Posted on 08/08/2006 6:59:05 AM PDT by Lukasz
HAVANA (AP) - Leftist intellectuals and human rights activists from around the world pleaded with the United States on Monday not to interfere with Cuba while Fidel Castro recovers from intestinal surgery.
Many of the 400 signers of the open letter are from Latin America, and numerous Nobel Peace laureates are listed, such as former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and activist Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala.
Announcing the letter at a news conference, leading Cuban writer Roberto Fernandez Retamar said Cubans are convinced that Castro's handover of power to his younger brother and defence minister, Raul Castro, is only temporary.
"In a few months, we'll have him back with us," Retamar said.
That optimistic assessment has been reinforced by statements from Fidel Castro's inner circle and Latin American allies, who say the Cuban leader is recovering well from surgery for internal bleeding.
Cubans were told most details of his health would be kept "a state secret" to prevent enemies from taking advantage of his condition. Indeed, officials haven't said precisely what ails Castro or what surgical procedure he underwent.
U.S. President George W. Bush said the United States remains in the dark about the illness, but he didn't miss the chance to motivate anti-Castro activists to push for change.
"The only thing I know is what has been speculated, and this is that, on the one hand, he is very ill and, on the other hand, he is going to be coming out of hospital," Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "Our desire is for the Cuban people to choose their own form of government."
On Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied the United States is contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Castro's illness but said the U.S. wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy.
"The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba, because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched," Rice said. "The United States wants to be a partner and a friend to the Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one dictator by another."
The Castro brothers have been out of sight since the July 31 announcement on state television that Fidel had undergone surgery and was temporarily ceding power to Raul. Meanwhile, the government has tried to promote a sense of normalcy, an image Retamar fostered Monday.
"Fidel is not at the helm of Cuba and there has been no chaos to overpower the Cuban people," the writer said
A growing number of Cuban officials and Castro allies have come forward, meanwhile, to say he will return soon.
"In a few weeks, he'll be recovered and he'll return to his duties," Vice-President Carlos Lage said Sunday, shooting down reports that Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, had stomach cancer.
"The operation that he underwent was successful and he is recovering favourably," Lage said. "Fidel's going to be around for another 80 years."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Castro was out of bed, talking, and even watching Chavez's talk show.
"How are you, Fidel?" Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We have reliable information of your quick and notable recuperation."
"Fidel Castro, a hug for you, friend and comrade, and I know you are getting better," Chavez said.
Chavez also called Evo Morales on Sunday's program, telling the Bolivian president that Castro was bouncing back quickly.
Morales, who said he considers Castro to be like an "older brother," responded that he's glad the Cuban leader is recovering and looks forward to his rejoining "the battle of his country."
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he looks forward to seeing Castro at a Sept. 11-16 meeting of developing countries in Cuba. Malaysia has held the rotating chairmanship of the 116-member Nonaligned Movement since 2003, and is to hand over the reins to Cuba at the meeting.
From Managua, former Sandinista rebel commander Tomas Borge praised the choice of Raul as "the most suitable person" for provisional president, Cuba's Prensa Latina news agency said.
Former Nicaraguan president and Sandinista revolution leader Daniel Ortega arrived in Havana late Saturday. "I am sure that we will soon have Fidel resuming his functions and leading his people," he said.
The Communist party daily Granma on Monday compared Castro to a caguairan, a tropical hardwood tree found in eastern Cuba where he was born. The tree "is incorruptible, compact, of extraordinary hardness," the newspaper said. "This has produced a peaceful succession."
But a liter of castor oil can only help the bearded one.
Dog bites man!!???
With Iraq, N Korea, Iran, Syria, the Israeli conflict going on, seems Cuba is thinking too much of itself to me.
What have they been doing – Cuba, Haiti, Sudan, Korea, Burundi, Tibet etc. etc. Activism for activists sake - hundreds of organizations led by the United Nations and little to show for stopping human suffering, slave trade, starvation................
Something about this makes me love it that they fear what the US may or may not do.
The U.S. and its individual citizens will interfere with Cuban politics just as much as Russia has interfered with Ukrainian Politics.
Signed,
Capitalist Pig
The U.S. and its individual citizens will interfere with Cuban politics just as much as Russia has interfered with Ukrainian Politics.
Signed,
Capitalist Pig
Castro has established thermodynamic equilibrium with his environment.
[Leftist intellectuals and human rights activists from around the world]> i.e.- Fascists fools and angry perverts, liars, and thieves united against reasonable men and their God given rights to freedom of speech, religion, honest discourse, and the right to own private property; a.k.a.- communists.
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