Change at the top in Cuba no change at all

As envisioned by Miami’s long-enduring Cuban-exile community, it was always supposed to happen with a bang. The forever-hoped-for end of the Castro brothers’ chokehold on Cuba would be momentous, defining. It would portend the brightest of futures for the island.

Instead, the end came last week with a cruel whimper— leader Raul Castro, the highest ranking, still-standing original 1959 Cuban revolutionary, passed the torch to a designated successor, Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The ceremony was mostly political theatrics signaling no significant changes; no halt to human-rights abuses.

Miami radio commentator Ninoska Perez Castellon, who has opposed the Castros for decades, told the Editorial Board this is simply empty posturing to maintain the illusion of an enduring Cuban revolutionary spirit.

“This is not a change in power, but merely a strategy,” she said.

The 86-year-old Castro has now moved out of the spotlight. But no way has he exited the stage. He’ll simply be the new president’s puppeteer.

Castro will retain the leadership of the powerful Communist Party, the entity that governs politics, the economy and daily life in Cuba with an iron fist. DiazCanel might be the new leader, but Castro remains the boss. But at Castro’s age, for how long can that really last?

For once, however, there is no other commanding Castro on the horizon. Raul’s sons are powerful but have remained in the background. That means for all practical purposes, the Castro name will begin to fade from the public arena. It’s a small consolation.

From now on, the official invitations to international events—and talks with the United States—will be addressed to Diaz-Canel, not a Castro. He will be the visible face of the government, the target of criticism from a population tired of long decades of anguish, misery and oppression.

So the empty transition should still feel significant on a personal level for the nearly 1 million Cubans— or their descendants—who were forced into exile by the brothers’ regime.

Even if this change of power is just part of Cuban theatrics, the passage of time has now taken its toll on the Castro brothers.

Miami Herald