Rumors about his health, a taboo subject, swirl regularly.
Rather than avoid the subject, Castro faces it head-on. He insists the Revolution will live on without him. And a few months back he stressed that "my destiny was not to come into the world to rest at the end of my life."
"You have to have passions and dreams," he (Castro) said recently, but "life has inexorable laws." He promised to stay on as president "until nature itself decides, not a minute less and not a second longer."
That could sum up the sad state of the entire country. Those with passions and dreams are usually imprisoned while he lives off the fat of the land.
But this ideal society concept does not mesh with a complicated and crumbling reality. After 40 years of communism, more than 11 million Cubans do not have their basic needs met.
Housing shortages hit crisis levels years ago. Insufficient subsidized food supplies, combined with low salaries that make purchasing nonsubsidized food prohibitive for most, are dawn-to-dusk frustrations for millions.
Limits on personal freedoms also take their toll, and these are just the beginning of problems facing Cuba's revolution.
The economy is limping, as a tough US economic embargo, combined with a rigid communist bureaucracy here, less tourism and sliding international prices for top export sectors sugar and nickel, have slammed the brakes on growth.
Somehow I don't think Castro's lifestyle has changed any.
No comments:
Post a Comment