Word: castros
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...sign of an emerging civil society in Cuba challenging the communist party's monopoly on power. That's a development that has been consciously encouraged by the Catholic Church in the years since Pope John Paul II's historic 1998 visit. And for now, at least, Castro appears inclined to reluctantly tolerate such activity. His objective in doing so may be simply to create a veneer of acceptability for his regime in the face of human rights criticisms, but the process may nonetheless set in motion forces beyond the control of the communist party...
...Castro's inevitable, and perhaps imminent departure from the scene ought to be good news for those in Miami who've fought him for decades, but it also creates something of a crisis for them - as well as for Washington. Right now neither Washington nor Miami have much access to the political dynamic on the island that will play a significant role in shaping post-Castro Cuba. The Varela project caught Castro unawares, but it may have done the same to the Miami leadership. And while the Miami leadership has made maintaining the embargo the centerpiece of their activism, most...
...Back at home, President Carter's visit will likely inflame debate between those who believe the embargo will help bring down Castro and those who believe it actually props him up and denies the U.S. any political influence on processes already underway that could shape post-Castro Cuba. More interesting, perhaps, will be its impact in Cuba. After all, the state propaganda machine in Havana will have little trouble packaging whatever denunciations President Bush utters in Miami next week - they'll simply be cited as further evidence of the "external threat" that Castro uses to rally Cubans, much...
...ever know for sure if Cuba has been producing biological weapons for sale to rogue nations such as Libya and Iran, as Undersecretary of State John Bolton recently alleged. Time was recently among the few foreign publications to get an inside look at some of Fidel Castro's most sophisticated biomedical plants - including the Center for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, which the Bush administration has cited as the locus of Cuba's bio-warfare capabilities, and the Finlay Institute, where many of Cuba's vaunted vaccines are produced...
...Cuba watchers agree that even Castro - a frustrated scientist who committed his communist revolution as much to medical research as sports prowess when he consolidated his power in the 1960s - probably wouldn't be foolish enough to compromise the credibility of labs like the CIGB and Finlay by allowing bio-weaponry to be produced in them. That doesn't mean, of course, that such research and production couldn't be going on. Cuba's advanced biological and chemical research capacity has long given the international community pause, especially after bioterrorism became such a broad concern after Sept. 11. "Cuba...