Chavez's image taken off altars *** Lately, Chavez declared himself a member of a charismatic congregation, thus allegedly belonging to his country's fastest-growing branch of Christianity. But then he angered the country's National Catholic Bishops Conference by communing at a Mass organized by a priest of pro-Communist leanings.***
CASTRO'S FEAR OF SANTERO'S PROPHECY: If Elian remains in exile, Fidel Castro will fall ***As soon as the Santeros learned of Elian's fate (the boy had been rescued at sea, saved from sharks by the appearance of dolphins and after 48 hours in the water under a blazing sun did not show the burns and sores typical of those rescued at sea), they declared that he was a divine Elegua and that if he remained in Miami -- in other words, in exile -- Fidel Castro ``would fall.'' The Elegua had to be returned to Cuba for the protection of an atheist dictator who believes all of the Santeros' prophecies. Soon after these predictions became known, Castro began his speeches, roaring threateningly, as he always does. Then the marches began, with thousands of little flags suddenly appearing, in addition to (another miracle) identical T-shirts with a likeness of the boy's face, so that he could appear over every Cuban's heart (or at least on their shirts). All sorts of Cubans, captive and free, marched.
As time goes by, the prophecies of the Santeros are becoming increasingly gloomy: Without the child there will be no Castro. Is anyone surprised that an erstwhile Marxist-Leninist believes in prophecies? Hitler, no less a secularist, believed in the auguries of his personal astrologer. We must remember that it is Fidel Castro and his squandering of lives and property that has caused millions of Cubans to flee, dividing not only families but also the Cuban people. He did not react this furiously when one of his torpedo boats attacked and sank the tugboat Trece de Marzo just off the Cuban coast. Forty persons drowned in this unnatural disaster, among them 10 children. The government has not expressed a single regret over the tragedy.
Why all the noise and all the threats this time, over the return of a boy who was saved from drowning? The only explanation is the incoherence of a man who is struggling with the inevitable: his disappearance and the end of his tyranny and his life. After all, other Cuban dictators, from Gen. Gerardo Machado to Juan Batista, also turned to acts of sorcery in their hours of need. ***