The Countdown is On (UPDATED)

Seems like there are 3 camps of thought in the fidel handing the reigns over to raul story.

One camp is taking the news at face value...fidel is sick and is getting surgery. Meanwhile raul is running the show.

Another camp is suspecting that fidel is already dead and that this is just buying time until everything is settled within the regime.

A third camp, full of conspiracy theorists, thinks that this is a ploy by the regime in order to "test the waters" and see who within the regime is loyal and who isn't.

I'm in the first camp. Cubans can't keep a secret even if their life depended on it.

I won't write THE POST. Not yet. But a little celebration is not out of the order right now, if only as a ray of hope that is the first small step towards freedom in Cuba. Everyone knows that even fidel's death won't signal the end of the suffering.

As Val noted:

Let's all keep in mind that this "transition" has not taken place overnight. The Cuban government have slowly been weaning the Cuban people of fidel castro for weeks now, publishing numerous articles and editorials in Granma, Prensa Latina, and all other government news sources, getting the public ready for the change in leadership.

This has been in the works for a while now. The transition will appear to be seamless.

What this CAN do is motivate those who have been fixated with fidel for 47 years. Perhaps give them an idea to take advantage of this change in order to start anew. No doubt, the apparatus will be ready to combat any dissenters. But WE need to be ready to seize the moment.

The moment may be arriving soon. Sooner than we think.

Carpe Diem.

UPDATE 215 PM - I sense a temporary "calm within the storm" here in Miami right now, Spanish talk radio is talking about fidel, but it's not the uberhyper 24-hour coverage one sees during hurricanes, for example. Regular programming with commercials, even.

Stay tuned....