Fidel Castro Resigns As Cuba's President

19 Feb 2008

HAVANA - An ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when parliament meets Sunday.The end of Castro's rule the longest in the world for a head of government  frees his 76-year-old brother Raul to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel Castro fell ill in July 2006. President Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition.


Fidel Castro

"My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath," Castro wrote in a letter published Tuesday in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma. But, he wrote, "it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer.In the pre-dawn hours, most Cubans were unaware of Castro's message. Havana's streets were quiet, and there was no movement at several party-run neighborhood watch groups in Old Havana. It wasn't until 5 a.m., several hours after Castro's message was posted on the internet, that official radio began reading the missive to early risers.Castro temporarily ceded his powers to his brother on July 31, 2006, when he announced that he had undergone intestinal surgery. Since then, the elder Castro has not been seen in public, appearing only sporadically in official photographs and videotapes and publishing dense essays about mostly international themes as his younger brother has consolidated his rule.There had been widespread speculation about whether Castro would continue as president when the new National Assembly meets Sunday to pick the country's top leadership. Castro has been Cuba's unchallenged leader since 1959 -- monarchs excepted, he was the world's longest ruling head of state.Castro said Cuban officials had wanted him to remain in power after his surgery."It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-a-vis an adversary that had done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply," he said in a reference to the United States.Castro remains a member of parliament and is likely to be elected to the 31-member Council of State on Sunday, though he will no longer be its president. Raul Castro's wife, Vilma Espin, maintained her council seat until her death last year even though she was too sick to attend meetings for many months.The resignation opens the path for Raul Castro's succession to the presidency, and the full autonomy he has lacked in leading a caretaker government. The younger Castro has raised expectations among Cubans for modest economic and other reforms, stating last year that the country requires unspecified "structural changes" and acknowledging that government wages that average about $19 (euro13) a month do not satisfy basic needs.As first vice president of Cuba's Council of State, Raul Castro was his brother's constitutionally designated successor and appears to be a shoo-in for the presidential post when the council meets Sunday. More uncertain is who will be chosen as Raul's new successor, although 56-year-old council Vice President Carlos Lage, who is Cuba's de facto prime minister, is a strong possibility.Bush, traveling in Rwanda, pledged to "help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of liberty.""The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy," he said. "Eventually, this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections -- and I mean free, and I mean fair -- not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as true democracy."The United States built a detailed plan in 2005 for American assistance to ensure a democratic transition on the island of 11.2 million people after Castro's death. But Cuban officials have insisted that the island's socialist political and economic systems will outlive Castro."The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong," Castro wrote Tuesday. "However, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century."Castro rose to power on New Year's Day 1959 and reshaped Cuba into a communist state 90 miles from US. shores. The fiery guerrilla leader survived assassination attempts, a CIA-backed invasion and a missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Ten US. administrations tried to topple him, most famously in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.His ironclad rule ensured Cuba remained communist long after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe.Castro's supporters admired his ability to provide a high level of health care and education for citizens while remaining fully independent of the United States. His detractors called him a dictator whose totalitarian government systematically denied individual freedoms and civil liberties such as speech, movement and assembly.The United States was the first country to recognize Castro's government, but the countries soon clashed as Castro seized American property and invited Soviet aid.On April 16, 1961, Castro declared his revolution to be socialist. A day later, he defeated the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion. The United States squeezed Cuba's economy and the CIA plotted to kill Castro. Hostility reached its peak with the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.The collapse of the Soviet Union sent Cuba into economic crisis, but the economy recovered in the late 1990s with a tourism boom.

Source: http://www.courant.com/news/custom/latest/ats-ap_top10feb19,0,1260416.story

Yea just woke up to this. Let me finish reading the article before I comment,

In his statement, Fidel Castro said a recent trip to Argentina and last week's anniversary of the Cuban Revolution had caused him "days and nights of non-stop work" and put him under "extreme stress".




Resulting intestinal bleeding, he said, meant he needed an operation which would require several weeks of rest.

"Since our country is threatened by the US Government under circumstances such as these," the statement said, Mr Castro had delegated his functions as president and first secretary of the Communist Party to his brother Raul, who is 75.

