Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel, the hero of the “Bay of Pigs,” is a 79 year old man taking reform actions in order to modify Cuba. He inherited the authority there from his brother, three years ago. It is no simple matter that Raul Castro should declare these reforms to the state's apparatuses and economic wheel at the fiftieth anniversary of his brother's victory in the confrontation with the USA, which was aiming to overthrow the regime of the revolution in Havana. Fidel Castro considered that his victory over John Kennedy represented the first defeat of the American imperialism in the Western hemisphere. Raul Castro did not think that this victory was sufficient to provide the Cubans with supplies for the coming fifty years. He also did not think that the ongoing conflict between his country and the United States is a good enough reason for preventing the movement of domestic reform. On the contrary, he announced in front of the Communist Party conference, which is to conclude today, that Cuba “cannot keep on blaming the American siege and considering it the main reason for all our problems. We must liberate our dying economy in order to save socialism.” In other words, Raul Castro did not accuse those who are asking for reforms in Cuba, including the opponents on the outside and also the opponents from within the country, of carrying out an American “conspiracy” against his country. He also did not blame that “conspiracy” for blocking the road of the movement of change, which is a must for the inside. On the contrary, he considered that reform and early reform that the regime must carry out before the “conspiracy” will protect, strengthen, and enhance the country's domestic unity. One of the most important measures announced by Raul Castro is setting the term of prominent officials in the country's major posts to ten years, i.e. two terms of five years each with no possibility for renewal. This means that the current conference of the Cuban Communist Party – the party's Secretary General is expected to agree on the conference's suggestions – will be the last one to be led by a Castro family member or any of the old generation's members. The commanders themselves are admitting that they have failed to present new faces to take over responsibility. Indeed, Raul Castro said in a very candid confession: “It is very embarrassing for us to have failed in solving this problem for over half a century.” This means that new faces will surface out on the ruling arena in Havana. The world must get used to the new names in light of the real “spring” that is appearing there and that looks nothing like our Arab “spring.” Raul Castro is 79 years old. Changes in the system are not necessarily carried out by the young ones but rather by the ones with the young minds. These have no age. Raul Castro is the neighbor of another “dissident,” one whose pictures are abundant in some of our streets. It is Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez. It is unsure whether Chavez has learned anything from the Cuban lesson: the fortification of the inside is what protects against the external storms and “conspiracies.” It is a good thing for some people in our region to interpret the Cuban lesson as well. Those who are actively working on blocking the road to change, those who are fighting change, and those who are confronting the populaces calling for change under slogans of the protection of resistance and opposition are actually serving neither. The renaissance of these populaces, their unity, and their honest (rather than deceitful) support of their regimes, are the factors that provide the real chances for the success of the resistance projects. But without all this, windows will be open to all kinds of interference, and this is what represents the real threat to the regimes.
