Word: castro
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...Castro is an introspective man, he keeps his reflections on all this private. Even those who know him well shake their head and say, "Ask Fidel," when questioned about his mood these days. Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People's Power and an intimate of the Comandante's, insists that he is "very happy," but that seemed to refer mainly to his "victory" in the Jan. 11 National Assembly elections, where only one candidate designated by the party could run for each seat...
...friend who has known Castro since their university days, film-institute president Alfredo Guevara, describes Fidel as obsessed. His friend was always a volcano "that sometimes does harm but sometimes fertilizes the soil." For 40 years he has obsessed--Guevara keeps using the word--over the "consummation of the revolution that we know has not been fully achieved." Yet Fidel is intensely proud that he has again defied world predictions of his imminent demise, as satisfying a triumph to him as any that went before...
...Castro has always said, "Revolutionaries never retire," but he has been planning for the inevitable "biological transition" that will bring a new leader to that book-lined office. His brother Raul remains the designated successor. But starting perhaps half a decade ago, he began systematically replacing old revolutionary comrades in the government with young, educated technocrats. Today many party leaders, National Assembly members and Fidel's own top advisers are under 40, a form of insurance that dedicated followers of his ideals are prepared to carry on his revolutionary mission...
...modest religious revival is under way in Castro's Cuba. Catholic Church attendance, baptisms, confirmations, religious weddings and funerals are all on the rise. In this traditionally Catholic nation, almost equal numbers attend Catholic Mass or evangelical services, and the religion with the most adherents of all--perhaps half the population--is the Afro-Cuban rite of Santeria. Its babalaos (spiritual guides) far exceed the Catholic priests in influence, but its home-based, loose network of competing sects poses no political threat. Economic hardship is a powerful motivator: many of those new congregants of all faiths are searching for material...
...Fidel Castro has always been a redoubtable tactician, adept at sensing the public temper and clever at catching up with the times. He is also ready to "correct the errors we made in correcting our errors," as he once put it, when it suits his purposes. National unity is a precious component of his authority, and so he will tack when necessary to preserve it. "Fidel wants to authorize what people are already doing spontaneously," says Raul Rivero, a poet and independent journalist. It's like the dollar. When the black market in American currency grew too strong, Castro...