Posted on 07/26/2007 9:40:26 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CAMAGUEY, Cuba - Raul Castro said Thursday that Cuba has avoided the collapse the U.S. predicted when his brother Fidel fell ill a year ago, and signaled he was willing to talk with a new American administration after President Bush leaves power.
The acting president said the island suffered "a hard blow" when Fidel relinquished power last year, but he focused more on the future while addressing tens of thousands of loyalists celebrating Cuba's Revolution Day.
"These have truly been difficult moments, although with a diametrically different impact than that expected by our enemies, who wished for chaos to take hold and for Cuban socialism to collapse," Raul Castro said. "Senior U.S. officials even made statements about taking advantage of this scenario to destroy the revolution."
Fidel, who turns 81 next month, addressed crowds in two cities last July 26, then disappeared from the public eye. He has not been seen publicly since, announcing five days later that he was ceding power to Raul after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.
Recuperating in an undisclosed location, Fidel has looked stronger in official photographs and videos, but is apparently still too sick to appear in public. In April, he began writing essays known as "Reflections of the Commander in Chief" every few days.
Cuba "could hardly even suspect what a hard blow was awaiting us" when his brother was last seen exactly a year ago, Raul told the crowd in this city of narrow colonial streets southeast of Havana.
"Despite our deep sorrow, no task was left undone," he said. "There is order in the country and a lot of work."
Washington's 45-year-old embargo prohibits U.S. tourists from visiting the island and chokes off nearly all trade between both countries. Raul called the Bush administration "erratic and dangerous," but said he would be open to discussing improved relations after a new president takes over following next year's elections.
"If the new United States authorities would finally desist from their arrogance and decide to converse in a civilized manner, it would be a welcome change," he said.
The younger Castro's government is still officially provisional but has begun to take on an air of permanence. In his essays, Fidel seems in little hurry to return to power although Raul suggested Thursday his brother still weighs in on key decisions.
"Not even during the most serious moments of his illness, did he fail to bring his wisdom and experience to each problem and essential decision," the acting president said.
With his characteristic frankness, Raul acknowledged Cuba suffers from numerous problems that require "structural changes" he did not detail. He singled out government salaries, which average about $16 a month and fail to cover basic needs, even in a communist society where food, rent, education and health care are heavily subsidized.
But he emphasized Cuba must increase production and reduce reliance on foreign imports, saying "no country has the luxury of spending more than it has."
Raul spoke for an hour without deviating from his prepared text, stopping only occasionally to acknowledge the crowd.
Camaguey, Cuba's third-largest city and the provincial capital of a major milk- and beef-producing region, was chosen to host this year's Revolution Day celebration because of its social and economic achievements. Tens of thousands of people, many wearing red T-shirts and waving miniature Cuban flags, filled the main plaza of red-tile paths and towering palm trees.
Other top leaders wished Fidel well and said he was at the event in spirit. Some in the crowd said it was more important for Fidel to get better than to give a lengthy speech.
"Raul converses well with the people and that gives us a special lift," said Gilberto Guerrero, a retired 74-year-old sugar cane worker who arrived before dawn. "There's so much happening in the world, but Raul speaks directly to the people of Cuba."
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Fidel, promised that he would continue the Cuban leader's decades-long fight against U.S. imperialism once the aging revolutionary icon has passed away.
"Fidel, I assume the commitment of continuing your struggle, your endless battle. I assume it. We, your children, assume it," said Chavez, a former paratroop commander who is steering Venezuela toward socialism.
The July 26, 1953 attack by the Castro brothers and a ragtag band on the Moncada army barracks in the eastern city of Santiago quickly degenerated into disaster. Many rebels were shot dead during the fighting or captured and slaughtered a short time later by Cuban forces.
But the revolutionary movement it gave birth to gained new strength and eventually toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista more than five years later.
Carlos Abreu, 65, a retired airport employee, was 18 when the revolution triumphed.
"There was so much happiness that day. But there was even more anticipation," he said. "They built a country for the poor, not for the rich. There are very few countries like that in the world."
Cuba's acting President Raul Castro delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 54th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution in Camaguey, Cuba, Thursday, July 26, 2007. Castro told tens of thousands of loyalists that the country suffered a serious blow when his brother Fidel fell ill a year ago, but that the chaos that the U.S. had long predicted never materialized. Below him is a depiction of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
Men walk past a billboard showing a cartoon of the Statue of Liberty at the Malecon area in Havana, Thursday, July 26, 2007. President Raul Castro said that Cuba has avoided the collapse that the U.S. predicted before his brother Fidel fell ill a year ago, and signaled he was willing to talk with a new American administration after President George W. Bush leaves power. (AP Photo/ Rodrigo Abd)
Come think of it Raul was gay brother right
OH BOY don’t ask don’t tell LOL!
Cuba's interim President Raul Castro gives a speech at the Revolution Square in Camaguey, 600 km east from Havana. Cuba on Thursday offered to hold talks with the United States -- an overture quickly rejected by Washington -- as the communist country marked its national holiday for the first time ever without ailing leader Fidel Castro.(AFP/Adalberto Roque)
excuse, me
cuba has been collapsing since 1959.
si.
Evil, has just gotten worse.
There have been millions of dirt poor immigrants to the US, but none take home $16.
I don’t remember hearing any such thing. Yes, Cuba collapsed long ago. Who in America predicted your collapsed? We were looking to help the Cubans out of that commie land....to help you regain your freedom.
"There is order in the country
As there usually is in police states that throw dissidents into concentration camps.
and a lot of work."
Yeah, building rafts.
"They built a country for the poor, not for the rich.
I agree completely. That's why Cuba is one of the most miserable places on earth, a place where parents have to pimp their 11-year old daughters out to the pedophiles of the world just so they can eat each month, where people gladly risk drowning rather than staying.
There are very few countries like that in the world."
For which I thank God.
Funny that all the anti-military leftist/socialist/ communist/ traitors/ hippie scum/ celebrities/ college professors, etc. in this country and the world that are so in love with Castro and his little (old) brother fail to notice that Castro, his brother and all the other glorious “leaders” of Cuba are always in military uniforms.
5.56mm
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