Fidel Castro regains decision-making role

HAVANA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has kept more power than has been apparent, and has a key decision-making role in the government, sources say.

Although his brother, Raul, was declared the country's new leader in February, a Cuban government official who asked to remain anonymous told Monday's El Nuevo Herald that Fidel Castro, 82, has increasingly been assuming responsibility for governmental policies and actions.

"Fidel Castro is once again in command, like in the best of times," the Cuban official said. "He often picks up the telephone to control a meeting or find out about a discussion at the Council of Ministers."

Fidel Castro has not seen in public since emergency surgery in June 2006, but evidence has been mounting of his continuing power in Cuba, the newspaper said. The first public evidence of his return to decision-making came in late April when he claimed responsibility for the dismissal of Education Minister Luis Ignácio Gómez.

More evidence was noted in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which devastated the island's economy, when Castro made the first official statements describing the disasters and outlining the paths to recovery in his printed columns, El Nuevo Herald said.