[NYTr] Chavez steals show in Cuba

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Typical banal celeb stuff from Boadle. Who's "stealing the show."
What color t-shirts the Cuban ministers wore. Almost nothing of
substance, of course. But all the substantial news has been reported by
the Cuban and Mexican and Venezuelan media, and the business news
media, where despite themselves, even the Yanqui reporters do seem
interested in actual news.-NYTr]

Reuters via Yahoo - Oct 16, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071016/wl_nm/cuba_venezuela_dc

Chavez steals show in Cuba

By Anthony Boadle 

Tue Oct 16, 6:36 PM ET

HAVANA (Reuters) - With Fidel Castro sidelined by illness, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez stormed through Cuba this week and stole the
limelight from his ailing mentor.

Eight hours of Chavez speeches -- including his weekly "Alo Presidente"
show -- were broadcast live during his three-day visit to Cuba, a burst
of rhetoric not seen since Castro dropped out of public view after
intestinal surgery last year.

Chavez, bolstered by soaring oil prices, has emerged as Castro's
political successor and the new leader of Latin America's growing
left-wing bloc, which also includes Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

Cuban cabinet ministers wore red T-shirts traditionally used by Chavez
supporters in Venezuela as they sat and listened to him propose that
Cuba join Venezuela in a confederation of two nations.

"Deep down, we are one single government, one single country," the
swaggering Venezuelan populist said on Sunday at the tomb of
revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Santa Clara in central Cuba.

His remarks and increasing confidence raised questions about his
political influence in Cuba now that Castro is largely out of the
picture.

Chavez did most of the talking when the 81-year-old Castro, who has not
appeared in public in almost 15 months, called in by telephone on
Sunday to Chavez's radio and television program broadcast live to Cuba
and Venezuela.

Chavez then met with low-profile acting President Raul Castro on Monday
and signed a string of economic deals, ranging from oil production,
refining and petrochemicals to tourism and the laying of a 1,000-mile
underwater fiber optic cable from Venezuela to Cuba.

Cuba's ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma highlighted the economic
integration between the two allies, not the political fusion that
Chavez touted during his visit.

The agreements cement an alliance between Latin America's two most
anti-American leaders that has helped keep Cuba's economy afloat with
vital Venezuelan oil supplies in return for Cuban medical and other
social services.

CUBAN INDEPENDENCE

Chavez's call for political union surprised Cubans who welcome his
economic aid but take pride in the independence of their country, which
has faced off with the United States since Castro's 1959 revolution.

"I think this is excellent for our economy," said Lazaro, an apartment
building administrator. "But nobody knows how long Chavez will last or
who will come after him?"

Some Cubans, weary of communist rule, chose to turn off their
television sets and not listen to Chavez. "He looked like a clown,
singing on stage. I think it's all a bluff. I switched off," said a
Havana housewife, who asked not to named.

Analysts say Chavez still needs the survival of Castro's government in
Cuba for ideological legitimacy and that his influence over Cuban
policy is limited.

"When Hugo Chavez calls for a 'confederation of republics' between
Venezuela and Cuba, it is enough to give any Cuban nationalist
nightmares," said Dan Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think
tank in Washington.

"But despite Chavez's sweeping rhetoric, the reality is that Venezuela
still has very little influence on how Cuba manages its domestic
political and economic affairs."