Castro brothers silent at revolution ceremony

[Jimmy2]

For the first time since 1959, neither Castro brother spoke at the annual 26th of July celebration, which marks the start of the Cuban revolution.

Cuba's 26th of July ceremony turned into a bucket of cold water Monday for those hoping for change, with Raúl Castro remaining silent despite expectations he would announce reforms needed to ease a withering economic crisis.

Castro may be waiting to announce the reforms later this year, or perhaps there's truth to reports making the rounds in Havana that he's run into stiff opposition to the changes, analysts said.

Many Cubans had expected important news to emerge from the annual celebration of the country's main holiday, anything from word on the reforms to an appearance by Fidel Castro, who was seen in public six times in the last two weeks after four years out of the limelight.

FIDEL'S A NO-SHOW

But the 83-year-old Fidel did not show up and Raúl participated only in handing out awards to Cubans who distinguished themselves in the past year. It was the first time since 1959 that neither Castro brother had addressed the July 26 celebrations.

Perhaps Raúl just wanted to avoid domestic issues on a day that was to focus on Cuba's alliance with Venezuela, said Phil Peters, a Cuba analyst at the Lexington Institute in suburban Washington. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez canceled his appearance at the last minute amid a diplomatic conflict with neighboring Colombia.

But other Cuba-watchers saw more ominous signals in Castro's silence.

``Raúl didn't speak because he doesn't have in hand the reforms that everyone had been betting on,'' said Miami analyst and historian Alvaro Alba. ``The message was clear: There are no reforms.''

Dissident Oscar Espinosa Chepe told El Nuevo Herald by phone from Havana that Castro's silence could be a ``more-than-alarming signal that some maneuvering against the changes is going on. There's a lot of talk here that there are very strong arguments within the government.''

And one Cuban exile who strongly opposes U.S. sanctions and recently visited Havana said friends in high government positions told him there were ``rumblings of differences'' within the government. He asked for anonymity to protect his friends.

The Havana friends, he added, were especially abuzz over the last line in a Fidel Castro column, or ``reflection,'' dated July 4: ``Unfortunately, I have nothing to correct, and I take full responsibility for what I have written in recent reflections.''

While the column was about Fidel's so-far erroneous predictions of nuclear war in Iran and North Korea, his friends believe Fidel was also criticizing his brother and others who blame him for Cuba's economic chaos, the exile said.

Chepe added, however, that Raúl Castro could well be saving the announcement of the economic reforms for a later time.

Havana is rife with unofficial reports that Castro will call a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party later this year to give its seal of approval to changes, he said.

``Raúl appears to be be waiting for the right time, between the (legislative) National Assembly session next month and before the next session in December,'' said Domingo Amuchástegui, a former Cuban intelligence analyst who lives in Miami.

Cuba's state media reported 90,000 people attended Monday's celebration in the central city of Santa Clara on the anniversary of Fidel Castro's failed 1953 attack on the Moncada army barracks, regarded as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.

First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura, who delivered the keynote speech, acknowledged Cuba needs economic reforms, saying, ``In this historic moment, we will change everything that needs to be changed.''

NO QUICK FIXES

But he held out little hope the changes would come with the swiftness required by the island's worst economic crisis since the early 1990s.

``We will continue with a sense of responsibility, step by step, at the speed which we will determine, without improvisations or haste,'' he said.

Machado also lashed out at the U.S. government for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other issues, and said Fidel Castro's ``visible recuperation'' from the health crisis that forced him to hand over some of his powers in 2006 sparked ``deep joy among Cuban revolutionaries.''

He made no mention of Raúl Castro's promise to free 52 political prisoners -- 20 who already have been released and flown to Spain -- or his unprecedented talks with the Cuban Catholic church.

Castro later Monday addressed the closing session of a meeting between Cuban and Venezuelan officials, and said Havana would back Chávez in any conflict with Colombia or Washington over allegations that Venezuela is harboring Colombian guerrillas.

``We strive for peace and harmony . . . but . . . let no one have the least doubt on which side Cuba will stand,'' Castro declared, according to reports.

[tjhernandez34]

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