Fidel Castro, A Year Later, Still Missing from Public Life

Where has Fidel Castro gone? It has been nearly a year since the last time he was out in public and the news has been Castro free in quite some time. In fact, the last time his name was really in the news was when he failed to make it to his birthday festivities. Is this some sort of sign? May Castro finally be in the midst of transferring power of Cuba over to his youngest brother Raul. Well, though it is probably likely, no one still seems to no. Why? Fidel Castro has held onto such power for so long now and does not seem to want to let go of his grip on such a unique, controversial Communist country.

So when was the last time Fidel Castro was out and about? He made an appearance exactly one year ago this Thursday as he led about 100,000 Communist Party faithful in celebrating the successful attack on an army barracks, launching his revolution.

But since then, the 80-year old Fidel seems to be "M-I-A." How can a leader do this when he must take charge of the country? It is certainly much different than here in the United States. Castro tracks government affairs, as well as writes essays from an "undisclosed location." In sort of a semi-retirement, he is in no rush at all to continue to his previous lifestyle he blamed for his deteriorating conditions. In this cosy lifestyle that he now possesses, he often "forgets to eat and take his medicine" while spending hours watching Pan American games on television.

So why isn't Cuba changing if Castro is not in full charge like he used to be and Raul is now slowly having more charge over Cuba? While Americans all over including Washington and Miami hoped for rapid change in Cuba, that is not going to happen, atleast not yet. With Castro's youngest brother Raul leaving Cuba unchanged while Fidel rests, this leaves Fidel in no rush to come back and take over. The country is just the way that Fidel wants and pleases for it to be like.

What is there to look for if Raul takes over? It can only be for the better. Many of the Cubans believe that Fidel's younger brother is most certainly to undertake small changes in the centralized economy. All the Cubans can do is really wait and find out though. Raul had express interest in China's way of power. Cina's model included a state-dominated market economy with one-party political control. Raul has also backed foreign investment and limited private enterprise, which has done good for Cuba's economy earlier in such incidences as in the 1990's after the Soviet bloc collapsed.

So, all the Cubans can do is wait for the " Missing in Action" Fidel Caston to finally make up his mind.

Anita Snow, "Cuba: A year without Fidel" Associated Content.