Fidel Castro: Cyber Deathwatch Begins on Internet

The National Ledger ^ | Aug. 1, 2006 | John David Powell

[John David Powell]

Fidel Castro: Cyber Deathwatch Begins on Internet

By John David Powell Aug. 1, 2006

The call from my friend Oscar came as I dozed in front of the television. “Are you watching Univision or Telemundo?” he asked.

I told him I was dozing, and asked him what was going on. He told me that the Spanish-language stations had just announced that Cuba’s Fidel Castro was undergoing surgery and had turned over power to his brother Raul.

“They’re already dancing in the streets in Miami. The old son-of-a-bitch may already be dead. Wasn’t Stalin dead for a week before they told anyone?”

Oscar and his family have been in this country for more than forty years, but his ties to Cuba remain strong, partly because he has family still in Havana. He remembers watching the Playa Girón, or Bay of Pigs, invasion from his apartment window. He retells stories of the installation of anti-aircraft guns on the top of his apartment building. On rare occasions, he shows the home movie he took as Castro and his band of thugs entered Havana.

He shares snippets of Cuba’s past, how Cuban women sold their jewelry to bail out a bankrupt Continental Army, how the Chinese played a major role in Cuban history and culture.

He has no patience for those he terms useful idiots who wear t-shirts bearing the face of Che Guevara, the cowardly murderer of children and the darling of the pretentious and ill-educated left. He ridicules those who speak in glowing terms about Cuba’s healthcare system, whose doctors are no more than paramedics or physician assistants. He politely endures stories from those who visit Cuba and boast about how much one can buy for a single Yankee dollar and ask if he ever went to the Buena Vista Social Club.

He longs for a return of the luster of the jewel of the Caribbean.

My friend Oscar is not alone. The Internet provides outlets for countless supporters of a free Cuba, millions of dreamers anxious in their wait to awake from their collective nightmare.

And today, the first day of August, just a week before Castro’s eightieth birthday, the blogosphere is afire with news and rumors, along with hope and speculation for Cuba’s next chapter. An Internet search narrowed for Cuba, Castro, and blogs returns 1.9 million hits.

The Blog for Cuba (http://blogforcuba.typepad.com) could be the blog of blogs, with links to more than sixty anti-Castro news and blog sites. Today’s entry, “While We Wait”, includes photographs of death, destruction, and despair.

Abajo Fidel (www.abajofidel.blogspot.com) provides Internet radio links and scatological steam letting, along with Drudge-like headlines:

“Medical advise from a reputable cuban gastro doctor from texas...Fidel castro may have had a gastric ulcer or bleeding through the colon area.. At at that age it is very difficult for him to survive but not impossible.. Even if he does survive he may have great additional complications......Developing......”

Oscar frequents the Babalu Blog (www.babalublog.com). Today’s posts provide no news but a lot of rumor:

“As you can imagine, rumors are rampant right now within circles of the Cuban-American community. Ive heard that there was one person who witnessed the bearded bastard die personally. Of course, I cant cofirm the validity of that report. Nor, I suspect, will we be able to confirm any report of any kind regarding this issue. the Cuban government is holding all the cards on this right now. Im getting emails from folks who have been in contact with family in Cuba, most of which saying that there's an eerie silence in the island and most family members are apprehensive about discussing the events via telephone with family abroad for fear of reprisals.”

The Real Cuba (www.therealcuba.com) takes a more traditional approach by providing video clips of the latest news and links to historic documents regarding Castro and the United States.

The Miami Herald is the defacto paper of record for news about Cuba. As expected from a professional news outlet, its blog (http://blogs.herald.com/cuban_connection) offers a journalistic approach to news and information, one that is not fueled by speculation, and therefore, much less entertaining, than, say Independent Sources (http://independentsources.com/2006/07/11/fidel-castro-dead/) that provides a picture of Daisy Fuentes laughing in the surf.

Such are Cubans as they live their lives while they wait for death.

John David Powell is a six-time winner of the Houston Press Club Lone Star Award for Internet Opinion Writing, a communication professional, and a contributor to the Christian History Project. His email address is johndavidpowell@yahoo.com

[HIDEK6]

I bet it's to much to hope for that Raul is better person than Fidel..............

