Fuentes del diario Financial Times revelan algunas de las cuestiones tratadas en el famoso video que circula en Cuba dentro de la elite de poder y donde el régimen justifica y da las razones por las cuales Carlos Lage y Perez Roque fueron purgados.
Traducción muy rapida de algunos puntos
- El montaje del video de la reunión, grabaciones telefonicas, video de vigilancia, fotos y testimonios es narrado por un oficial de la Seguridad del Estado
- Los miembros del PCC invitados a ver este video no se les permite traer equipos de grabacion, siquiera pluma y papel estan permitidos. Se prohibe levantarse para ir al baño.
- En entrevistas con el Financial Times, algunos de los que han visto el video lo describen como un intento de Raul de describir a los aliados politicos cercanos de Fidel como Carlos Valenciaga y demas como lacayos del imperialismo o deselales.
- En el montaje del video se ve a Raul con la constitución en la mano demandando su respeto, diciendo que se proponga cambios en ella donde sean necesarios y criticando al Consejo de Estado por su inutilidad
- "Si el Consejo de Estado no puede ser reformado, pues sera eliminado" dijo Raul según testimonios de algunos presentes que fueron entrevistados por el Financial Times
- Sentado con uniforme de general detras de un buró lleno de papeles, Raúl habla de la importancia de las instituciones y de seguir las reglas y regulaciones. El habla que su nuevo gabinete tiene 90 dias para poner sus cosas en orden y establecer prioridades. Dice que despues de eso no quiero saber mucho de ellos ya que presume que puedan realizar sus trabajos.
- Luego mira al Buro Politico y les dice: "Ahora les voy a hablar de cosas dolorosas"
- El Presidente anuncia el arresto de Conrado Hernández el representante Cubano de la Region Vasca para operaciones de negocios y lee la confesión del Sr. Hernández en la cual el dice que informó al Centro Nacional de Inteligencia usando las amistades de mucho tiempo con sus amigos el Sr. Lage y otros protegidos de Fidel.
- El Sr. Mr Hernández provee detalles de la información y favores que el recibió de cada hombre y del role que cada uno jugó en considerar a el liderazgo envejecido cubano no calificado para gobernar. Entre los que comentaron esto se incluian el Dr Raúl Castellanos Lage un ex miembro del partido, cardiologo y primo de Lage que fue el primero en ser blanco de investigaciones despues que declaro que los nombramientos impuestos para lideres ancianos deben ser remendados por el bien de la nación
- "No se preocupen ya arrestamos a Castellanos esta mañana dice Raul en el video."
- El Presidente le pregunta a los acusados si tienen algo que decir y lo mejor que ellos ofrecen es ignorancia sobre los vinculos de espionage de su amigo.
- Para este punto algunos de los mas viejos presentes se levantan y gritan que metan preso a los acusados por traicion.
- La presentación luego muestra al fiesta de boda del Dr. Castellanos en el Hotel Ambos Mundos en la Habana. La fiesta lujosa tomo lugar el 23 de Febrero del 2008 el dia que el Buro Politico se reunio para aprobar a un nuevo presidente, vice presidente y otros miembros del Consejo de Estado para su eleccion al dia siguiente pro el Parlamento.
- El grupo en contra de la eleccion de ancianos veia al Sr. lage como el candidato seguro para esa posicion de Primer Vice Presidente, el segundo puesto mas importante despues de la presidencia.
- En el video el Sr. lage llega a la boda despues de haber salido de la reunion del Buro Politico para informar a Perez Roque en el balcón del hotel que Jose Ramon Machado Ventura fue nombrado el Primer Vide Presidente violando una orden de Raul de mantener la noticia secreta hasta que el Parlamento haya votado. Un enfurecido Perez Roque dice que Machado arruinará al pais. Con el humor de la fiesta evaporado el Sr. Hernández se marcha para informar a los servicios de inteligencia de España de la decision de acuerdo a la confesión.
- El Sr. Hernández esta en prisión por cargos de traición como tambien lo esta el Dr. Castellanos. Los miembros del gabinete y protegidos de Fidel estan libres. El Sr. Perez esta trabajando en una fabrica de electronica y el Sr. Valenciaga esta en la Biblioteca Nacional mientras el Sr. Lage esta encerrado en su casa.
- Las aparentes indiscreciones documentadas en la presentacion han sido registradas por miembros jovenes del Partido Comunista. Pero no es claro que el mensaje haya sido recibido.
- "Todas estas personas fueron promovidas por el Partido que obviamente comparte culpa, dijo un miembro joven del Partido al Financial Times."
