THE WORD ON THE MALECON
The general feeling on the streets of Havana is that Castro is down for the count. No one will say exactly this, but if you form the question like, “when Castro returns, do you think [insert question]?,” They scoff, as if him returning is an unspoken, yet obviously far-fetched idea. They might come out and say this, but only in a comfortable situation. When pressed, they might say something like, “who knows, we will see.”
Raul extended an olive branch on December 2nd to open new talks with the US. His wording was one of those political buzz phrases that don’t sound like much, but carry a great deal of weight to people who understand them. Residents say things like, “Never before, in 50 years, has Castro said this, and now Raul is saying it.” There is something afoot. I personally feel that the Castro brothers have a plan, and that Fidel is not down for the count, but because of past history, has decided to lay low for a while. He must know that someone needs to solve this Cuba/US stale-mate – just walking the streets of Havana will tell you that – and he must recognize it would be an absolving swan song. Of course, he could be an anti-impirielista to the bone, and sick in bed with cancer and hatred, but Raul’s speech says differently. Two telling moves are that he didn’t show up to the Non-Aligned Summit, a gathering of the who’s who of US antagonists, and did not make a birthday appearance, allowing instead a slightly new guard, granted it’s his brother and fellow revolutionary, to make the offer.
The US State Department immediately rejected it.
Today a group of US congressmen arrive in Havana, though they said the timing of the visit has nothing to do with Raul’s gesture, and was planned beforehand.
Ed McWilliams, blogging live, Havana, Cuba.