Cuba's Castro taking back reins of government: Chavez

Source: Brisbane Times

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has taken back a large part of the reins of government and has almost totally recovered eight months after surgery, his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday.

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"He has taken back a good part of government functions, but, of course, not formally," he said, adding he had met late Thursday with Cuban officials who had given him a written note from Castro.

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In another update on Castro's recovery, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Friday his boss was putting on weight, exercising, keeping himself informed on world affairs and taking part in the decision-making process.

Read more: http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/cubas-castro-taking-back-reins-of-government-chavez/20071414-7gq.html

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So much for John Negroponte's prediction, made last year, that Mr Castro had weeks not months to live. :rofl:

Fidel will live to see this cabal- responsible for the Bay of Pigs, multiple assaination attempts and other dirty tricks- exposed, shamed, prosecuted and kicked to the curb.

Good thing most buildings are only three stories.

:applause: :rofl: Guess they will not need a stadium to celebrate!!!

I was sure he would recover and probably will live another 20 years!

However, I do wish he would retire and let the government move on. As you know, I love Cuba but would like to see more progress so my friends there can live better.

Besides, he's past 80 years old - time to retire!!

Just how is Mr F Castro preventing the Cuban government, by himself, from 'moving on'?

:hi:

this country could move on towards peace if GW weren't in charge. The person in the front sets the pace for everyone else behind. Castro has done some good things for Cuba, which U.S. chooses to ignore (thanks to Miami exiles!).

On the other hand, he is still living the "revolution" - while the rest of the world has moved on. Cuban government has transited peacefully which gusanos and State Dept. always claimed could never happen.

And who's been terrorizing whom for the last 40 years?

Do you know that, years ago, the US asked Mexico to tell its citizens that Cuba was a national security threat to their country. Mexico's response was "if we did that, 40 million Mexicans would die from laughter." Yet that's the way the US treats Cuba. And it's not Castro's fault.

The worst thing Cuba has done is proving that state ownership of the means of production can deliver a decent life for people. And for that, the US tries to make their economy scream and carries out and condones acts of terrorism.

or they wouldn't be trying to get to the US

.. via the Cuban Adjustment Act.

But still, more people come from other Latin American countries to the US than do Cubans even though they have no such Adjustment Act that Cubans do. So, its a hard argument to make that Cubans are fleeing Cuba for political reasons more than economic reasons (and freebies provided by the taxpayers of the USA).

a decent life (the post I responded to) is exaggerated at best.

And what does it say about Cuba that so many of those Cubans you're talking about are trying to get back into Cuba...to blow up hotels and airliners and shoot up tourist towns and fishing villages?

how many Cubans are in Florida or the rest of the US for that matter?

Ask the 12 million Mexicans who have come to the US.

well those 12 million Mexicans don't have to worry about their government trying to prevent them from leaving now do they? if Mexico became socialist/communist like Cuba, Mexicans would still come to the US to earn money.

You can do a google search to see for yourself.

How the hell does Chavez get away with announcing Castro's health, while the Cuban press is silent?

Strange country. Stalinist to the core.

...it was pretty obvious that the newsworthiness of this story to the neoliberals was that it gives them an opportunity to associate Chavez with Castro.

:rofl:

Strange post. Underinformed to the core.

Oh I forgot, your free country won't let you go there. Go anyway. It is worth a good look.

and love it!

However my friends there, including a professor at U of Havana, are living in what would be called poverty here. Most of them do not have cars or many other modern conveniences.

That is not to say that Cuba is not better than most other Latin countries. Cuba has no homelessness and no street kids. School is free and mandatory. Literacy is almost 100% and health care is free.

The last time I was there in late 90's, the situation was improving greatly and I hope it still is. However it has a long way to go, and the U.S. (as stupid and outdated as the embargo and travel ban against Americans is) is not totally to blame for that.

Believe me, if Americans could retire there without losing their social security, lots of us would be living there now!

Nicaragua under the Sandanistas before the US began to intervene went from, basically, last to almost first on every measure of quality of life. And then the US decided to make the economy scream. And they destroyed the country.

Would you have said the US wasn't entirely to blame there? We were entirely to blame.

The US policy towards Cuba is just as criminally insane.

:hi:

No homeless. No street kids. 100% literacy. Universal free ed. Universal health care. BUT STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO.

By your account of the situation in Cuba (that I concur with), the US has an even longer way to go. Is the US not totally to blame for that?

I'm interested to know what you think that Cuba needs to do to improve the situation for all Cubans.

encumbered with babies like throughout the rest of Latin America. One good result of the economic embargo is the lack of commercialism. Instead of millions of people doing meaningless jobs like convenience store clerk, the work in Cuba is meaningful. They are working on getting class size to 15 instead of 20. Teachers have aides.
The U.S. has a long way to go to eliminate homelessness and free people from worrying where they will get health care.
This summer is a good time to go to Cuba. Disobey an unjust law and go with Pastors for Peace. www.ifconews.org

each year, spending personal time with them, and getting to know the entire family, and his/her home environement, building a sense of community.

That seems absolutely amazing.

Combining a sense of familiarity and partnership with the parents, and very small classes is wonderful.

Some of us are members of professional groups regulated by state/federal boards and licensing associations (the AMA, ADA, FDA, etc.). By violating the travel ban, and getting busted for doing so, we could lose our licenses and our capacity to practice our profession (make a living).

Sad, unjust, unfair, but a reality that must be considered.

Going to Cuba is a civil violation, not a criminal one. If they come after me, I will request an administrative hearing, which the government does not want. They want us to cower and pay a fine. Kathy Kelly et al defied the Iraq sanctions and they are still free and refuse to pay a dime to the war criminals.
Besides you can go discreetly and risk nothing.