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| "El Buitre" |
Raul Castro, the island's defense minister and designated successor of his 79-year-old brother, dismissed claims that Cuba's political system would change dramatically after his brother is no longer president, saying the party would quickly fill any political vacuum.
| I believe the term you're looking for is "implosion" |
The comments were published Thursday in state-run media.
As first vice president of the Council of State, Cuba's supreme governing body, Raul Castro, 74, is legally designated to assume his brother's role as president of the council in the event of 'absence, illness or death.' Fidel Castro turns 80 in August. Raul Castro appears to have the loyalty of the nation's top generals, giving him control over as many as 50,000 active troops and firepower that includes
In his speech, he said Cuba's emphasis on building a strong military has been justified by the constant threat posed by the United States ever since Fidel Castro embraced communism. 'We Cubans are conscious of the fact that without the effort sustained by our people to consolidate the defensive capacity of the country, we would have ceased to exist as an independent nation a long time ago,' he said. He said the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq proved how far the United States will go with its 'imperialist aims of planetary hegemony.'
With that war, he said, 'It became obvious that the hawks of the empire were considering the possibility of settling scores with those who represented an obstacle to their dreams of world domination.' Cuba, he added, is surely near the top of their 'target' list.
| Well, at least in the top 100. |
| Watching those air strike videos on CNN have you? |
Raul Castro fought alongside his brother in the 1950s during the battle to topple the government of Fulgencio Batista. Other aging revolutionary leaders, including Juan Almeida and Guillermo Garcia, accompanied him at the Wednesday military event.
| Raul doesn't have the cult following Fidel does. |