CUBA: Raul Named New Party Secretary; Property Sales Plan Ratified; But Who Will Succeed Raul?

NYTIMES / ANALYSIS/  R. Archibold/

   President Raúl Castro, 79, was elected first secretary of the communist party replacing his brother Fidel, 84 with Fidel in attendance as the 6th Party Congress ratified more than 300 reforms...including a plan to legalize property sales.
  But many are skeptical as the winds of change slowly blow thru La Habana's Capitolio.
 “We have a way of making changes but keeping everything the same,” said a young street vendor. “The basic problem is we have no money. I am hoping what they are discussing will change that.”
  Also, there is the problem of leadership.
   The current crop is old...very old.  Who will succeed Raul?
   Party stalwart Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (pictured below) 80, was just elected second secretary.

  A leading political scientists observes: “I think it is not just about more young people. It’s about young people who think differently. We can have young people who think like the old ones or we can have young people who are young and think differently.”
   The names most frequently mentioned by the Habanistas/tobacco leaf readers...as possible successors: Marino Murillo, 50,  Lázaro Expósito, believed to be in his 40s and Lázara López Acea, 47.

CUBA: 7 Mar. UPDATE: Guilty? Or Not? Of Crimes Against The Castros, U.S. Contractor Gross Faces 20 Years.

LINK CHANGE/ REUTERS/ 
RECAP/ J.FRANK

  REUTERS quickly retracted its breaking news report late yesterday that Cuban television revealed U.S. contractor Alan Gross... was found guilty. 
   Oops! Poor translation, perhaps! Or more probably... Cuba's noticiero incompetente.
   Anyway, at deadline - my dinnertime - this blog got burned! 
   The 3 hours daily it takes to read hundreds of RSS, write headlines and edit this blog... was up-- and I was hungry.  
   My apologies for misleading any readers.
  
   Yet, after a closed 2-day trial, Gross, still stands accused of illegally supplying Internet gear to dissidents and awaiting the verdict of crimes against Cuba. It may come in a few days.
   Normally, for domestic crimes in Cuba, the verdict is immediate.
  But this is a high profile trial followed by the world and involves its important, powerful neighbor and "tormentor."
   Gross, 61, was arrested in December 2009 for running a program promoting democracy in Cuba funded by the US government. Such activity is outlawed and considered subversive.
   If convicted, he can still appeal his sentence to Cuba's highest court.
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   Some Habanistas (Cuba watchers) speculate that the Castros may try to barter Gross' freedom for one or more of the infamous 5 spies languishing in U.S. jails (pictured below).

CUBA: What Is Fidel Up To...???

M.HERALD/ ANDRES OPPENHEIMER/ OPINION/
ANALYSIS/
   As expected, the Habanistas have been swirling and studying their coffee grounds to explain Fidel Castro's recent spate of public appearances. Columnist Andres Oppenheimer gives the 5 most common explanations.

OPPENHEIMER:   "Here's the question being asked by almost anybody who is following the latest news from Cuba -- what on earth is Fidel Castro up to? Since he made his first public appearance in four years last month, Cuba's officially retired dictator -- who turned 84 Friday -- hasn't stopped showing up in public, and grabbing the headlines. Proclaiming himself ``totally'' recovered from the intestinal ailment that forced him to turn over the presidency to his brother Gen. Raúl Castro in 2006, Fidel Castro has made more than a dozen public appearances since he was photographed visiting the National Center of Scientific Investigations on July 7."