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The Psychological Fix Is Broken
Thursday, August 03, 2006   By: Juan Paxety

fidel is politically dead regardless

On December 8, 1958, Rafael Aguirre (the man to the right in the above photograph) played dominoes with friends at the Focsa Building where he lived in Havana. The men had no way of knowing that fidel castro's revolution was only days away. But Mr. Aguirre, an attorney, had known fidel at the University of Havana - his uncle was Dean of the Law School. When fidel came to power, he warned people of the disasterour consequences to come.

Today, he has an opinion about the transfer of power in Cuba - here's what he had to say (information and translation thanks to Alberto Quiroga)

As I consider the enigma of what is going on in Cuba of great importance to all of us, I wish to share with you my thoughts about all this.  Of course, there can be other interpretations, since all that can be done in these cases is simply to speculate and wait.

I believe fidel is either already dead or very close to it.  I cannot consider that a person so obsessed with power, would transfer it to another, even his own brother.  Today on television, all the distinct duties delegated by fidel to raul and other functionaries were spelled out.  When you add up said duties, concentrated in a single person or entity, it seems incredible there could exist any human being capable of exercising all of them at the same time.  And fidel has tried to do just that during the last 47 years.  I believe he is dead, because, even if not in a physical sense, he is dead politically.  All of a sudden, in the past few days, the Cuban people have learned they can continue living without fidel and that, psychologically speaking, is something new to them, which had never occurred in 47 years.  It is necessary to consider that an enormously large percent of the Cuban population has known no other life than one of total and absolute submission and dependency, extending to the most minute and intimate acts of their existence, and subject to fidel's will.  For the Cuban people, fidel has always represented the omnipotent and cruel father figure, with whom there could be no other alternative except obedience or destruction.  And now, that psychological fixation is broken.  The absolute powers he has delegated can be returned to him by those to whom they were delegated, but the unique nexus between him and the people, born of and maintained by the constant presence of the most brutal and relentless terror, will never be re-established, given the reality - actual or possible - of his death.  And even if he lived and returned to power, he would be unable to maintain his power for long.  Pray the Cuban people may now be conscious that fidel castro has reached his end and a new chapter is about to open.

Here's the original:

Como considero cosa de gran importancia para todos nosotros el enigma de lo que está pasando en Cuba, quiero compartir con ustedes lo que pienso sobre todo esto.  Por supuesto, pueden haber otras interpretaciones, pues todo lo que se puede hacer en casos como este es simplemente especular y esperar.

Creo que fidel ya está muerto o muy cerca de estarlo.  No   puedo considerar que una persona tan obsesionada con el poder, se lo transfiera a otra, aunque se trate de su propio hermano.  Hoy enumeraron en la televisión las distintas funciones que había relegado Fidel en Raúl y en otros funcionarios.  Cuando se suman todas esas funciones para ser concentradas en un sola unidad, es increíble que exista ser humano capaz de ejercerlas todas al mismo tiempo.  Y Fidel ha intentado hacerlo durante 47 años.  Creo que está muerto, pues aunque no lo estuviera físicamente, lo está políticamente.  De repente, en estos pocos días, el pueblo cubano ha aprendido que puede seguir viviendo sin Fidel y eso, sicológicamente es algo nuevo, que nunca, durante 47 años había pasado.  Es necesario considerar que un por ciento enorme de la población cubana no ha conocido otra vida que no sea una total y absoluta sumisión y dependencia, hasta en los más mínimos e íntimos  actos de su existencia, a la voluntad de Fidel.  Fidel  ha representado para el pueblo cubano la figura siempre presente del padre cruel y omnipotente  con el que no existía otra alternativa que obedecer o ser destruido. Y ahora esa fijación mental se rompió.  Aunque Fidel esté vivo, ya la conexión no existe.  El cordón de dependencia ha sido cortado.  Los poderes absolutos que cedió pueden serle devueltos por aquellos a quienes se los traspasó, pero el nexo único que existía entre el pueblo y él, nacido  y mantenido por la presencia constante del más brutal e implacable terror, ya nunca podrá ser restablecido, ante la realidad de la muerte o de la posilidad de la misma.  Y si viviera y volviera al poder, no podría mantener ese poder por mucho tiempo.  Ojalá que el pueblo cubano esté consciente ahora que Fidel Castro ha llegado a su fin y que un nuevo capítulo está por abrirse.

Rafael A. Aguirre

Update - Uncommon Sense reports that foreign journalists are being barred from the island. Six, including four from the Miami Herald and the Washington Post,  arrived at Jose Marti Airport only to be put back on the planes that brought them.

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