Cuban vote could keep Castro in the running
Posted: Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:14 PM
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Havana, Cuba
By Mary Murray, NBC News Producer
Cubans voted Sunday in national parliamentary elections — the first step toward determining whether Fidel Castro will continue as the country’s president or retire after almost 50 years in power.
The ailing Cuban leader — who has not been seen in public for about 18 months — is running for one of the 614 seats on the national legislature, making him eligible to run for president.
That presidential vote takes place Feb. 24, when the newly-elected Parliament holds its first session to elect the executive Council of State and then ratify the president.
If Fidel Castro is again elected president, his term runs for five years — making him 86 years old when his mandate would end in 2013.
VIDEO: Some want Castro to stay. Others say it's time to move on.
Some Cubans want to see him re-elected president.
"He should die with his boots on," said Rodney Garcia, who pushes a cart up and down Varadero Beach, selling tourist trinkets. "Fidel means stability."
Others think like Alexis Betancourt, an unemployed high school dropout who supports radical change to both Cuba’s political and economic systems. "It’s over. We need to move on." To Betancourt, that means an end to one-party rule and a state-controlled economy.
Last month, in a letter to the nation, Castro promised he would not cling to office.
''My basic duty is not to cling to office and even less to obstruct the path
of younger people," wrote Castro, "but to pass on my experiences and ideas."
And last week, in an editorial published in the Granma newspaper, the 81-year-old leader admitted that he remains too physically weak to campaign in public for his re-election to the National Assembly.
While Castro does seem to be on the mend, he has undergone at least three surgeries for an intestinal disorder that almost killed him in August 2006. He and his government have refused to disclose specific details about his condition — claiming it ranks as a state secret. The Cuban public still remains in the dark about the exact nature of Castro’s illness, where he is convalescing and his prognosis.
People believe that if Fidel Castro decides to step down, his younger brother Raul, who is running the country during this interim period, would become Cuba’s next president. But he, too, faces the challenges time itself poses: He turns 77 in July.
Speaking to the press after casting his ballot, Raul Castro admitted that a lot is at stake. "This is an important step," he said. "We have to face different situations and make important decisions."
With Fidel Castro’s unexpected illness, the Cuban leadership has sought to present a united front to the world, sending the message that their socialist system can stand the test of time. "It’s business as usual," insisted Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban Parliament, shortly after Castro took to his hospital bed.
Sunday, more than 90 percent of the Cuban electorate is expected to cast ballots. Cuba traditionally has an extremely high voter turnout despite the fact that candidates in the national elections run uncontested. In the eyes of the U.S. government, the Cuban election is a charade, falling short of democratic standards.
