Eclipsing The Moon

As my mind turned toward selecting a topic for this week’s blog, a clear path toward this evening’s total lunar eclipse seemed to be emerging. After all, this periodic natural phenomenon is a spectacle that will be viewed with interest across North America. There has not been a total lunar eclipse since August 28, 2007, and there will not be another until December, 21, 2010.

Of course other newsworthy events continue to unfold. Senators Obama and McCain won their respective Wisconsin Primaries, McCain also won in Washington State, and Obama is expected to prevail in Hawaii, where he was born, and still has family. The price of oil exceeded $100 per barrel, and the United States has decided it will soon test new military technology to shoot down a dysfunctional spy satellite.

Yes, all of these matters are interesting subjects, compelling in their own right. But upon deeper reflection, I decided to spend a few minutes contemplating the quite expected demise of one of the most enduring and enigmatic political forces in the history of the Americas, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz.

The 81 year-old Cuban attorney, turned revolutionary, has been in power since January 8, 1959, nearly 50 years, the result of an armed revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Over the years Castro assumed various titles, but always retained a firm grasp on the Cuban government. Shortly after the revolution, he was sworn in as Cuba’s Prime Minister. In 1965 he became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, and transformed the Country into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he assumed the presidency of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers. He also maintained the supreme military rank of Comandante en Jefe ("Commander in Chief") of the Cuban armed forces. Fidel also holds at least one non-Cuban title, Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement, an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

The evolution of the downward trajectory of the Castro era was considered in full effect on July 31, 2006 when after surgery for an undisclosed illness, believed to have been diverticulitis, Fidel transferred his responsibilities to First Vice-President, Raúl Castro, his younger brother. At that time, it was widely rumored that Fidel would never again resume authority. In fact, he was thought to be near death by many.

Yesterday, five days before his mandate expired, Fidel Castro, in Lyndon Johnson style, declared he would neither seek nor accept a new term as President or Commander-in-Chief. For decades, Castro has been considered a lightening rod in American political circles. The United States has maintained formal economic, commercial, and financials sanctions on Cuba since February 7, 1962, in the form of an embargo. President Bush has already declared he will not immediately lift the embargo.

It is estimated more than one million Cubans have migrated to the United States, many settling in Miami, and South Florida. The Castro Regime developed a number of policies that ostensibly benefited many of Cuba’s poor, while disfranchising the wealthy and middle class. Many of the latter, whom supported the revolution, were displaced, and subsequently fled to America, where they formed a passionate anti-Castro community.

American business and citizens also had their property expropriated and Nationalized. In 1992, the embargo was codified, and entitled the Cuban Democracy Act. The purpose of the law was framed as “bringing democracy to the Cuban people. To augment the measure, Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act in 1996, further restricting United States citizens from doing business with Cuba. In 1999, President Bill Clinton expanded the trade embargo by eliminating subsidies to businesses doing business with Cuba. It is worth noting, however, despite the trade embargo and all of its iterations and expansions, the United States is still the seventh largest exporter to Cuba, totaling over 4 percent of Cuba’s imports.

There has been significant speculation that Raul Castro will move Cuba toward more centrist policies, which in turn will result in a gradual normalizing of relations with potential trading parties, including the United States. There may be opportunities for repatriation and family reunification, also.

While symbolically, the change in Cuba may not be as fundamentally earth-shaking a shift as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implosion of the Soviet Communist Bloc, or even the evolution of China, it is as close as we can come in the Western Hemisphere. In a manner of speaking, Fidel relinquishing power is akin to the end of a half-century eclipse, as the people of Cuba may now see past the impediment that blocked their path to a free and open society.

I am done; Holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com, or by Googling thesphinxofcharlotte. A new post is published each Wednesday.


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