By Gary Marx
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published February 8, 2007
HAVANA -- Six months after ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power, young hard-liners linked to Castro have all but disappeared from public view as economic czar Carlos Lage -- a moderate reformer -- has seen his profile grow, diplomats and analysts say.
Notably absent from the spotlight since Castro handed authority last July to his younger brother, Raul, are Otto Rivero, Hassan Perez and other young radicals collectively known by diplomats and some Cubans here as "the Taliban."
This is a very enlightening article. I'm sure there is much more to the story behind some of the political maneuvering by Raul, but it does highlight a generational variable.
Like some Cuban experts have suggested, Raul Castro may run into problems if generational tensions occur within the political elites. It may or may not happen.
Time will tell.
Posted by: Mambi Watch | February 09, 2007 at 11:27 AM
There no softliners or middle-of-the-road-liners in Cuba; there are only hardliners whose only concern is to maintain the status quo without Fidel. Those who pretend to see such gradations of opinion in the Cuban system are applying the norms of democracy to an eminently undemocratic system.
Posted by: Manuel A. Tellechea | February 09, 2007 at 12:12 PM