I expect a bloodbath when he finally is announced to be dead.

[TomGuy]

Will Fidel die more times than Pope John Paul or Yassar Arafat, or Saddam Hussein?

Saddam was killed 3 times before we finally captured him.

Yassar died a dozen times before they finally did bury him.

===

I believe it was when Ronald Reagan or Bob Hope died, comedian Phyllis Diller was being interviewed on CNN. She laughed at them, because they had run her obit on their website.

[Moonman62]

He longs for a return of the luster of the jewel of the Caribbean.

Cuba was messed up before Castro came along, and of course is even worse now. It will take a lot of effort to turn it into a good place after he is gone.

[dead]

I absolutely do not understand all the celebration.

One less communist dictator scumbag will walk the earth. That’s reason enough.

He's turned power over to his ruthless brother, Raul. Are things suddenly going to get better? Is he some kind of reformer? Will the communist state end in the near future?

The wishful thinking is that Raul does not have the ability to maintain the cult of personality that has allowed his brother to survive in office for 48 years. Fidel’s death will open the door to rebellion and, eventually, to freedom.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Don't break out the Champagne yet, folks.

Of one thing in life you can be sure: The Devil takes care of His own.

[Ditter]

Is the evil old Bast*** dead yet? Even my very liberal niece was cheering for castro to meet satan today! The sooner the better.

[Don Corleone]

Cuba was messed up before Castro came along, and of course is even worse now. It will take a lot of effort to turn it into a good place after he is gone

Turn it back to me. I'll have it whipped into shape in a week!

[msnimje]

I'll take 30 July 2006.

[AzNASCARfan]

I will have to check my online betting site and see if they have anything about Castro... you can bet on just about anything else, that's for sure!

My wife got a $5 sports book bet tokin after making a $25 deposit into a poker room, and she has that account up to $119 from betting Nascar!

[The Blitherer]

About a week or two ago there were reports that Castro had died. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen him make a public appearance since then. Is it possible that Castro DID die a while ago and this surgury is a set-up to break the news slowly and make the transition of power to Castro's brother smooth?

(I'm not a conspiracy theorist really! I'm just curious if anyone thinks this might be possible?)

[JustaDumbBlonde]

I believe he has assumed room temperature.

[dfwgator]

Too bad this isn't Castro's doctor.

"Wanna know something? I'm a bad doctor. I'm not boasting. I mean, who would? Just stating a fact that I've never really gotten the hang of the whole healing-the-sick thing. And don't interpret this as some sort of false modesty. No, I'm homogeneously unqualified to practice medicine in any capacity. I *really* don't have a clue. And no one could be more shocked than me that I've been allowed to rise to a position of such importance and responsibility."

"But I don't worry about it. I figure, how far can you coast on charm? Well, pretty far, actually!"

[Sans-Culotte]

Raul and Ché were bigger commies than Fidel. However, Fidel had the charisma.

[weegee]

If federal funding of fetal stem cell research had been permitted by the Bush administration, Fidel Castro would still be walking. < /sarc >

[The_Media_never_lie]

Osama and Fidel are alive, and Elvis is dead. There is no justice.

[brytlea]

I was just talking to my friend whose husband is of Cuban descent (his parents immigrated to the US before Castro was in power). Anyway, we were talking about this very thing and she shook her head and said she didn't think anything would change under Raul, as he was a communist just like his brother and they were cut from the same cloth.

susie

[brytlea]

They're probably just happy to imagine him getting his final just desserts.
susie

[Billthedrill]

I want 6 August, 3:00 PM. This is just like one of those "where's the cow gonna poop?" lotteries only even more exciting...

[Veto!]

Fidel castro may have had a gastric ulcer or bleeding through the colon area.. At at that age it is very difficult for him to survive but not impossible.. Even if he does survive he may have great additional complications...

Like pain. Lots of pain. A bit of karmic justice for all of the political prisoners in Castro's jails who suffered hot pokers and/or electric prods in their colons.

[Stultis]

This just in; Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.