Hernandez on Castro: Wait and see

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: February 19, 2008 - 11:04 PM

FORT MYERS, FLA. - The resignation of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Tuesday had the world abuzz. Would it lead to a transition to democracy? Could Cuba's borders eventually open to Major League Baseball?

All Livan Hernandez wants to do is see his relatives again.

Hernandez, who defected to the United States in 1995, declined to detail his reaction to Castro's decision to resign and turn leadership over to his brother, Raul. Fidel Castro, 81, announced his resignation in a letter published overnight in the online version of Granma, Cuba's state-run newspaper.

Hernandez, the brother of Mets righthander Orlando Hernandez, did talk of how difficult it is to watch most Latin American baseball players go home at the end of the season, knowing that if he returned to Cuba under its current conditions, he wouldn't be allowed to leave.

"No chance [to go back],'' he said. "It's difficult. I want to [go to] my country like everybody else, Dominican guys, Puerto Rico, Venezuela. Everybody go back and spend time with their families.

"It's difficult. ... It's something you have inside and bothers you, and you can do nothing.''

Former Twins great Tony Oliva, who also is from Cuba and still has relatives there, declined to comment.

Hernandez is taking a wait-and-see approach on the announcement by Castro, who has been ill in recent years. Hernandez remembers many Cubans began to celebrate in 2006 when Castro ceded power to Raul while battling an intestinal ailment. Instead of it being a prelude to Fidel Castro's death, it was only a temporary change.

"The situation isn't going to change there for I don't know how many years,'' Hernandez said.

Staff writer Joe Christensen contributed to this report.