The day after Hurricane Gustave devastated the eastern sea board of Cuba, storm victims posed before television cameras, amid the rubble of their flattened homes, chanting “Fidel, Fidel”. It was some minutes before someone realized their mistake and quickly changed the chant to  “Fidel and Raul.”  This was a colossal goof in a country where it is dangerous to appear to criticize the government.

Cubans were reeling as Tropical Storm Fay crashed ashore near the Bay of Pigs on Aug. 17. This was only two weeks before Gustave had slammed into western Cuba, damaging at least 100,000 homes and crippling industry, food production and infrastructure. Next Hurricane Ike hit eastern Cuba killing five people, damaging at least 200,000 homes and forcing nearly a quarter of the population to evacuate. The storm moved nearly the entire length of the island, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

It is six months since the ailing 82 year old, Fidel Castro, handed over the reigns of power to his equally grey haired 77 year old  brother, Raul. It is an ancient leadership, as Raul is backed by 77 year old Jose Ramon as Deputy and General Julio Cassas, 72, as Defense Minister.

Raul Castro has not addressed the nation, or appeared in public, during the weeks a tropical storm and two monster hurricanes have ravaged Cuba. Raul sent vice presidents and army generals instead, to the hardest-hit areas following each storm. He chose not to address the people, but appeared in a few random shots, speaking  only by phone to officials in the devastated areas.

Fidel may have done many things people objected to, but he enjoyed jumping into his jeep and following the storms, personally viewing the damage and greeting some of the victims. He however saw disasters as a Blue Moon Opportunity (opportunities that change peoples lives) and was prone to giving one of his lengthy speeches.  Fidel, recovering from emergency intestinal surgery in July, has not been seen in public. However, he  continues to release newspaper columns every few days, talking about the damage the storms have left behind.

The Cuban government routinely practices mass storm evacuations on the island, enforcing compliance through police and soldiers. Yet, it appears many of those left homeless from the recent spate of storms, have been left with neither for or support.

The Cuban people, long ravaged by a hard-fisted regime, is left to flounder once more. Maybe their long lost Russian friends might come to their aid.

I’,m so thankful I live on a tropical island in the South Pacific. I find it hard to comprehend living under such a brutal regime.

You can find out more about the author and a genuine Blue Moon Opportunity at http://winaresort.com

Tags: bay of pigs, blue moon, blue moon opportunity, colossial goof, Cuba, Fidel Castro, hurican gustave, natural distasters, Raul Castro, South Pacific, storm fay, tropical island

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 12:37 am and is filed under latest news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.