At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy looney, how likely is it that Castro is already dead and the news is being withheld while his brother gets a firm grasp on the lines of power?

I agree - that's probably the way it'll happen.

I received the news from my wife in miami,and then
i saw in cnn international the news,and some blogs gradually appeared more information.But have we a genuine reason to celebrate? just now we have an ailing dictator,a pintpoint succession,
and it is said that Raul Castro is sometimes more
ruthless than Fidel himself and even though the have different personalities,they shared the same ideology and even more the rivalry in the bastard circles of power in Cuba,now they move to gain forefront position and that means more repression and more sufferings for us,that could be the first real step of a real change,which means a Fair and Free Election Process in Cuba,a free and independent media,a better economical situation,namely now,when is well known that Cuba has in the north of Havana and Pinar more than 5
great oil and gas reserves of good quality,that means that in 3 or 5 year Cuba could be the capacity to satisfied all its energetic requeriments but also sell oil,now Cuba just cover 40% of its necessities with a very heavy petrol from its well,the rest come from Venezuela,so it seems to me that we have no very
reason to celebrate,have you?

This was the first site I thought of when I heard the news. Was thinking about you and A and family all night wondering what your thoughts were on this.

God I hope that bastard dies in surgery.

We need to move from an understandable state of
"political happiness" to coordinate and smart actions so as to avoid any bad news in the near future,like this now announced pintpoint succession.It is possible that Castro survives,but
it is unlikely he could again to be the same,so
in any situation the changes are coming,so stop
useless celebration and move quickly to avoid
more sufferings for the cuban in general and in particular for the cubans living in the Island.

I hope this time it's true. I hope it's not another plot by Castro himself.

Anyhow, I'm contacting my friends in Cuba and will let you know as soon as I hear back from them!

Felicidades,y no creo que la roboluciòn sobrevivirà a su muerte.

Ding dong the witch is dead.

Val,

From a fellow Florida blogger- Here's hoping this is the beginning of events to Cuba's eventual freedom.

I linked to you over at my blog-

http://thefloridamasochist.blogspot.com/2006/08/while-i-slept.html

Cheers,

Bill
Aka The Florida Masochist

While I am not Cuban I have always been fascinated with the history of Cuba and have studied up on it extensively over recent years.

I find it very sad and quite baffling how Fidel Castro could've remained in power the way he did for 47 years. What I find even more baffling and quite frankly disturbing is the fact that he has supporters in the United States.

All too often I see ignorant miguided youth in The US proudly wearing t-shirts with Ernesto "Che" Guevara's face plastered on them not knowing the kind of evil they are embracing in the process.

I hope that this is truly a sign of change for the Cuban people who have suffered under the evil Communist rule of Fidel Castro for 47 years.

When democracy is finally put in place there, the entire island is going to have to undergo some major reconstruction, probably tenfold of that of East Germany when Communism collapsed over there. I'm sure that the United States Government will be more than happy to play the leading role in the process and that many Cuban Americans will be more than happy to go into Cuba and play a role in the restoration of this once beautiful island.

If and when Communism finally falls in Cuba it will be interesting to see what the ramifications will be for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales who are devout followers in Castro's footsteps. With right wing governments being elected in Mexico and Peru, how long will Castro's allies be able to thrive in those countries as well as countries like Brazil and Argentina?

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Cuba and their families here in the United States. May God bless you and watch over you in this time of uncertainty.

I (the pessimist) refuse to celebrate. Yes, I'm happy...I'm thrilled... but I fear that the Cuban people are not going to take advantage of what's happening now...and that my friends would be really, really sad.

I'm not Cuban, but have Cuban friends here in Illinois.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news about Castro was the beautiful vision of pre-Castro Cuba in the recent movie "Lost City".

Let's hope Cuba can breathe free again and this time without another Fidel or another Batista.

Cuba libre !!!

The Miami Herald wrote an article today about how bloggers are spreading the news of Miami's reactions to the Castro news.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15168226.htm
Interesting how the do not mention this blog or the other ones that are anti-Castro.

Val, I have been crazy posting News bulletins yesterday about this yesterday. I went to sleep at 3 and just woke up at 10, y fijate bien. I'm still hyped. I change my myspace right when I heard that Fidel had gotten ill y puse "Ya viene llegando" as the main song. Nuestro dia si viene llegando! VIVA CUBA LIBRE!!

Dino:
Don't be amazed at the 47 years - disarming the populace helps quite a bit in isolating, starving, killing and imprisoning them and that makes for one hell of a stable regime. It is hard, from the vantage of our freedom here, to imagine how a government like that treats its citizens.

My prayers are with Cuba that she is released at last from her sufferings and that the monster is hell's newest tenant.

castro's achievments? Education and health care? Yedterday I made a simple inquiry on Google, I asked simply, " free education, and free health care", in every single Latin American country, one country at a time, from Mexico to Tierra de Fuego and guess what? Education from k to 12th grade is free and mandatory in every single Latin American country, it is in the constitution of most Spanish speaking countries. You don't have to be a in good standing with a political party either to get an education, except in Cuba under castro. It is true that in some countries, like Mexico, that private schools are better than state sponsored schools, but you are free to send your kid to any school you want. Health care is free for children and the elderly in almost all of Latin America too. You don't have to be in good standing with the communist party to get good health care either. It is also true that in places like Belize, private clinic are better , but that is because the country is so poor. In Cuba the health care system is no better than in Belize or Haiti for average Cubans. castro has only achieved worldwide fraud and he deserves to spend what little time he has left in jail.

Those who laud the Cuban health care and "free" education are COMPLETELY IGNORANT about Cuban history before Castro.