Cuba's first family not immune to political rift

[Say_What]

<clips>

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro's family has not been immune to the political rift his left-wing rule has caused among Cubans since his 1959 revolution.

Castro's six sons live in Cuba and support their father's government from a second-row position, increasingly showing up at public events.

But other members of the family live abroad, from where they often make a living by spewing vitriol.

His daughter Alina Fernandez, who fled the island disguised as a Spanish tourist in 1993, is one of his fiercest critics in the exile bastion Miami where she hosts a radio talk show.

"Fidel has ruined Cuba. He has slaughtered its people and bankrupted the country. And for what? I don't think even he really knows," she said in a 2002 interview with The Times.

Two nephews of his first wife, Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, are Republican congressmen from Florida who have led the fight for tougher U.S. policies to rid Cuba of communism and a man they call a "totalitarian dictator."

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-08T155255Z_01_N08459_RTRUKOC_0_US-CUBA-CASTRO.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2


Dalia Soto del Valle, wife of Cuba's President Fidel Castro, attends May Day celebrations at Havana's Revolution Square in this May 1, 2004 file photo.

[INDIA]

1. "first family"????

First family implies the family of a democratically elected head of state. I think "ruling family" would be more accurate.

[heliarc]

5. You say that as if democracy had ever been a possibility...

on the island before Fidel. Since years before Fidel was even born the US has been propping up dictators on that island. At least they have their independance. Ani is a gusano that's just as bad as the rest of the gusanos in Miami. Batista's regime wasn't the bastion of freedom and democracy they're screaming it was.

[Say_What]

2. More pics of Fidel's family

Antonio Castro (L), son of Cuba's President Fidel Castro and an orthopedic surgeon and doctor on Cuba's national baseball team, talks to Higinio Velez, manager of the national baseball team, in Havana in this October 25, 2003 file photo.



Fidel Castro Diaz Balart, son of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, attends a meeting at the Convention Center in Havana in this February 11, 2005 file photo.




Ramon Castro, brother of Cuba's President Fidel Castro, applauds during the annual Expocuba event in Havana in this November 2, 2003 file photo.


A local police officer observes the area next to a poster that reads 'Long Live Fidel', Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006 in Havana. Cuba's allies urged the United States not to interfere with the communist country during Fidel Castro's absence from power, while the U.S. increased its televison transmissions to the island and encouraged anti-Castro activists to push for change. (AP Photo)


People attend a mass to pray for the recovery of Cuba's President Fidel Castro in Havana August 7, 2006. REUTERS/Enrique De La Osa (CUBA)


Dalia Soto del Valle, wife of Cuba's President Fidel Castro, attends May Day celebrations at Havana's Revolution Square in this May 1, 2004 file photo.

[robcon]

3. Take a page from North Korea...

Fidel = Great Leader

Raul = Dear Leader

[Say_What]

6. I just love

how you unravel at the mention of Fidel's name.

[Akim]

4. The Fighting Castros (Juana and Alina)

Fidel Castro's sister Juana Castro and his daughter Alina Fernández both reside in Miami. They are both virulently anti-Fidel and they both hate each other with a passion. For years, they have been suing each other in court over trivial family matters. Alina was recently hired by CNN as a commentator.

Fidel Castro y Diaz-Balart, Castro's oldest son, is the spitting image of his father.

[robinlynne]

7. Yes, he really looks like his father. Is he interested in being a politica

leader at all?

[Akim]

9. Fidelito

At one time Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who is nearly 60, was head of Cuba's Nuclear Energy Commission; but he has always been torn between the two sides of his family and lived his life between Cuba and Spain (where his mother Marta Diaz Balart, the aunt of Lincoln and Mario, resides).

If Raul had predeceased Fidel, however, Fidel Jr. might have been the logical successor. His very appearance would have been reassuring to the Cuban people.

[Say_What]

10. Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart has a Ph.D in nuclear physics

Here's an interview with him...

On edit: a link to a powerpoint presentation by Fidelito titled INTERFACE OF NUCLEAR
AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES. http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/PDFplus/2005/SF_Presentations05/Session3/Castro_05.pdf

<clips>

Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz Balart is one of Cuba's leading technocrats. He is adviser to several key Ministries connected with science and technology and has had a role in the strides made by the socialist country in S&T. Castro is a Ph.D in nuclear physics and has done advanced research in the field. He has been closely involved in Cuba's efforts to solve its energy problems and in its success in combating the U.S. sanctions and making his country virtually self-sufficient in energy. Dr. Castro is the son of the Cuban President, Fidel Castro.

Cuba's achievements in the field of biotechnology and medicine are well documented. The medical care an average Cuban gets is comparable to the best available in any developed country. Hundreds of Cuban doctors have been sent to less developed countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, at the request of the governments concerned (see `Cuban doctors to the rescue', Frontline, June 5, 1998). In the field of biotechnology, Cuba is a veritable superpower, ranking among the top six in the world.

Dr. Castro, who was in New Delhi in the last week of October, to attend an international conference, spoke to John Cherian. Excerpts from the interview.

What have been Cuba's notable advances in the field of medicine and science and technology?

In medicine, the biggest gain has been in medical care. In Cuba today, for every 167 people there is one medical doctor. The mortality rate is only 6.2 per cent. In all we have 64,000 medical doctors in Cuba today. The medical services are divided into three. The primary branch is devoted to the family. This is a pioneering experience under which all of the population is covered. This is the primary cell dealing with primary health care. It provides the foundation for the second level which comprises polyclinics and hospitals catering to the needs of the general public.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1923/stories/20021122000306500.htm

[Say_What]

8. How about Fidel's favorite nephews, the Ditzy-Balistic (Diaz-Balart)

brother. Now there's a pair that'll beat a full house any day. :bounce:

[Judi Lynn]

11. Their entire careers are built upon the Miami hate industry.

Once that embargo is gone, and the travel ban, they become just another couple of Cuban immigrants. Ah, ha ha ha ha ha ha.

It will be sublime watching them try to wield power without all that fury behind them as Americans start travelling back and forth to Cuba in great numbers, and discovering the great lie they and other right-wing fools have been holding in place all this time.

[Say_What]

12. The MiamiGusanos need Fidel. Without him the entire very lucrative

anti-Cuba industry that supports the corruption and corrupt pols dies. Without him, they're history. :smoke:

[Judi Lynn]

13. Within a year after the travel ban is lifted you may see Rep. Lincoln

Diaz Balart, his brother, Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, and their friend, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hard at work in their own Cuban sandwich shop!



Recipe for Cuban sandwiches!

http://icuban.com/food/cuban_sandwich.html

[Briar]

14. That's supposing

that the carpet baggers, looters, gangsters and neocons don't flood into Cuba and destroy it, world-class, free healthcare and all. Everytime a nation is "liberated" it is destroyed. I am very afraid for Cuba.

Great article about the way Cuba's gree revolution here:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1217550.ece

It's beautiful - but it won't survive the arrival of Wal-Mart.