The Bush administration and the Cuban right-wing in Miami are celebrating the political demise of Fidel Castro. They may be in for a surprise, writes Faiza Rady Following stomach surgery last Monday, Cuban President Fidel Castro is convalescing and doing just fine, reported Speaker of Parliament Ricardo Alarcon. "He is perfectly conscious, very good speech as always," said Alarcon. Castro himself sent a message "to the people of Cuba and to friends all over the world", saying that he felt "in good spirits". In reference to the Bush administration's plans to speed up "regime change" on the island, Castro cautioned his compatriots about "the specific situation facing Cuba". Until Castro recovers, his younger brother, Vice President Raul Castro, will take over the presidency, as well as the command of the armed forces. Political allies and close personal friends, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales wished Castro a speedy recovery. "With all our heart we hope he recovers as quickly as possible," said Chavez from Hanoi, where he was on a state visit. Meanwhile, the Cuban right-wing in Miami's Little Havana rejoiced, prematurely celebrating Fidel's political demise. However, more relevant than the uncouth street celebrations are United States President George W Bush's calls, urging the Cuban people to work for "democratic change". According to the Bush administration's designs for Cuba, the US will assist the island's 'transition to democracy' through the so-called Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. In tandem with the US president, the Miami-based right-wing Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) -- a major contributor to Bush's presidential campaigns -- has urged "civilian and military uprisings and are inviting the Cuban army to stage a coup," reported the Cuban daily Granma. Co-chaired by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Commerce Secretary Carlos M Guiterrez, the commission launched a 95-page report, outlining its 'transition to democracy' strategy on 10 July. Less verbose than the commission's first 450-page report, issued in 2004, this year's publication dishes out more of the same -- if only on a grander, more ambitious scale. Among other things, the plan includes further tightening of the screws on the blockade. Foreign banks will henceforth pay stiffer fines for their transactions with Cuba, foreign governments will face severer sanctions for trading with the island, and US citizens will be slapped with ever-tightening travel and hard currency transfer restrictions. Considering the rising inflation index since 2004, the plan to destabilise Cuba comes at a slightly higher price tag to US tax payers this year -- thus the commission's budget was increased from $59 million to $80 million. A good chunk of the money will be invested in salaries, stipends and other fringe benefits. So-called 'dissidents' on the CIA pay-roll, or 'mercenaries' as the Cubans prefer to call them, have to be bankrolled. Then there are newly-created high-level US government jobs, requiring additional funds. Take the new post of 'transition coordinator', manned by Caleb McCarry, who has been occupying a posh office at the US State Department since last year. His is a crucial job. His task is to effectively facilitate "post-Castro regime change", to use Bush administration parlance. Yet even leading Cuban mercenaries, like Oswaldo Paya, dismiss unilateral top-down US plans. "We do not accept transition programmes made outside of Cuba," says Paya, who may very well have coveted the cushy job of 'transition coordinator' for himself. Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, expressed the same thought, if from a more regional Latin American perspective. "But there is no transition," he said, when the Bush administration announced the creation of the post, "and it isn't your country." Still McCarry plods on, however ineffectively. A highly paid official, he oversees important schemes like the notorious Radio and TV Marti broadcasts, whose third-country networks will be expanded. Radio and TV Marti are currently being transmitted from a C- 130 Commando Solo airborne platform at the cost of $18 million. This budget will be increased, although even Cuban mercenaries complain of the station's low viewer ratings as a result of its mediocre programming and crude sales pitch. Capitalist media propaganda has not, so far, paid off. That said, it is evident that the cost of mercenary stipends, 'transition coordinators' and third-rate broadcastings are mere trifles in the real world. The big money is spent elsewhere. As always in terrorist warfare, it is hardware that counts. Earmarked to fund covert terrorist groups, it will not be itemised in any Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Report. The latest US government entanglement with an anti-Cuba terrorist group only surfaced recently. "We know that our government has been at least allowing anti-Cuba terrorist groups like Alpha 66 to conduct weekly training sessions in and near the Everglades National Park [Florida] and elsewhere," reports American lawyer Tom Crumpacker in the progressive US daily Counterpunch. A few months ago, local police in Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles unwittingly stumbled upon large arms caches, ostensibly harboured by Alpha 66 members for a planned invasion of Cuba. The weapons include rocket launchers, bazookas, Uzis, all kinds of grenades and machine guns. Alpha 66 members were charged locally, but Crumpacker believes it is unlikely they will ever be tried publicly. This is because the Los Angeles defendant, who used his home as a cache for more than 1500 weapons, claimed that they were provided by the US government. Is this an unlikely scenario, reminiscent of a minor thriller? "The US government bankrolls anti-Cuban terrorist groups and provides them with sufficient weapons to blow up the island." Not according to the record, nor are such activities unique to the Bush administration. Establishing and propping up terrorist Contra groups is, in fact, old hat since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. "US terrorism has included attacking civilian installations, bombing hotels, sinking fishing vessels, destroying petrochemical installations, poisoning crops and livestock, assassination attempts [against Castro, at least eight botched attempts between 1960 and 1965], actual murders, bombing airplanes [Cubana flight 455, 6 October 1976, 73 people died], bombing of Cuban missions abroad. It's a massive terrorist attack," says prominent linguist and writer Noam Chomsky. "What has happened is a level of international terrorism that as far as I know has no counterpart apart from direct aggression." Fidel knows the stakes. Still, as always, he remains optimistic expressing his confidence in the Cuban people. "I know that the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the people are ready to defend their country", he says.
