Is Castro Back?

Fidel Castro has been very vocal lately and seems to be recovering from his operations related to diverticulitis, or inflamed bulge in the intestine. He has been ill since the summer of 2006 but now appears to be on the mend. Of his illness Castro admitted that his initial surgery had failed: ''It was not just one operation, but various,'' he wrote. ``Initially it was not successful, and that had a bearing on my prolonged recuperation.'' However he now says that he is recovering well: After ''many months'' of intravenous feeding, he was eating and his weight was back up to 176 pounds. ''Today I receive orally everything my recuperation requires,'' he wrote.

Castro may be on the mend but he is still not ready to assume the Presidency he handed over to his brother Raul. He has rarely been seen in public and many wonder if he will ever return to power. 'I think he's abdicated already,'' said Tony Zamora, a Cuban-American lawyer in Miami who visits Cuba regularly. ``He will continue to be consulted and listened to, of course, but I don't see him coming back at all.''

Castro himself apologized for his public absence by saying: ''I don't have time now for films and photos that require me to constantly cut my hair, beard and mustache, and get spruced up every day.'' To which Zamora had the following comment: ''He cannot shave and he can't take a haircut. That's really weird,'' Zamora said. 'He is clearly saying, `My role has changed. I was really sick and I need to take care of myself, so I'm not coming back.' ''

Castro, although in recovery, seems to have found a new role, that of commentator:

"For now, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, reflecting and writing about questions that I judge of certain importance and transcendence," Castro wrote in the statement carried on the front pages of Cuba's official newspapers and read on state radio and television. "I have a lot more material to go."

And he has certainly been busy commenting on everything from the $7 billion the British have spent on a new attack submarine which he says could have been used to train 75,000 doctors, care for 150 million people and build 3,000 clinics with new technologies, as Cuba does in other countries; to the expected rise in the price of grains due to the demand for bio-fuels especially corn. Also he has not forgotten to mention President Bush in his commentaries:

"Just yesterday, Bush bragged about having won the battle over his adversaries in Congress," he wrote in a four-page statement released to the media. "He has $100 billion, all the money he needs to duplicate, however he wishes, the sending of American troops to Iraq and continue the slaughter."

The statement was the 12th by Castro in recent weeks who seems to be enjoying his new role without the pressure of having to govern. But Castro is 80 yrs old and his brother Raul, who currently rules the island, is 75 yrs old. This leads many to wonder what the future holds for Cuba when its aging leaders are gone. Here are two video clips about Cuba. The first one takes a look at Cuba today. The second ponders on the future of the Communist island.

Cuba ---- A Country Frozen in Time

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhkLWRaxUJU]

El Plan Bush

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZQsMr01XU0]