Fidel Castro retires

[DNP]

By Anthony Boadle
Tue Feb 19, 3:14 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080219/ts_nm/cuba_castro_dc_5;_ylt=AgVzw.ckJuGBugIIPeWCVp8E1vAI

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.

Castro, 81, said in a statement to the country that he would not seek a new presidential term when the National Assembly meets on February 24.

"To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament ... I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept -- I repeat not aspire to or accept -- the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief," Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper.

The National Assembly or legislature is expected to nominate his brother and designated successor Raul Castro, 76, as president in place of Castro, who has not appeared in public for almost 19 months after being stricken by an undisclosed illness.

His retirement drew the curtain on a political career that spanned the Cold War and survived U.S. enmity, CIA assassination attempts and the demise of Soviet Communism.

A charismatic leader famous for his long speeches delivered in his green military fatigues, Castro is admired in the Third World for standing up to the United States but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.

His illness and departure from Cuba's helm have raised doubts about the future of the Western Hemisphere's only communist state.

The bearded leader who took power in an armed uprising against a U.S.-backed dictator in 1959 had temporarily ceded power to his younger brother after he underwent emergency surgery to stop intestinal bleeding in mid-2006.

Castro has only been seen in pictures since then, looking gaunt and frail, though his health improved enough a year ago to allow him to keep in the public mind writing reams of articles published by Cuba's state press.

Castro could remain politically influential as first secretary of the ruling Communist Party and elder statesman.

Raul Castro, Cuba's long-standing defense minister, has run the country since July 31, 2006 as acting president. He has raised expectations of economic reforms to improve the daily lot of Cubans, but has yet to deliver.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Editing by Eric Walsh)

 

[Theo]

At 81 a person should not be allowed to lead an entire nation. Totalitarian rulers like Castro change the course and affect the fate of entire generations. I wonder when will the military wake up and seize control overthrowing his brother, Raul.

 

[sashas]

At 81 a person should not be allowed to lead an entire nation. Totalitarian rulers like Castro change the course and affect the fate of entire generations. I wonder when will the military wake up and seize control overthrowing his brother, Raul.

81? Come to India. The frontrunners for the top job are always above 85 (and are termed as the "younger" lot)

 

[katherine]

His brother is said to be even worse so expect no immediate loosening of the grip.
gwb should have invaded Cuba and toppled castro instead, that would have been piece of cake with thangible benefits for everyone.

 

[Ehsan]

gwb should have invaded Cuba and toppled castro instead, that would have been piece of cake with thangible benefits for everyone.

you American potato couches think you know whats best for every single organism on the planet and think you are better than everyone :veryangry: your time is over :approve:

 

[katherine]

you American potato couches think you know whats best for every single organism on the planet and think you are better than everyone :veryangry: your time is over :approve:

Don't worry my friend, the US would never do that. Maybe you missed the irony in my post

 

[Ehsan]

I just hate it whenever USA sticks it leg in every f**** matter in the world and seeing this Americans overrate themselves

 

[katherine]

I just hate it whenever USA sticks it leg in every f**** matter in the world and seeing this Americans overrate themselves

I hear ya. America has been in a shit hole for the last 8 years
I'm not even sure we will be getting out of it...

 

[Raider]

I hear ya. America has been in a shit hole for the last 8 years
I'm not even sure we will be getting out of it...

It was actually 8 years prior that put us in this shit hole.. Bush has been cleaning up Clintons "do nothing" approach for the past 8 years. :yes:

As for Castro, He should of died over 40 years ago.. We had our chance at getting him, that was JFK's FAILED Bay of Pigs invasion remember?... Followed by JFK's FAILED meeting with Khrushchev that ultimately led to the Cuban Missle Crisis... And lets not forget about JFK's other great accomplishments, Allowing the construction of the Berlin Wall, (The wall that Reagan tore down) and JFK"S escalation in Vietnam, the largest of any previous administration.... All this in a two year period while in office...

I recognize for what JFK did for Civil Rights and forming the Peace Corps, but other than that, I find it incredible how some still admire the worthless piece of ***t.

 

[seanboy]

you American potato couches think you know whats best for every single organism on the planet and think you are better than everyone :veryangry: your time is over :approve:

Care to explain?

 

[draggar]

you American potato couches think you know whats best for every single organism on the planet and think you are better than everyone :veryangry: your time is over :approve:

Nice prejudice comment. Personally, I never said anything like that. Is America perfect? Hell no, but its still a lot better than many places in the world. Don't blame us for our aministration's actions.

I just hate it whenever USA sticks it leg in every f**** matter in the world and seeing this Americans overrate themselves

The last time the US didn't get involved a little thing called the holocaust happened. If you're unfamiliar with that, look up "World War II" and "Nazi Germany" (that second one is in reference to the regime that Germany was under at the time, not the current state of Germany or any comment towards Germany today).

Pakistan isn't perfect nor is it squeaky clean either (assuming that is where you are by the flag near your avatar).

Also, if America is so bad then why do we have refugees flocking to run inside the US? Why do people die trying to get here? Give their entire life's savings to get here? They move here alone, leaving their family behind to work their hands to the bone for years just to save up enough to allow their family to come here?

I recognize for what JFK did for Civil Rights and forming the Peace Corps, but other than that, I find it incredible how some still admire the worthless piece of ***t.

One word: Martyr

He was assassinated, that's why people follow him around so much. I don't have much respect for that family (and my father in law knew them personally).

 

[katherine]

Don't blame us for our aministration's actions.

I beg to disagree.
bush was elected into office not only once but twice. Falling twice for the same mistake is beyond despair.
Voters get the leaders they deserve :yes:

 

[sashas]

has any of you actually BEEN to Cuba?

