Ann Louise Bardach, who covers Florida politics for Slate, is the author of Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana (Vintage) and editor of Cuba: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Whereabouts).
Since Fidel Castro's brief fainting spell during a speech in June 2001, Miami, Havana and Washington have been caldrons of feverish speculation on his succession and the politics of a post-Castro


