[southnews] Cuban leader Fidel Castro steps down
 
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:04:16 -0600 (CST)


Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he was stepping aside, 
ending nearly half a century of socialist rule marked by his brash 
defiance of the United States.

After almost a half century of defying the United States, the 
revolutionary leader delivered a message to his people through the 
online version of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma.

The 81-year-old said he would not seek the presidency again when it is 
decided this month. "I neither will aspire to nor will I accept the 
position of president of the council of state and commander-in-chief," 
he wrote,  "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility 
that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in physical 
condition to offer."

Castro bows out

AFP - Wednesday, February 20

HAVANA (AFP) - - Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he was 
stepping aside, ending nearly half a century of ironclad rule marked by 
his brash defiance of the United States.

Castro, 81, cited his poor health in a letter published in the Communist 
Party newspaper declaring that he would give up the presidency when the 
National Assembly meets to pick a new head of state on Sunday.

The former Cold Warrior's decision sparked hope across the world that 
the island, ruled by Castro since 1959, would begin to transition to 
democracy.

"I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president 
of the Council of State and commander-in-chief," wrote Castro, almost 19 
months after undergoing intestinal surgery and handing provisional power 
to his brother Raul Castro.

"It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires 
mobility and total commitment that I am not in physical condition to 
offer," said Castro, who has only been seen in picture and videos in 
frail condition since disappearing from public view in July 2006.

All eyes will now turn to the weekend assembly meeting. Any member of 
his inner circle is arguably a contender, although many Cuba-watchers 
believe Raul Castro, 76, is the leading choice.

But Castro's reference in his letter to a "middle generation" suggested 
that younger leaders such as Vice President Carlos Lage, 56, may have a 
shot at succeeding him.

Despite Castro's exit, the United States stuck to its policy of 
isolating Cuba, indicating it would not lift its decades-old trade 
embargo "anytime soon."

US President George W. Bush said Castro's resignation should begin a 
"democratic transition" in Cuba, eventually culminating with free and 
fair elections.

"And I mean free, and I mean fair -- not these kinds of staged elections 
that the Castro brothers tried to foist off as being true democracy," 
said Bush, the 10th US president to have dealt with Castro.

A guerrilla revolutionary and communist idol, Castro held out against 
history and turned tiny Cuba into a thorn in the paw of the mighty 
capitalist United States.

Famed for his rumpled olive fatigues, scraggly beard and the cigars he 
reluctantly gave up for his health, Castro dodged everything his enemies 
could throw at him in nearly half a century in power, including 
assassination plots, a US-backed invasion bid, and US sanctions.

The longest ruling leader in the Americas, he overthrew dictator 
Fulgencio Batista to take power in 1959 and kept a tight clamp on 
dissents at home, imprisoning political opponents. Dissidents say the 
regime holds 240 political prisoners.

During his tenure, the world came to the brink of nuclear war in the 
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union sought to position 
nuclear-tipped rockets on the island, just 144 kilometers (90 miles) 
from Florida.

Despite giving up the presidency, Castro indicated in his message that 
he would try to remain an influence behind the scenes by continuing to 
write regularly his column in the official newspapers.

"I am not saying farewell. I want only to fight as a soldier of ideas. 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," he wrote.

His announcement was met with disbelief on the streets of Havana, where 
most have never known another leader.

"Damn, the commander in chief is stepping down! We knew this was going 
to happen one day. But now that it's a reality, it's just hitting us," 
said Dayron Clavellon, 20, returning home after a night out with his 
friends in Havana's club district.

"Fidel stepping down? Man, we're going to miss him," said Dubael Cesar, 
a 27-year-old musician. He predicted, however, that "nothing will 
change" after a successor is named.

Leading dissidents had mixed reactions, expressing both hope and doubt 
that Castro's resignation will lead to changes.

"They did the sensible thing. Maybe logic and reason are getting a 
little bit into the Cuban government," said Vladimiro Roca, spokesman of 
the center-left group Todos Unidos.

"But in a year and a half without Fidel there haven't been any changes 
and there won't be any changes now either," he told AFP.

In Miami, Cuba's exile community, which has hoped to see the end of the 
Castro regime for five decades, erupted in jubilation with car horns 
blaring in the streets.

"I couldn't go to sleep after a friend called me with the news," said 
Alberto Hernandez, with an unlit cigar in his mouth. "For many of us, 
it's like saying goodbye to the devil."