CUBA: Raul Castro gives interview to Cuban newspaper saying Fidel is recovering well

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering gradually, said acting President Raul Castro in an interview published on Friday (August 18, 2006), in his first statements since he took over from his ailing brother last month. The interview was published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, and flagged as containing "Important statements from Raul." The younger Castro said he mobilized Cuba's armed forces and tens of thousands of reservists to face the threat of a U.S. invasion in the crucial hours after his brother's illness was announced. He also blasted U.S. President George W. Bush's plans for a post-Castro Cuba. Washington has assured Cubans it has no plans to invade. And as ordinary Cubans read statements assuring them that no enemy would be able to destroy them, locals like Jorge Quintana said they believed the US would have been hoping to take advantage of Fidel's illness. "Logically I think that you could see this coming, because the enemy on that side (the US), they're crazy, stupid people and maybe with the Commandante's (Fidel's) illness they said 'Now is the moment that they're going to start, as we peasants say, throwing punches at each other (meaning, fighting among themselves)," he said. Others, like Luminas Lopez, said it was important to be ready for any attack, to avoid being caught unprepared. "One has to be attentive and ready because we don't know here, really, there could be a problem, and if it takes you unawares, imagine! You have to be attentive and alert," she said. Cuba announced on July 31 that Fidel Castro, who turned 80 on Sunday, underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding and had delegated the presidency, supreme command of the armed forces and leadership of the Communist Party provisionally to his brother Raul, the defence minister and designated successor. The 75-year-old Raul said his brother's improvement had been progressive, and that Fidel Castro's physical and mental strength have helped his recovery. Raul Castro said there had been an outpouring of support from Cubans for the government. His appointment had sparked speculation that Fidel Castro's 47-year rule in one of the world's last communist bastions, just 90 miles (145 km) from the southern tip of Florida, might be ending. Rumours were fuelled when neither Raul nor Fidel Castro appeared in public until pictures and video were released two weeks later. Raul said many of his activities as defence minister were best kept out of the public light. He added that he was gratified by international support for the Cuban government and expressed scorn for those who had expected chaos, particularly in arch-enemy the United States. He said Cuba has been and will continue to be open to talks with the United States to try to improve bitter relations that were formally broken off in 1961. That, however, required respect for Cuban sovereignty as a precondition, he said. Bush last month stepped up pressure for a transition to multiparty democracy in Cuba, approving an additional $80 million in funding for Castro's opponents and anti-Castro TV and Radio Marti. Cuba has been under U.S. sanctions since a few years after Castro came to power in his 1959 revolution. Raul Castro said the calm and discipline of the Cuban people reminded him of the country's response during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a tense 13-day standoff between Washington and Moscow over Soviet missiles deployed in Cuba. He said U.S. efforts to speed up a transition to democracy in Cuba would get nowhere and warned that "millions and millions" of Cubans were prepared to defend their country against U.S. intervention "rifle in hand." In addition, he said Washington was wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer's money. Few people in Cuba appear to get TV or Radio Marti because of government jamming.

ITN Source | August 19, 2006

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