A major celebration had been planned for 13 August - the veteran leader's 80th birthday - but the event has now been postponed until December

The end of an era

Its about time he resinged, i thought he was going to die in office. What i dont is, why did he transefer the affairs of the country to his brother, is he the next in rank or has Cuba become a monarchy?

End of an era indeed! Maybe its mugabe thats going to take his last breath in office afterall. someone needs to give him an hint.

dominique:

End of an era indeed! Maybe its mugabe thats going to take his last breath in office afterall. someone needs to give him an hint.

Mugabe would rather die than resign from office.

4Him:

Mugabe would rather die than resign from office.

To be fair on Old Bob,he has only been in office since 1980. Fidel was in office since 1959 and only resigned when he became a "living dead". . . . . .I think Old Bob would resign if he was in Fidel's condition.

africans prefer to resign in exile.

4 Play:

To be fair on Old Bob,he has only been in office since 1980. Fidel was in office since 1959 and only resigned when he became a "living dead". . . . . .I think Old Bob would resign if he was in Fidel's condition.

Living dead? A highly inaccurate and rather skewed description.

Castro is hail and hearty! [size=14pt]Viva Castro!!![/size]


[flash=425,355]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7qSWDDFcm4&rel=1[/flash]


[size=14pt]Castro[/size] and [size=14pt]Che[/size], for their effort in checkmating the agents of el Diablo, will forever remain in the hearts and minds of mortals!

Good for Him

Fresh Focus for Cuba

If it all these rubbish were to be happening in Nigeria, everyone's mouth (both nigerians' and foreigners' alike) would have been leaking with insults. But this is happening in a country in AMERICA FOR THAT MATTER. Today it's the elder brother, tomorrow its the younger brother, next tomorrow, they will hand over to their younger sister! Na only them be cubans?

actually, cuba isn't in america. . .

though you can take a boat to florida from cuba

too bad about the monarchical trend. but i dont see a reason to cry. we didn't complain when benazhir bhutto's son took over after her death, neither did we condemn the stepping in by gnassingbe's son (congo). besides, raul seems to have a good head on his shoulder. he has mentioned certain areas that have been shockingly neglected in fidel's reign of contempt (against the US). reminds me a lot of my own dear homeland. better raul rules if he plans to carry out the reforms he listed than some fidel fan whose only aim is to beat fidel's record

but u gotta respect the guy (fidel castro). 49 years is not beans. no matter how much you hate the man, u gotta respect his guts and courage for standing up to the US (being the bullies they are when they dont get their way), and for making the world respect their stance. it takes a genius and a courageous person too to navigate internal and external political waters successfully without being a suck-up (like nigeria is).

i also admire his resolve to handover and enjoy his last days in relative peace. even when he bows out of this world, he will remain a legend in the minds of cuba and the world.

he should av died there now

Monarchy? Which Monarchy is greater than the American dynasty of Bush and Clinton for the past 20 years and Probably more

dayokanu:

Monarchy? Which Monarchy is greater than the American dynasty of Bush and Clinton for the past 20 years and Probably more

Thank ya ma brada. Help me tell Oyb ooo

@Oyb,
Are you sure cuba isnt in America? I'm hearing that for the first time. Dont mind me sha. I'd check it up.

oyb:

actually, cuba isn't in america. . .

though you can take a boat to florida from cuba

Cuba is in North America. I'm sure you meant the United States of America.

dayokanu:

Monarchy? Which Monarchy is greater than the American dynasty of Bush and Clinton for the past 20 years and Probably more

You probably despise Bush et al. But that shouldn't be a stumbling block to you applying logic to your thought processes before making a statement. Since when did the US presidency become a monarchy or dynasty? There was a clear transition of power from a republican to a democrat and back to a republican.

iceblue:

too bad about the monarchical trend. but i don't see a reason to cry. we didn't complain when benazhir bhutto's son took over after her death, neither did we condemn the stepping in by gnassingbe's son (congo).

Raul castro was Fidel's companion when they waged the war that toppled the Batista government. Raul, Che and Fidel were comrades in arms. please don't equate this to the situation in Pakistan and that in congo. Raul is the logical successor. After Raul, there's no more Castro waiting in the wings.

