Cablegate: Media Reaction - Cuba: Castro Transition
VZCZCXYZ0043
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHSG #1684 2191811
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071811Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9741
INFO RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0036
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001684
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, WHA/CCA
STATE FOR INR/IAA, PM, INL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR PHUM PGOV CI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - CUBA: CASTRO TRANSITION
1. On August 7, business and financial daily "Diario Financiero"
(circ 20,000) carried a column by international commentator Libardo
Buitrago entitled, "Fidel: Succession or Transition." Quote:
"Fidel's announcement last week is the key to what could be the
island's political future.... By delegating tasks...to the closest,
most ideologically conservative and toughest advisors of the Cuban
Communist Party (CCP)...Fidel has transferred his legitimacy as the
architect of the Cuban Revolution to the institutional framework of
the CCP...and by allowing the transition to occur without dissension
over leadership.... Cuba has begun an internal transition. We have
yet to see the real impact that this will have once the current
leader is no longer alive, and the post-Fidel era begins, whereby
other actors will come into play, such as the dissidents and Cuban
exiles. But as long as Fidel is officially alive, the Cuban
Revolution that he embodies will live on. After that, it is an
entirely different ball game."
2. On August 5, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record "El
Mercurio" (circ., 116,807) weekly round-up column, "The Cuban
Revolution Will No Longer Be the Same." Quote:
"Cuba is in a good position to begin moving toward a democratic
political system and a free economy.... All the theories about the
end of the Castro era are now in debate: whether the transition must
come from within the island, whether the exiles in Miami have the
power to speed up the fall of Communism, whether Washington's plan
to support Cubans will be effective, and whether the European Union
and other international actors must play a role in the process. But
even if Fidel recovers, it is possible that the Cuban revolution
will no longer be the same."
KELLY