anything can happen. But well, we are prepared for everything that could happen," said Cuban resident Jose Chiviano. The news of his illness last Monday stunned the nation of 11 million people and prompted heated speculation in Cuba, in the exile bastion of Miami, and beyond over Cuba's future political course. Many Cuban exiles claim property on the island that they lost when Castro swept to power in 1959. The departure of Castro from power has long been a U.S. policy goal, but the Bush administration has been cautious since word of the 79-year-old leader's illness surfaced a week ago. Washington, which keeps a tight embargo on Cuba, has urged Cubans on the island and exiles living in south Florida not to begin a mass migration spurred by uncertainty over Castro's health.

ITN Source | August 8, 2006

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