Castro-watch gives clues on Cuba
By Daniel Schweimler
BBC correspondent in Havana
When you've had the same leader for 43 years, you'll feel you know him
fairly well, even if
you've never met him personally.
Most Cubans have grown up with Fidel Castro, from the firebrand revolutionary
to the
president pitting his small country against the mighty Western world, to
the somewhat
grandfatherly figure now trying to protect the gains he feels he's made
during his time in
office.
His presence is everywhere in Cuba, but he remains an enigma and his people
watch his every move for signs of what he's really thinking.
There are no statues to President Castro in Cuba.
That honour is reserved for heroes of the country's struggle for independence
from
Spain such as Jose Marti, or for the Argentine revolutionary, Ernesto "Che"
Guevara
who fought alongside Fidel.
However, there are portraits of the bearded leader in all schools and most
workplaces, his
picture appears frequently in the country's two state-run newspapers and
his long, long
speeches are broadcast live, then often repeated, on state-run television
and radio.
The fact is, there is no escaping Fidel.
You don't even need to mention his name in conversation.
A simple brush of the chin is enough to indicate that you're talking about HIM.
But despite his omnipresence, few can really claim to know the man who
has
governed them for those 43 years.
Diplomats and foreign journalists, who have read the numerous biographies
about the
Cuban leader, find themselves confused and sometimes flabbergasted by his
actions.
He's the first topic of conversation at any diplomatic gathering.
"What did he mean by storming out of that UN summit in Monterrey a few weeks ago?"
"Why does he seem to go out of his way to pick a fight with the Mexican president?"
"Why invite former US President Jimmy Carter to Cuba to speak with dissidents?"
All such questions usually result in an agreement to wait and see.
The Jimmy Carter visit was a good opportunity for those wanting to watch Fidel.
From suit to uniform
Firstly, he met his guest at the airport wearing a dark suit and tie -
not his customary military
uniform.
A sign, most agreed, that he wanted to be friendly.
And that proved to be the case as he twicedined with Mr Carter, accompanied
him to a
game of baseball and allowed him to openly criticise the Cuban system live
on national
television and radio.
Mr Carter's call for greater civil liberties was the first time that anyone
had spoken so
openly in front of the comandante en jefe, the commander in chief, probably
since he came to
power in 1959.
And as Jimmy Carter spoke, my eyes, like those of most of the others in
the main hall at
Havana University, automatically turned to look at Fidel.
Not a twitch, not a sign of emotion.
But when he saw Mr Carter off at the airport a few days later, he was again
wearing his green uniform.
And sure enough, the he sees as the bullying tactics by Washington and
the Cuban exile
community in Miami followed shortly afterwards.
If Fidel is not seen in public for a few days, the rumours soon start circulating.
He's on his deathbed, he's having plastic surgery in Venezuela, he's gone fishing.
Many of these rumours start in Miami, where the vehemently anti-Castro
Cuban exiles
watch for any tiny chink in the Cuban leader's armour that might allow
them to undermine his
government.
The rumours seep into Cuba via conversations with relatives still on the
island or the Cuban
exile radio station, Radio Marti, when the Cuban authorities can't block
it.
The judgement of those Cuba calls the terrorist mafia in Miami is tainted
by a
deep-seated hatred of Fidel and wishful thinking.
But keeping everyone, including his own people, guessing has proved to
be one of
President Castro's strongest tools in keeping his government in power for
43 years.
Birth of a legend
The most well-known case of someone badly misreading Fidel came back in
the 1950s when
he was still in the mountains of eastern Cuba trying to overthrown the
Batista regime.
The New York Times reporter, Herbert Matthews, trekked up there to meet
him and
later wrote that the Cuban revolutionary appeared invincible, commanding
a well-armed
and highly motivated band of fighters.
It later became known that at the time Fidel had no more than 20 soldiers
with him, some of
who had marched backwards and forwards during the interview to create the
impression
that they were more than they were.
But the legend had been born.
Little is even known about his private life.
A Spanish newspaper earlier this year for the first time published photographs
and named his
partner and the mother of five of his children, Delia Soto.
Nothing was reproduced in the Cuban media.
Up close and personal
I've stood close to Fidel several times and watched rather than listened to him speak.
He sometimes loses his place in his script which the next day is interpreted
as the first
signs of senility.
His hands sometimes shake.
His voice, when not amplified by microphones, is often not much more than
a hoarse whisper
- probably the result of so many long speeches.
But he looks to me as fit as any 75-year-old I've seen.
Only I've read reports the following day by journalists standing next to
me who said he
appeared tired or ill.
Cuba can do that you - the same words can be read very differently by different people.
For the foreigners it's a game. For the Cubans, who have limited access
to information,
watching Fidel, noting who he's standing next to, who he shakes hands
with, has become an
art form.
Washington it seems has toughened its policy towards Cuba.
And as Fidel ages, it seems inevitable that those who watch him, whether
from
Washington, Miami or inside Cuba, will scrutinise his actions with even
greater
vigilance, trying to find some indication of what Fidel Castro is thinking
or what he may
do next.