Cuba's Raúl conducts purge by video
By Marc Frank in Havana
Published: July 15 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 15 2009 03:00
The Financial Times
It is not the stuff of Khrushchev unmasking Stalin, nor the fall of China's Gang of Four, but a three-hour film being shown to thousands of the Cuban Communist party's 1m members this summer has emerged as a rare admission that all is not well at the pinnacle of power in Havana.
The video footage is drawn largely from a March meeting of the Communist party politburo and features Raúl Castro, the president, sacking most of the cabinet he inherited from his ailing brother, Fidel, including prominent political figures such as Carlos Lage, vice-president and Felipe Perez Roque, foreign minister.
The presentation's main message, according to people who have seen it, could not be clearer: the state is watching and Raúl will not tolerate even the slightest breach of party discipline, any cosying up to foreigners, or a hint of disloyalty as he attempts to put his brother's revolutionary house in order.
The montage of footage from the meeting, recorded telephone conversations, surveillance video, photographs and testimony narrated by a state security official provides a rare glimpse of Cuba under Raúl, who formally took over from Fidel in February 2008.
Party faithful who are invited to screenings are not allowed to bring in recording devices, or even a pen and paper. A trip to the lavatory is forbidden, as is attendance by the public or foreign journalists.
But in interviews with the Financial Times, people who have attended showings recounted details of the presentation and what appears to be a concerted effort by Raúl to portray a number of his brother's prominent aides, including Carlos Valenciaga, Fidel's personal aid for almost a decade, as either foreign lackeys or politically -disloyal.
Mr Lage was viewed by many inside and outside the country as a future president, and Mr Perez as perhaps the next in line. Both were personally groomed by Fidel and held up as apparent examples of loyal and austere communists. Their dramatic fall from grace has left many puzzled and wondering if a political purge was under way.
Those involved in the scandal are uncontactable and plainclothes security agents have been observed surrounding Mr Lage's residence, presumably to keep the foreign media at bay.
In the video montage, the president is seen waving Cuba's constitution, demanding that it be respected, and changed where needed. He criticises the Council of State, a 31-member executive stamp much used by Fidel to govern, as having little, if any, practical purpose.
"If it [the council] can't be reformed it should be eliminated," he says, according to people who have seen the presentation.
Sitting in his general's uniform behind a desk scattered with papers, Raúl speaks of the importance of institutions and of following rules and regulations. He tells his new cabinet they have 90 days to put their domains in order and to set priorities. He says that, after that, he does not want to see much of them, as he assumes they can perform their jobs.
Later, he looks around the politburo and states: "I am now going to talk of painful things."
The president announces the arrest of Conrado Hernández, the Cuban representative of the Basque regional government's business operations, and reads Mr Hernández's confession, in which he says he informed for Spain's National Intelligence Centre, using his lifelong friendships with Mr Lage and other protégés of Fidel.
Mr Hernández details the information and favours he received from each man and the role each played in a clique of the disgruntled officials who considered Cuba's ageing leadership unfit to govern, a clique that included Dr Raúl Castellanos Lage - a former party leader, cardiologist and Mr Lage's cousin, who first became the target of investigations after he declared that stent placements for elderly leaders should be botched for the good of the nation.
"Don't worry, we arrested Castellanos this morning," Raúl says in the video.
The president asks the accused if they have anything to say. The best they apparently offer is ignorance of their friend's intelligence ties.
By this point some older theatre goers were rising from their seats to shout that the accused should be imprisoned if not shot for treason, witnesses at three different Havana showings said.
The presentation later features the wedding party of Dr Castellanos at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in Havana. The luxurious fiesta took place on February 23 2008, the day the politburo met to approve a new president, first vice-president and other Council of State members for their "election" the following day by parliament.
The clique had viewed Mr Lage as a sure bet to win the position of first vice-president, the second most powerful post after the presidency.
In the video, Mr Lage arrives at the wedding from the politburo meeting to inform Mr Perez on a hotel balcony that Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named first vice-president, violating an order by Raúl to keep the news secret until the parliament vote. An infuriated Mr Perez swears and states that Mr Machado will ruin the country. With the party mood evaporating, Mr Hernández leaves to inform Spain's intelligence service of the decision, according to his confession.
Mr Hernández is in prison on charges of treason, as is Dr Castellanos. The cabinet members and Fidel protégés remain free. Mr Perez is working at an electronics factory and Mr Valenciaga at the national library, while Mr Lage remains holed up at home.
The apparent indiscretions documented in the presentation have been registered by younger members of the Communist party. But whether the message has been received as intended remains unclear.
"All these people were promoted by the party, obviously it shares the blame," one younger party member told the Financial Times.
Fuente de la Imagen: Cubanet
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