From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sunday May 13 10:51 AM ET Post-Castro Era 'No Problem,' Says Cuba's No. 2 By Andrew Cawthorne HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's socialist system should have ``no problem'' after the death of President Fidel Castro, and speculation about other scenarios is ``nonsense,'' the leader's brother and second in the Cuban hierarchy said on Sunday. ''The enemy is talking of the post-Castro era, analyzing nonsense, in the face of which our people and our youth are reacting very well,'' Raul Castro, who heads Cuba's armed forces, told state daily Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth). ``There will be no problem,'' added Raul Castro, 69, who is viewed by analysts as a possible replacement for his brother or part of a collective communist leadership in the future. Although Fidel Castro, 74, looks in good health, there is endless debate both inside and outside Cuba over what will happen once his rule, currently in its 43rd year, ends. Both the Castro brothers, who fought a two-year guerrilla war to topple former dictator Fulgencio Batista in the Jan. 1, 1959, Cuban Revolution, insist that socialism will remain on the Caribbean island despite fierce U.S. opposition. ``Naturally, we want Fidel to live for many years more. But eternity is not possible,'' Raul Castro added in the interview. ``In our case, we will not die with physical death. We will live or die in dependence of what happens with the Revolution. If it dies, we will have died. If it survives, we will live. We aspire to live eternally as long as our Revolution lives eternally. Anything else is the enemy's tale.'' Raul Castro praised the role of Cuba's youth in what he called the nation's ``strategic counter-offensive'' -- an ideological campaign borne out of last year's right to bring back Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez from Miami. That event gave the impetus for a still ongoing campaign of rallies and media coverage seeking to display the superiority of Cuban socialism over Western-style capitalism. ``He (Fidel Castro) does not miss an opportunity. He captured the importance of the kidnapping of Elian and he launched himself, together with 11 million Cubans, into the beautiful fight for a boy,'' Raul Castro said. ``That unleashed this gigantic battle of ideas which is giving results.'' Elian, who lost his mother when a boat full of would-be migrants to the United States capsized in November 1999, returned in June 2000 after a custody dispute between his Cuban father and relatives in Florida. Raul Castro also added his voice to Havana's opposition to a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, which would include all nations in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba. ''There's a movement surprising the whole planet, in all countries, against globalization, against neo-liberalism, against the Free Trade Area of the Americas,'' he said. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
