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Castro's absence at celebration perpetuates rumors
BY ANITA SNOW ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA — Fidel Castro was a no-show Saturday at a major military parade that doubled as his 80th birthday celebration, raising questions about whether the allying leader will ever return to power as his public absence begins taking on a tone of permanence.
Many Cubans had hoped for at least a glimpse of Castro before dozens of olive camouflaged tanks rumbled through the Plaza of the Revolution and jett fighters soared
above the capital to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Castro hasn't been seen in public since July 26, before he underwent secretive intestinal surgery and temporarily ceded power to his younger brother, Raul. He delayed his 80th birthday celebration from Aug. 13 to this week in order to give himself time to recover, and speculation had been rite whether he would appear.
The military event, which lasted about two hours, culminated five days of events to celebrate Castro's birthday — none of which he attend.
ed.
Instead, it was Raul Castro, the island's defense minister, who stood at the mahogany lectern reviewing the troops during Saturday's parade.
The parade's most obvious purpose was to warn the U.S. against taking advantage of Fidel Castros illness to attack the island. In the last 15 years the Cuban military has taken on a purely defensive role, and is trained to repel invaders.
In a speech that lacked his brother's rhetorical flourishes, Raul Castro reached out to the U.S. government, which has a decades-old trade and
travel embargo against the communist-run island. He did not explain the absence of his brother.
"We take this opportunity to once again state that we are willing to resolve at the negotiating table the long-standing dispute between the United States and Cuba," as long as the U.S. respects Cuba's sovereignty, said Raul Castro, who turned 75 in June.
"After almost half a century, we are willing to wait patiently until the moment when common sense prevails in Washington power circles," he added.
U. S. State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus said Saturday that "the dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban regime and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island.
"Any deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends on that dialogue and the Cuban regime's willingness to take concrete steps toward a political opening and a transition to democracy," she added.
Raul Castro used the event to underscore cohesion among the Cuban people, the armed forces and
the Communist Party - a recurring theme among officials in recent days.
"This unity is our main strategic weapon, which has made it possible for this small island to resist and overcome so many aggressions from imperialism and its allies," he said.
Cuban officials insist Fidel Castro is recovering, but U.S. officials say they believe he suffers from some kind of inoperable cancer and will not live through the end of 2007. He has appeared thin and pale in photographs and videos released by the government in recent months.
WORLD
Gen. Pinochet clings to life in Chile
BY EDUARDO GALLARDO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTIAGO, Chile — Gen. Augusto Pinochet, whose 17-year dictatorship carried out thousands of political killings and widespread torture, was fighting for his life in a Chilean hospital Sunday after suffering a heart attack. But doctors
said his condition was improving after an emergency procedure to restore blood flow to his heart.
plasty performed in the morning to clear a heart artery obstruction "allowed improvement in his condition."
Doctors initially said they planned bypass surgery Sunday on the 91-year-old former strongman but they later ruled it out. Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara, a member of the team treating Pinochet, said the surgery was not needed after an angio-
"No bypass has been performed and we expect no open heart surgery will be necessary." Vergara said on Sunday afternoon, explaining that such surgery was extremely risky for someone of Pinochet's age.
"There is a trend toward improvement," he said. "He is conscious, he communicates with us and with his family."
But Vergara made clear Pinochet's condition continues to be serious "and the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical to see whether other complications appear."
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