More on Raul

A BBC correspondent in Havana has an interesting take on events in Cuba over the past week or so, particularly in its description of Raul Castro, the man who is supposedly in charge of the Communist regime on the island.

According to correspondent Matt Frei, the younger Castro is “a man who has the charisma of a middle manager at a regional post office”.

Still, during the Non Aligned Movement meeting, the “temporary” president “looked comfortable” and in control, shaking hands with visiting dignitaries, etc.

So Frei asks for an assessment from one of Raul Castro’s closest friends, Jorge Risquet, a well-known (in Cuba) senior Communist Party official.

"Well," Risqet is reported as replying after a long pause, "Raul is a man of few but honest words. He's a nice guy and, above all, he is very, very systematic."

A romantic, according to his daughter …. And very systematic.