THE CASTRO CONUNDRUM

19-02-2008

Fidel Castro’s decision to formally stand down as Cuba’s leader today following months of bad health opens up a vista of possibilities - not least a transition to democracy. That would be welcome but so, too, would retaining the best aspects of the Revolution.

Anyone who has visited the island will tell you that it’s claim to have health and education systems far superior to its neighbours is no idle boast.

It’s also incredibly safe. Tourists can walk through the dim back streets of Havana late at night without any fear of being mugged.

The country’s great musical heritage, suppressed in the immediate aftermath of the 1959 uprising because of its association with the sleazylifestyle of right wing, US-backed Batista regime, has come to the fore again too.

Wim Wenders’ movie “Buena Vista Social Club” gave a new lease of life to dozens of old performers who are now able to pull in a few dollars for their pension fund.

These days, even proto-capitalists are tolerated; small, independent restaurants or "paladares" offering meat and veg from the lush countryside are now tolerated (and sometimes even promoted) by the government.

What Cuba lacks, of course, is freedom – or at least freedom in the sense that you and I understand it.

On one occasion, walking through Havana, I was ushered into a the safety of a church by a local who offered his services as a “guide”, but then whispered under his breath about his son, a doctor, who couldn’t afford to feed his family.

The man was, in fact, a hustler, trying to earn a living from selling a sob story – but for all that,his tale had the ring of truth, not least because we heard similar stories elsewhere in the capital.

Maybe he exaggerated the cloak and dagger stuff – but then again, maybe not.

In Havana, there’s a huge space age ice cream parlour called Coppelliset in a beautiful park (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CWTLdoOk3Mw)but locals and tourists stand in separate queues and eat in different areas.

There are different restaurants too for Cubans and visitors - somebody, somewhere, didn’t want the two groups to mix.

For all that, this is a country which has determinedly followed its own course in the face of a vicious American blockade.

The Yanks – inflamed by a noisy exile lobby based around Florida – never seem to have cottoned on to the fact that their hostility was the greatest gift they could bestow on Castro.

Clamping down on free speech would normally appal European liberals; but when it can be portrayed as protecting national security against the aggressor in Washington, that’s a different matter.

Now that Castro’s brother Raul has been given the reins of power, we shouldn’t expect any immediate change, but over the long term a thaw in relations with it’s American neighbour seems inevitable.

The price on the US side will be western-style free elections; it should not be at the cost to ordinary Cubans of losingthe egalitarian benefits Fidel has brought them over the last five decades.

Ever been to Cuba? What did you make of it? And what is Castro’s legacy? Leave a comment on the Message Board.