Guillermo I. Martinez. Published Tuesday, August 21, 2001.
The Miami Herald
On both sides of the Florida Straits, Cubans are obsessed with Fidel Castro,
his 75th birthday last week, his health, and most important, what is going to
happen when he dies.
In the meantime, by traveling to Venezuela to celebrate his birthday with
President Hugo Chávez, Castro has shown, again, that he is more
preoccupied with history and with who his successor will be in Latin America,
not Cuba.
In Cuba the heir-designate is brother Raul, who controls the armed forces
and all its multiple business enterprises. That's a done deal. In Latin America
finding an heir -- well, that's a different story.
Castro's preoccupation with Latin America is as old as the Revolution
itself. He desperately has sought an ally to help him spread the Communist credo
within the Western Hemisphere. Yet after more than four decades, the majestic
mountains and the impenetrable jungles of South and Central America remain a
distant, and impossible, dream.
The Cuban leader and his cadre of revolutionaries have conspired against
governments throughout the region. They have armed and supported guerrillas in
most of the countries in the area. They have threatened, pleaded and cajoled.
All their efforts, including one by the revered Che Guevara, have failed.
Castro himself twice has attempted to establish firm and lasting ties with
Latin American leaders akin to his politics. His first personal venture came in
November 1972, when Castro went to Chile for a five-day visit to Salvador
Allende, the first Marxist ever to have been elected president in democratic
elections. He stayed for more than a month.
Chilean Communists recall today how by the end of Castro's stay even Allende
did not know what to do with him.
Castro's opponents remember how he tried, and in the mind of many, convinced
Allende that the government had to arm the masses for socialism in Chile to
survive.
By 1973, Allende's government was unable to control workers who took control
of factories and farms by force. Less than a year after Castro's departure
Allende had killed himself during a military coup that overthrew his regime.
Castro's visit had contributed to Allende's downfall.
In Chile, Castro learned a valuable lesson: It is easier to establish and
maintain an anti-American government in Cuba than to export the revolution. Less
than a decade later, however, he tried again.
Castro became the confidant and personal advisor of Daniel Ortega and his
Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. Within days of the Sandinista victory,
Ortega went to Havana to celebrate. Here Castro was more moderate. Castro often
urged Ortega to be cautious, and to move slowly. He advised against a direct
confrontation with the United States. And he warned his Nicaraguan friend of the
perils of democracy and of free elections.
Ortega did not believe his friend and ally. Nicaraguans made him pay,
ousting him from power in 1990. Castro was two for two.
In Chávez, Castro has found a new friend, whom he has visited three
times since Chávez became president. One hopes that the Venezuelan leader
will be successful where Allende and Ortega failed. Chávez has the fire
and charisma that Allende and Ortega lacked.
Chávez has oil. Chávez is young. Castro is old and enfeebled.
He needs oil. And he needs Chávez, more than the leader needs Castro.
A friend who just returned from Venezuela said that by the end of the trip
Castro was tired and Venezuelans bored. Venezuela gives Cuba oil. Castro gives
Venezuela the work, at bargain-basement prices, of Cuban doctors and personnel
to train athletes.
Ironically for Castro, Chile today has a Socialist president who believes in
a free-market economy. His old friend Ortega once again is a potential president
of Nicaragua, one who talks about not repeating mistakes from the past.
Both have distanced themselves from Castro, the man who has held power the
longest of any leader in the Western Hemisphere.
Maybe it is because history has taught them that close relations with Castro
do not pay. Or maybe it is because the Cuban leader simply brings bad luck to
his handpicked Latin colleagues.
Whatever the reason, Chávez should be wary. He doesn't want Castro to
bat 1,000.
Guillermo I. Martnez is a journalist living in Miami.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 
