Thursday, May 03, 2007

Self-assured, smiling, all is well

You probably thought that Fidel Castro’s absence from the much-hyped May Day “celebrations” in Havana this week was probably bad news for his 48-year-old regime, right?

Well, you are wrong, mate.

According to Anthony Boadle, the indefatigable Reuters correspondent on the island, the fact that the 80-year-old dictator did NOT show up at the Plaza de La Revolucion is actually good news for the regime.

It means Castro is getting better.

Under the headline, “Castro recovery lifts Cuban government's spirits”, our correspondent argues that the mood at the top is “upbeat” about Castro’s survival chances.

In fact, Mr Boadle claims that Communist Party leaders are “looking self-assured again” as “evidence mounts” that the man who has ruled Cuba since 1959 “has survived his health crisis and the country has seen no upheaval during his nine-month absence’.

“Even without Castro by their side,” the correspondent adds, “smiling Communist Party leaders waved confidently from above a high podium at half a million Cubans who marched through Havana's Revolution Square on Tuesday to show support for acting president Raul Castro.”

Mounting evidence? Self-assured? Smiling leaders? Confident waves?

Makes you wonder what the story would have read like if Castro HAD turned up.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, unlike a few of his colleagues, Mr. Boadle obviously has no intention of being evicted from his post by the Cuban regime for being "too negative" in his reporting (if one may call it that). He's doing a wonderful job of protecting his position, even if his journalistic integrity would seem to be rather questionable.

Cockroaches may be disgusting creatures, but they certainly know how to survive.

11:48 pm  

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