Cuba settles to more of rule, less of Castro on TV
The most visible change in Cuba since an ailing Fidel Castro handed power to his brother is that there are fewer speeches, but a discreet transfer from personal to institutional rule is underway, led by acting president Raul Castro, Cuba experts s...
By Agencies |
HAVANA: The most visible change in Cuba since an ailing Fidel Castro handed power to his brother is that there are fewer speeches, but a discreet transfer from personal to institutional rule is underway, led by acting president Raul Castro, Cuba experts say.
Cubans, accustomed to knowing only what they are told about the inner workings of the government, have gone about life calmly despite a lack of news about the future since Castro relinquished power on July 31 due to emergency surgery.
“Nothing has changed since Fidel’s illness. The only difference is that there are no more speeches on television,” said Julio Cesar, a 36-year-old construction worker.
Fidel Castro has not been seen or heard of since his 80th birthday on August 13 when video images showed the frail-looking leader in bed after surgery to stop intestinal bleeding.
“They say the brother could change things, but up to now all I see is more policemen on the streets,” said Cesar. But more than that is going on, said Western diplomats. The succession, now underway, was planned months ago when steps were taken to bolster the Communist Party by reviving a defunct secretariat, they said.
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“The institutionalisation of the use of power has begun to replace personal rule,” said a European diplomat. “There is a new dynamic and new players to watch.” Top government members, Vice-president Carlos Lage and health minister Jose Ramon Balaguer, a communist stalwart, have taken on a more visible public role. Lage, who is expected to represent Cuba at the UN General Assembly in September, led a campaign this week to eradicate the mosquito that carries dengue fever, a job Castro would have normally done.
Balaguer, who was entrusted by Fidel Castro with one of his pet projects — the export of Cuban doctors and medical services to Third World countries — last week presided over the graduation of medical students.
The uncharismatic Raul Castro, 75, who as defence minister already runs Cuba’s most efficient institution — the armed forces — is a pragmatic organiser and good talent spotter who will govern through a team, western diplomats and experts say. He will rely more than his brother, who brushed institutions aside, on the 800,000-member Communist Party, they say.
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