FAMILY URGES CASTRO NOT TO ATTEND BIRTHDAY

Reuters interviewed Fidel Castro’s niece Mariela Castro Espin (Raul Castro’s daugther) in which she remarks that her uncle was still fragile after emergency surgery in July for intestinal bleeding and must take care of himself.

Castro Espin, 44, said she had no inside knowledge, but thought that illness and age would prevent Castro from coming back as the full-blown leader of Cuba.

“My impression as an ordinary Cuban is that we are going to have him in another role, as the wise 80-year-old leader that now is going to take care of himself,” she said.

[She is far from an ordinary Cuban, she is part of the Castro family elite.]

Castro sent a message to a Tuesday night gala saying his doctors told him he was “not yet ready for such a challenging engagement” but said nothing about whether he might attend later events.

Many observers think he may make a brief appearance at the parade, which marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the revolution that put him in power in 1959.

Castro Espin said her father has assumed power “very relaxed and very intelligently.”

“He has his own style of working, very organized, sharing responsibilities,” she said.

By contrast, she said, “All of us have given the comandante (Fidel Castro) too much responsibility.”

She said Raul Castro was taking care his sick brother not try to do too much by making sure “each person assumes his responsibility without putting it on the comandante.”

“He (Raul) has a lot of confidence in the intelligence of the comandante, not only to direct the revolution, but also to cure himself,” she said.

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