Do any of you actually know the ground conditions there? How the people fare?

I have. And I can tell you, the people aren't that unhappy as the media would like you to believe.

You realize how easy it is to shape public opinion with a camera? When they aired the news of Castro retiring, they showed some small interviews with the people on the streets, supposedly Cuban immigrants. All the three interviewees said they were happy he's stepping down.
Now it may very well have been that they might have interviewed 20 of them, and 5 might've said they're happy, and the rest would've said otherwise. But CNN shows the interview of just the 5 who said they were happy, and there....you have "public" opinion.


Sure, Cuba doesn't have big malls and tall skyscrapers, but let me tell you, most Cubans (and South Americans, for that matter) don't have the capitalist mentality. They like and enjoy the simple things. The Cubans who do come to the US are the more ambitious kind, fascinated with the American life. Ambition is something of an anomaly in South America, while in the US, its the norm...simply because the US was built by immigrants - people who left their countries because of their ambition.


I came to the US. I stayed here for an year. But I'm going back. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be coming back ever for anything other than tourism.

 

[Theo]

The last time the US didn't get involved a little thing called the holocaust happened. If you're unfamiliar with that, look up "World War II" and "Nazi Germany" (that second one is in reference to the regime that Germany was under at the time, not the current state of Germany or any comment towards Germany today).

While the intervention of the US was a catalyst in WWII, the US did not enter the war until after Pearl Harbor. While the Germans marched for more than 2 years prior into every country in Europe. There was strong lobbying against intervention back then as much as financial interests (did you know GW Bush's grandfather, Prescott, did business transactions with Nazi Germany?)

And I can tell you, the people aren't that unhappy as the media would like you to believe.

Some people are content with what they have, or what they are allowed to have - or, with what they are told that they can get. The human nature always seeks a better quality of life, comfort, ability to work less and enjoy more. We are mortal and the only living creature that's aware of its lifespan.

 

[sashas]

Some people are content with what they have, or what they are allowed to have - or, with what they are told that they can get. The human nature always seeks a better quality of life, comfort, ability to work less and enjoy more. We are mortal and the only living creature that's aware of its lifespan.

There is, something called, a nation's psyche. You can also call it culture. Definitions of quality of life and happiness vary between cultures, countries and communities. A penthouse might do for one, while a quiet sea side cottage might do for another.

Without stepping into stereotypes, what I've gathered from my latin friends and my travels, is that latin americans, as a culture, just have a quieter, more laid back attitude. No wonder much of latin american is socialist today

 

[tonyfloyd]

The Cubans who do come to the US are the more ambitious kind, fascinated with the American life.

like Tony Montana??........u got the yayo meng??..

 

[Theo]

Sasha, were you given the tourist's tour in Cuba? Because if you were, you would not be able to notice the dilapidated buildings in Habana, the loss of what was once the grand Cuba in the 1950s. You would never hear the cries for help of those that were jailed for years because they asked for freedom. You won't be able to recover the hundreds of people who drowned while trying to escape a military regime ran by a single person, for 50 years. Albania was under a similar rule, by Enver Hoxha from 1945 to 1985 and the country is still in shambles. General Franco kept Spain under his control for another 40 years. A dictatorship stuns the growth of nations with the clench of an iron fist that keeps generations hostage. Fidel is no different than Saddam. Check out how much property Fidel owns while his nation starves.

 

[sashas]

Sasha, were you given the tourist's tour in Cuba? Because if you were, you would not be able to notice the dilapidated buildings in Habana, the loss of what was once the grand Cuba in the 1950s. You would never hear the cries for help of those that were jailed for years because they asked for freedom. You won't be able to recover the hundreds of people who drowned while trying to escape a military regime ran by a single person, for 50 years. Albania was under a similar rule, by Enver Hoxha from 1945 to 1985 and the country is still in shambles. General Franco kept Spain under his control for another 40 years. A dictatorship stuns the growth of nations with the clench of an iron fist that keeps generations hostage. Fidel is no different than Saddam. Check out how much property Fidel owns while his nation starves.

Nah Acro, I backpacked. I took a ferry from Jamaica to Cuba ($40, lol) and went around the back alleys of Havana. I speak a bit of Spanish, so spoke with the local people too. Its not heaven, but its not hell either.

All I'm saying is that Cubans aren't as unhappy as its made out to be. Keep in mind that America has done everything to demonize Castro in the past 40 years. I'm no big lover of him, but I don't appreciate someone poking their noses into others business either. Unless and until there's mass genocide taking place, I think nations need to mind their own business.

 

[Devil Dog]

Wow, let me guess, you're Republican? :uhoh:

It was actually 8 years prior that put us in this shit hole.. Bush has been cleaning up Clintons "do nothing" approach for the past 8 years. :yes:

As for Castro, He should of died over 40 years ago.. We had our chance at getting him, that was JFK's FAILED Bay of Pigs invasion remember?... Followed by JFK's FAILED meeting with Khrushchev that ultimately led to the Cuban Missle Crisis... And lets not forget about JFK's other great accomplishments, Allowing the construction of the Berlin Wall, (The wall that Reagan tore down) and JFK"S escalation in Vietnam, the largest of any previous administration.... All this in a two year period while in office...

I recognize for what JFK did for Civil Rights and forming the Peace Corps, but other than that, I find it incredible how some still admire the worthless piece of ***t.

 

[DNP]

Check out how much property Fidel owns while his nation starves.

It is all relative, my friend, there is about 1 mil. homeless ppl in the U.S. and and nearly 61% of the working Americans will be financially unprepared to retire but GWB is also not a beggar.