Amid Symbols of Past, Castro Looks to Future

After nearly four centuries of Spanish colonial rule and four decades of communism in Cuba, a Spanish king set foot in Old Havana for the first time Monday--touring the cobblestone streets built by his ancestors and posing beside a 200-year-old throne that was meant for, but never used by, an Iberian monarch.

There was a smattering of applause and a rare shout of “Long live the king!” as Juan Carlos I strolled for more than an hour through recently restored colonial symbols of Spain’s former power--including the palace where Spain officially ceded Cuba to the United States a century ago.

But missing from the historic scene, which was kept off limits to the public, was the durable leader whom many had expected to be the king’s escort: Fidel Castro, who led the Communist revolution aimed against Cuba’s oligarchic, colonial roots and the decadence of its superpower enemy to the north.

While reveling in the king’s presence on the island, Castro also was focusing on the future. As Juan Carlos toured Old Havana, the Cuban leader was at the airport, bearhugging Venezuela’s new, populist leader, President Hugo Chavez--an appropriate opening image for the ninth annual Ibero-American Summit.

The summit, an event traditionally long on pomp and symbolism and short on substance, was shaping up as the most significant international event in this once-isolated island nation since Pope John Paul II’s January 1998 visit, when he called on Cuba to open up to the world--and the world to open up to Cuba.

The summit, bringing together leaders of 18 former colonies representing more than 500 million people, and officials from Spain and Portugal, formally opens this morning and closes tonight. But it already is viewed by independent analysts--and even U.S. officials--as a victory for Castro.

Images of the hearty and animated 73-year-old Castro greeting a succession of democratically elected leaders, and then presiding over the inauguration of a new regional medical college in Havana, filled television screens throughout the Spanish-speaking world Monday.

The summit already has generated its share of controversy, as well as a predictable round of mutual recriminations between Cuba and its traditional foe, the U.S., which is expected to be roundly condemned for its unilateral four-decade embargo of the island.

However, Cuba’s leadership, which presides over a one-party Communist state, also must sign a document during the summit that declares the “commitment of every one of our governments to strengthening democratic institutions, political pluralism, the state of law, respect for human rights and fundamental liberties.”

And some members of Cuba’s small dissident community used the opportunity of the summit to meet with leaders from Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries--heeding calls from Washington for officials to use the summit to pressure Cuba to open itself to democracy.

Five of the invited leaders are boycotting the event: Those from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador are protesting the absence of democracy here, and those of Chile and Argentina are protesting Spain’s prosecution of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, now being held in Britain.

Cuban dissidents who staged demonstrations before the summit were detained in what U.S. officials termed a wave of repression. Cuba called the detentions a legitimate measure to prevent a U.S.-sponsored campaign to sabotage the event and tarnish Cuba’s image.

Cuban dissidents say more than 60 dissidents are behind bars; Cuba contends that there are just 15.

The main themes of this year’s summit are globalization and regional cooperation outside the sphere of U.S. influence at the dawn of a new millennium.

Castro and Chavez will square off in a Cuba-versus-Venezuela exhibition baseball game Thursday, in which Chavez will be on the mound and Castro will manage from the dugout. Their political relationship is viewed by many in the region as a potentially powerful future alliance.

Beyond the prospect of new economic and political ties between oil-rich Venezuela and a post-Soviet-era Cuba that is relying increasingly on foreign investment and global markets to survive, the elderly Castro and youthful Chavez share similar disaffection toward the U.S.-dominated global economy, known here as “neoliberalism.”

Both leaders have stressed regional cooperation to reduce Latin America’s dependence on the U.S. and Europe. And Chavez, a former military leader who spent two years in prison after a failed coup, is known to admire Castro’s populist style and ideology.

Underscoring the message of Latin American solidarity was the inauguration of the medical college, billed by Cuban officials as the most important pre-summit event and one that showed how much times have changed in post-Cold War Cuba.

Castro, whose Cuban army trained and fought alongside leftist guerrilla fighters as far away as Angola two decades ago, escorted the visiting leaders in dedicating a new facility that will train and deploy doctors from throughout Latin America.