Rumors are flying in Miami tonight that the Cuban leader has died, even though the official word in Cuba is that Fidel is still alive.

Sandra Avila, an executive at a design firm in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, said clients and vendors called all day asking about the rumors.

“I-ve heard the rumors before, but there’s a different feeling this time, like this time it’s real,” she said.

The rumor mill took off a year ago when the Cuban leader announced he would turn power over to his brother Raul because of an intestinal illness. Since then, Castro, who has ruled Cuba for nearly 48 years, has not been seen in public.

Even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, a Cuban-American who normally deals with Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, jumped into the fray Friday, writing that sources were saying the Miami police were poised to announce Castro’s death.

By Marc Frank

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro on Sunday scoffed at Bush administration efforts to ease social problems in Latin America, boasting his poor country could run circles around the United States in health and education aid.

“Bush will discover that the empire’s political and economic system can’t compete in the area of vital services such as education and health with Cuba, assaulted and blockaded for almost 50 years,” Castro wrote in an editorial published by the official newspaper Rebel Youth.

“Everyone knows the U.S. specialty in the area of education is to steal brains,” Castro charged, citing an International Labor Organization report that 47 percent of foreign-born students that complete a Ph.D. in the United States stay on there.

A Cuban literacy program is being used by millions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Castro said.

The 80-year-old Cuban leader has taken to writing opinion pieces as he recovers from a series of intestinal surgeries over the last year.

Castro’s brother and defense minister, Raul Castro, 76, has been temporarily running the government.

The Bush administration hosted 150 Latin American and 90 U.S. organizations this week to discuss U.S. social work in Latin America and promote corporate efforts in the region. (emphasis mine)

The White House Conference on the Americas was attended by Bush, his wife, Laura, and five Cabinet members as part of an effort to counter Venezuela’s and Cuba’s growing use of education and health programs to win hearts and minds in South America. (emphasis mine)

More at Reuters

If the man lived to be a thousand years old, it would be worth it just to PISS THESE PEOPLE OFF!

Castro up and talking in new Cuban video

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) – Cuban television Tuesday broadcast scenes of what it said was ailing leader Fidel Castro meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The only indication of a date on the video was a copy of Saturday’s edition of the Argentine newspaper Clarin, which Chavez carried.

The 80-year-old Castro, who has ruled Cuba since the 1959 communist revolution he led, ceded power to his brother Raul in late July before undergoing intestinal surgery.

Castro has not been seen in public or on video since October, and the Cuban government has maintained secrecy about his condition, giving rise to widespread speculation about his fate.

Chavez told the Cuban state television program “Roundtable” that Castro was in a good mood and looked well Monday during their meeting.

The scenes that aired Tuesday showed Castro, dressed in a track suit, talking with Chavez, a close ally. The Cuban leader was shot from the waist up and could be seen standing but not walking.

Chavez said they spent two hours discussing various topics, including “the threats of the empire” — a reference to the United States.

Earlier this month, the Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted unnamed medical sources saying Castro was in grave condition.

A Spanish surgeon, who had visited Castro in December and works at the same hospital as the sources, dismissed the report and said Castro’s current condition shows “some progressive improvement.”

Source: CNN.com

Ok, this just seems wrong to me on many levels…….

MIAMI, Florida (AP) — The city of Miami is planning an official celebration at the Orange Bowl whenever Cuban president Fidel Castro dies.

Discussions by a committee appointed earlier this month by the city commission to plan the event have even covered issues such as a theme to be printed on T’shirts, what musicians would perform, the cost and how long the celebration would last.

Such a gathering has long been part of the city’s plan for Castro’s death, but firming up the specifics has been more urgent since Castro became ill last summer and turned over power to his brother, Raul.

City Commissioner Tomas Regalado, a Cuban American, came up with the idea of using the Orange Bowl, noting the stadium was the site of a speech by President Kennedy in 1961 promising a free Cuba. (Castro seized power in 1959.)

In the 1980s the Orange Bowl served as a camp for refugees from the Mariel boatlift from Cuba, he added.

“Basically, the only thing we’re trying to do is have a venue, a giant venue ready for people, if they wish, to speak to the media, to show their emotions. It’s not that we’re doing an official death party,” Regalado said Monday.

Former state Rep. Luis Morse stressed the need for an uplifting theme for the party — one not preoccupied with a human being’s passing.

Critics have accused the city of dictating where people should party, with many preferring to celebrate on the streets of Little Havana. The city says the Orange Bowl celebration would not preclude that.

“This is not a mandatory site,” Regalado said of the Orange Bowl. “Just a place for people to gather.”

Read more at CNN.com

Amid a flurry of reports of Castro being near death, Chavez insists the Cuban leader’s health was slowly progressing.

Chavez: Castro ‘fighting for his life,’ progressing slowly

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CNN) – Cuban leader Fidel Castro is “fighting for his life,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday.

Chavez, who said he spoke to Castro a few days ago by telephone, compared Castro’s battle against a serious intestinal illness with the Cuban leader’s time in the island’s mountains heading the revolution against the Fulgencio Batista government.

“Fidel is again in the Sierra Maestra again,” Chavez said Friday in a speech to the state legislature in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“He’s fighting for his life. We don’t know; we want him to recover, and he continues progressing, although slowly.”

Noting Castro’s age, Chavez said that “he said it himself: the machine that they have to fix is 80 years old.”

Castro has not been seen in public since before July 31, when he relinquished power to his brother Raul so that he could undergo intestinal surgery. The Cuban government has maintained secrecy about his condition.

Source: CNN.com

Gee, Ileana… how about you and the rest of that worthless republican crowd advocate some of that freedom and love our (America’s) way for a change???

Congresswoman Denies Urging Killing of Castro

MIAMI, Dec. 10 (AP) - A congresswoman says a video showing her calling for Fidel Castro’s assassination is fake, a charge denied Sunday by the film’s director.

The congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, appears in the 28’second clip made available on the Internet by the makers of a new British documentary, “638 Ways to Kill Castro.”

In it, she says: “I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people.”

But Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, a Havana-born lawmaker recently selected to become the top Republican on the House International Relations Committee, says the filmmakers spliced clips together to make the sound bite.

“It’s twisted in a way that gives the viewer a totally wrong impression,” she told The Miami Herald. “I-ve said the community has moved on, that those strategies are not being used today, but apparently the filmmakers think we-re still in a -60s mentality.”
…
The film’s director, Dollan Cannell, stood by the authenticity of the video.

“I can assure you categorically and completely that there has been no distortion of what she said,” Mr. Cannell told The Associated Press on Sunday.
…
“No one advocates assassination,” the congresswoman said. “What we are advocating for is free elections, freedom for political prisoners, free expression of ideas and respect for human rights. That’s how you get change in Cuba. Not assassination.”

New York Times story

HAVANA — Troops are massing for a huge parade and guests are arriving from around the world to celebrate Fidel Castro’s 80th birthday. Now the question is: Will the ailing guest of honor make an appearance?

Whether Castro shows up for some of the five days of festivities starting Tuesday will provide clues about the leader’s health and ability to resume the power he held for 47 years _ or at least feed further speculation about it.

Rows of troops in olive green fatigues marched Monday morning across Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution to prepare for a big military parade on Saturday honoring Castro and marking the 50th anniversary of the island’s Revolutionary Armed Forces.

More here