Ailing Castro Takes Comfort in Chavez Victory
Dec. 5, 2006 — -- Cuban President Fidel Castro was too ill to attend his 80th birthday party and a military parade on Saturday, but he no doubt took comfort in Sunday's landslide re-election of friend and ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Castro's designated revolutionary successor in Latin America will now govern for six more years, guaranteeing political and economic support for the Communist-run Caribbean island as a new leadership takes shape.
After missing last week's birthday events, Castro also failed to meet individually with visitors such as Bolivian President Evo Morales, sparking new speculation that his health had deteriorated and discussion about what would happen in Cuba when he died.
When Castro made the stunning announcement July 31 that he had undergone emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding and provisionally handed power to younger brother and Cuban Defense Minister Raul Castro, the world may have been just as surprised by the absolute calm that followed.
There were no riots, no uprising, no mass exodus or Cuban-Americans taking to their boats to rescue relatives caught in a potentially bloody fight for power.
There was no conflict with the United States. Raul Castro managed to make a smooth transition to power, and Cubans went about their daily lives as if nothing unusual had occurred.
Cuban-Venezuelan Synergy
What exactly ails Castro -- and even where the bearded iconic figure is recovering -- are carefully guarded secrets.
Nevertheless, the calm has continued and most likely will for quite some time.
Cuba is in better economic shape and less isolated than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union left it bankrupt and near collapse in the early 1990s. And it may stay that way for a while.
"I suspect that as Fidel weakens and approaches death more help and assistance from Venezuela will be forthcoming," said Frank Mora, a Cuba expert at the National War College in Washington, D.C.
"Chavez sees it as his obligation and promise to Fidel not to allow the Revolution to collapse after Fidel is gone," Mora said.
Since Chavez came to power in 1998, his oil-rich country and Cuba have formed a unique synergy with Cuba providing tens of thousands of doctors and other professionals in exchange for oil and money.
Chavez vowed to strengthen this synergy in his victory speech Sunday.
Chavez received an instant free health-care system from Cuba and was able to keep his promise to teach every citizen to read and write, ensuring future electoral victories.
Cuba, desperate for oil and cash, got both in return.
Now Venezuela is using its vast oil wealth and Cuba is using its abundance of doctors and teachers to push their vision of a rebellious and united Latin America that seeks social justice and is able to stand up to the United States -- again something Chavez pledged to continue on Sunday.
Hope, Not Chaos, in Cuba
Already, U.S. allies in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua have lost at the polls to men who blame the United States for the region's poverty and favor a closer relationship with Venezuela and Cuba, and their proposed model of local integration versus a U.S.-centered free trade pact.
Venezuela provides the financing and Cuba the professionals to jump-start each new leader's social programs, using the same model followed in Venezuela these last eight years.
In the process, Cuban service revenues, not including tourism, have gone from $1.5 billion in 2004 to more than $4 billion this year.
Most other Caribbean and Latin American countries, though more moderate, are under increasing domestic pressure to meet basic social needs.
They also favor a regional integration that includes Cuba, as it increasingly provides them with services and educates their youth to become health and other types of professionals.
The steady oil supply and billions in revenues from the export of professional services are fueling an economic boom in Cuba after more than a decade of crisis.
The lights are back on in Cuba, transportation is gradually improving, new housing is being built, and there is more food on the table.
Most of all, there is more hope for the future.
It comes just in time, as there is little doubt Fidel Castro will die before Chavez's new term is up.
Hope, Not Chaos, in Cuba
Already, U.S. allies in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua have lost at the polls to men who blame the United States for the region's poverty and favor a closer relationship with Venezuela and Cuba, and their proposed model of local integration versus a U.S.-centered free trade pact.
Venezuela provides the financing and Cuba the professionals to jump-start each new leader's social programs, using the same model followed in Venezuela these last eight years.
In the process, Cuban service revenues, not including tourism, have gone from $1.5 billion in 2004 to more than $4 billion this year.
Most other Caribbean and Latin American countries, though more moderate, are under increasing domestic pressure to meet basic social needs.
They also favor a regional integration that includes Cuba, as it increasingly provides them with services and educates their youth to become health and other types of professionals.
The steady oil supply and billions in revenues from the export of professional services are fueling an economic boom in Cuba after more than a decade of crisis.
The lights are back on in Cuba, transportation is gradually improving, new housing is being built, and there is more food on the table.
Most of all, there is more hope for the future.
It comes just in time, as there is little doubt Fidel Castro will die before Chavez's new term is up.