Cable sobre la depresi¨®n de Ra¨²l Castro
En 2007, la Embajada en La Habana informa de la depresi¨®n de Ra¨²l Castro ante el fallecimiento de su esposa y la enfermedad de su hermano.
ID: | 112573 |
Date: | 2007-06-19 09:06:00 |
Origin: | 07HAVANA591 |
Source: | US Interests Section Havana |
Classification: | CONFIDENTIAL |
Dunno: | |
Destination: | VZCZCXRO9446 PP RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHUB #0591 1700906 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 190906Z JUN 07 FM USINT HAVANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1862 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN PRIORITY 0129 RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0109 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0134 RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL PRIORITY RUESDM/JTLO MIAMI FL PRIORITY RUCOGCA/COMNAVBASE GUANTANAMO BAY CU PRIORITY |
C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000591 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2017 TAGS: PGOV, PINR, CU SUBJECT: RAUL CASTRO'S WIFE VILMA ESPIN DIES Classified By: COM Michael Parmly; Reasons 1.4 (b/d) 1. (U) The Cuban regime has announced that Vilma Espin, wife of acting Cuban dictator Raul Castro, died on Monday, June 18. The regime has declared Tuesday, June 18, a day of mourning. Espin is one of the matriarchs and charter members of the Cuban revolution, and without there ever being any public role for Fidel Castro's wives or concubines, has served by default as a kind of first lady. Some biographical highlights: -- Born April 7, 1930 in Santiago; -- Studied chemistry at MIT in the early 1950s; -- In the mid-1950s was part of the urban guerrilla movement associated with Fidel Castro's "26 of July" organization; -- Married Raul Castro in 1959, in the first year of the Castro dictatorship; -- Founded the Federation of Cuban Woman (FMC) in 1960, a communist mass organization and instrument of totalitarian rule; -- Has been a member of the Politburo, Council of State, and the National Assembly; clearly the highest ranking woman in all these organizations. 2. (C) Espin has been terminally ill for the past two years and out of public view. Her death serves as a dry run for the other much-more-anticipated deaths in the ruling family, in terms of logistics and choreographed funeral activities. Havana has some roads closed off on June 19, most likely in areas through which the funeral procession will pass. Remembrance activities have been scheduled in various provinces around the country, along with a full-scale propaganda barrage. The message beamed out to Cuba and the world is that Vilma Espin was a heroic and loyal follower of Fidel Castro and the revolution, and only secondarily Raul Castro's wife and member of the ruling family. -------- COMMENT: -------- 3. (C) Although we doubt Fidel Castro cares very much about the loss of Vilma Espin, or much else beyond his own personal legacy, we expect that her death will have a significant impact on Raul Castro. Yes, both Fidel and Raul Castro are mass murderers and cruel leaders, but Raul always has had a parallel reputation as a family man. He and Vilma Espin were, much more than Fidel and any of his partners, the ones concerned about the Castro family as a family. Some reporting from when Fidel Castro became incapacitated last July indicated that Raul Castro suffered from depression, caused by the parallel terminal illnesses of his brother and wife, and much more the latter than the former. For long stretches of time he stayed completely out of public view. Raul Castro and Vilma Espin were reported to have been estranged over the years, but not entirely. Raul Castro could lose his bearings over Espin's death, and return to that same kind of private detachment, leaving Cuba even more leaderless than has been the case during the past few months as Fidel Castro has become more and more active. PARMLY |
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