Published Sunday, August 31, 1997, in the Miami Herald
FACTIONS WITHIN CUBA'S LEADERSHIP

  • `The Poles' -- Military officers who admire Polish Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, whose 1980 coup and harsh crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement averted a Soviet invasion of Poland. Jaruzelski's regime eventually led to a democratic takeover.

  • `The Jurassics' -- Orthodox Communists grouped around Communist Party ideology chief Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and the party's Nico Lopez school for cadres and administrators.

  • `Guevaristas' -- Named after Argentine-born guerrilla Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara, they are spartan army and government officials who reject the privileges available to Cuba's ruling class but are politically flexible.

  • `Aperturistas' (Openers) -- Supporters of opening the economy to more market forces. They have been in virtual hibernation since President Fidel Castro's retrenchment put the brakes on economic reform in late 1995.

    FACTIONS WITHIN CUBA'S LEADERSHIP

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