RichyBlacK:

Living dead? A highly inaccurate and rather skewed description.

Castro is hail and hearty!

Hail and hearty? It would help if you could spell ,never mind giving an accurate description of Fidel's health.

Which Monarchy is greater than the American dynasty of Bush and Clinton for the past 20 years and Probably more

why do people keep talking about a Clinton/Bush dynasty?

The Bushes ruled for 12 years. Clinton was president for only two terms- same as most other presidents. There's no guarantee so far on who will win this current election.  The only dynasty I see here is the Bush one, which is 12 years between father and son.

So what's the beef and rhetoric about a Clinton dynasty? Why put Bush and Clinton in the same boat as if they're the same? This is nothing but an outright falsehood from whoever started these nasty allegations.

4 Play:

Hail and hearty? It would help if you could spell ,never mind giving an accurate description of Fidel's health.

Na wa for you o. That was obviously a typo; I meant "Hale and hearty". No vex ehn.

Tomorrow's Cuba: After Castro and the U.S. Election

If you kept a scrapbook on Fidel Castro from the day when his little group of revolutionaries overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, you would have had to begin renting storage space about midway through his political hegemony. No contemporary world leader has ever attracted so much criticism and blame as Fidel. Of course, no contemporary political leader has ever stuck around as long as he did. His rule spans the tenure of nine U.S. presidents and 10 Canadian prime ministers. But for all of the shouting, the relationship between Cuba, the U.S. and Canada has been frozen in time. Now with the exit of Castro combined with the possibility of a Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton White House, a thaw may be in sight. In South Florida, home of the rapidly aging but still powerful anti-Castro political lobby, Fidel remains a virtual industry. In Washington, where successive American governments have allowed themselves to support the politically expedient but inept policy of an embargo against Cuba, he has been raised to the symbolic status of democracy's Public Enemy Number One while anti-Castroism has been raised to the level of an ideology. It is said that American foreign service officers who do not toe the official line are relegated to stamping visas into passports. On the other hand, the devastating effects of globalism and so-called structural adjustment packages in Latin America over the past two decades have raised a new crop of Latin America leaders who–as black and white Castro apologists–are quick to praise the good parts of the Cuban revolution. And Washington shouldn't kid itself that there aren't plenty of good sides to Castro's Cuba. Compared to other Latin American, and especially Caribbean, nations that are sadly without health care, education and even basic personal security, Cuba earns fair bragging rights. Castro's political control will not be missed by any Cuban who was unfairly bossed around for cold ideological reasons, ratted on by neighbourhood spies, censured and imprisoned for arguing with the leader's policies, or simply not allowed to succeed because politics were more important than merit. But compared to the lives of the poorest citizens in countless other regimes where the leadership has been ostensibly "freedom-loving," Castro's Cuba positively glows with success. That's a hard pill for any democrat to swallow. Ultimately, the prop that has kept the worst of Castro's politics alive while starving the Cuban economy of hard currency and economic development has been the U.S. embargo, which the Cubans like to call "the blockade." To date, no American president has had the courage to buck the anti-Castro lobby by dumping the embargo in the garbage bin where it has always belonged. This is where Castro's resignation and the American presidential election make things interesting. Sure, all candidates live in fear of the anti-Castro vote in the important swing state of Florida. McCain, who says he wants Raúl Castro tried for murder, trembles the most. But Obama and Clinton both hint–no, let's say whisper, for they, too, quake in the shadow of the south Florida lobby–that the embargo could fall after Castro's departure and some signs of Cuban reform. Canada, whose foreign policy has never been so blind as to support the embargo, can now welcome the probable and transitionary team of the ageing Raúl Castro Ruz and the more youthful Felipe Pérez Roque. By having an intimacy with Havana not available to Washington, Canada can support the kinds of reforms that it knows are possible within a one-party state. But the fact remains that the most meaningful reform for Cuba is the lifting of the U.S. embargo. We don't have much hope for McCain, but we can hope that Obama or Clinton will find the courage–and the good sense–to do that.

Source: http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/february/20/editorial/