[Cincinatus' Wife]

In jail or free, dissidents determined to stay*** For Rivero and journalists who smuggled their missives abroad, it was their insistence on writing what they saw and felt that put them in jail. That fidelity to the truth could now kill them. Rivero and journalist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, 62, are both ill, their families tell visitors. Rivero, who has lost much weight, has circulatory problems, and Espinosa suffers from a liver disease.

Castro must realize that even if he relents and sets Rivero and others free, they are likely to stay in Cuba. Rivero has long understood that Castro may be the Father of the Cuban Revolution, but that the revolution's children are increasingly restive. Castro can deny their simple truths like a Cuban King Lear, but Rivero and others persist. They witness. They write.

Over the years, the authorities picked up Rivero, questioned him, harassed him, and tried to nudge him off the island. But Rivero stayed. Others did, too.***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Brazilian President to Meet Castro in Cuba***Silva will also be testing his country's delicate relationship with the United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Cuba for more than four decades. The United States is both the largest exporter to Brazil and the largest recipient of Brazilian products. "If the visit turns out to be nothing more than a gesture to please leftist forces in Brazil and in the rest of world, it will be an empty and meaningless gesture," Marconini said in a telephone interview. "But if it becomes part of a broader approach to the Hemisphere it could turn into a constructive exercise that should please even the United States," Marconini said.

Cuban dissidents and their supporters have asked Silva to intervene on behalf of 75 activists sentenced to long prison terms after a crackdown this year. Silva should demand the release of the country's political prisoners, Cuban democracy activist Oswaldo Paya said in an interview published Sunday in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. "Brazil should defend an opening in Cuba and a dialogue between the government and the opposition," Paya said.

The Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has asked the Brazilian president to press for the release of the 26 independent journalists among the 75 jailed dissidents. While recognizing Silva's political affinities with Castro, the press group wrote this week that "no democrat of the left or right would understand if these affinities were to take precedence over respect for human rights." In 2002 Brazil exported $95 million worth of products to Cuba and imported less than $10 million.

Brazilian diplomats have said the president has no plans to meet with dissidents on the island. Economic issues will also be on the table during Silva's visit. Brazil's national Development Bank is negotiating a credit line of up to $400 million to finance Cuban imports of Brazilian machinery, farm equipment and food.***