Fidel Castro

[Meenzer 15877]

Fidel Castro announces retirement

 

Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro has announced he will not return to the presidency, in a letter published by official Communist Party paper, Granma.

 

"I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," he wrote in the letter.

 

Mr Castro handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery.

 

The 81-year-old has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959.

 

In December, Mr Castro indicated that he might possibly step down in favour of younger leaders, saying "my primary duty is not to cling to any position".

 

Soon afterwards, Raul Castro appeared to suggest that his older brother still had an important political role to play, saying the president still had full use of his mental faculties and was being consulted on all important policy issues.

 

'No saying farewell'

 

In the letter, published on Granma's website during the middle of the night in Cuba, Mr Castro said he would not accept another five-year term as president when the National Assembly meets on Sunday, because of the health problems.

 

"It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer," he wrote.

 

However, Mr Castro insisted he was "not saying farewell".

 

"I just want to carry on fighting like a soldier of ideas," he added. "I will continue writing under the title, Reflections of Comrade Fidel."

 

"I will be one more weapon in the arsenal that you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I will be careful."

 

The National Assembly is widely expected to elect 76-year-old Raul Castro as his successor, although analysts say there is speculation about a possible generational jump with Vice-President Carlos Large, 56, a leading contender.

 

The BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says nobody knows whether Mr Castro's decision not to seek another five-year term has been prompted by a decline in his health - it has been an official secret since the moment he was taken ill.

 

The president has not been seen in public for 18 months, although the government occasionally releases photographs and pre-edited video of him meeting visiting leaders from around the world.

 

Last month, Mr Castro was shown talking to his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who described him as being lucid and in good health.

 

Our correspondent says, Mr Castro will leave a mixed legacy - both friend and foe recognise him as an iconic leader and major figure in the post-war era.

[snakehips 0]

It'll only be a matter of time for things to change once he's gone imo. Back to the playground of the Mob, drugs, crime, murders etc etc.

[NJS 4454]

I know there are some human rights issues in Cuba but I also know that Cuba compares favourably with the other "beacons of democracy" (US Style) in the region in terms of education and healthcare despite 50 years of a "cold war" attitude by the Yanks.

 

I remember admiring Clinton as a decent liberal in his early days before seeing him discussing Cuba in the same nasty, petty terms that Reagan and Bush had.

[Ketsbaia 0]

I know there are some human rights issues in Cuba but I also know that Cuba compares favourably with the other "beacons of democracy" (US Style) in the region in terms of education and healthcare despite 50 years of a "cold war" attitude by the Yanks.

 

I remember admiring Clinton as a decent liberal in his early days before seeing him discussing Cuba in the same nasty, petty terms that Reagan and Bush had.

 

I do find it ironic that the US is ridiculously pally with the Saudi's, yet there's never any mention of their human rights abuses. Mention Cuba to any right wing Yank zealot and it's just a torrent of 'Human rights' and 'That commie Castro'.

 

If i'm not mistaken Obama is the only presidential candidate who said he is willing to sit down and talk with Cuba. All the more reason to hope he gets into power.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

They make some fantastic music.

 

Anyway, random Castro fact that made me laugh;

 

Surviving the most demented campaign of assassination in world history. Over five decades the CIA has tried to kill Castro by, among other things, spraying a television studio with LSD, an exploding cigar, slipping poison powder into a pair of his boots, poisoning a scuba-diving wetsuit offered as a gift and blowing up a conch shell in one of the President's favourite waters.