Word: fidels
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Fidel Castro, 81, had been Cuba's leader since 1959, when his socialist movement overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista. (See story, page...
...Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone penciled in his calendar what promised to be an important six-day trip to Cuba. That promise has suddenly multiplied, with the Catholic Church's No. 2 official set to arrive in Havana on Wednesday night, just a day after Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced the end to his 49 years in power. It is perfect timing for the Vatican, which is aiming to play a central role in the island nation's transition into what many hope will be a post-communist future...
...private encounters, is a sign that Bertone has big ambitions for the trip. His official itinerary includes a meeting with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, but Vatican sources say that a meeting with Raul Castro, the heir apparent to his older brother, is almost certain. Depending on his health, Fidel Castro may also meet with the Cardinal. The two dined together in Havana in Oct. 2005 when Bertone, then Archbishop of Genoa, was sent as an unofficial emissary from the newly elected Pope Benedict...
...interview Tuesday with the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire, Bertone recalled his lengthy dinner with the Jesuit-educated Fidel. "It was a very long conversation. We spoke of many things, of hunger and of poverty spread through the world, and the need of a greater solidarity among people and governments. We spoke of wars and progress." Bertone said that Castro spoke highly of Benedict. "'I like this Pope,' he told me, 'He is a good person. I have understood that immediately seeing his face, the face of an angel...
Venezuela, which possess the hemisphere's largest oil reserves, may actually weigh more heavily today on Raul's mind than the U.S. In recent years Venezuela's left-wing, radically anti-U.S. President, Hugo Chavez, a fervent Fidel admirer, has helped prop up Cuba's economy with almost 100,000 daily barrels of cut-rate crude. Chavez, however, is deeply suspicious of, if not antagonistic to, Raul's economic reform intentions. "Raul has to play ball with the Venezuelans," says Latell. "He has no one else to turn to right...