Didn't see this in the General Discussion forum, so here goes. Also, the quote from Bush may be the most naive thing he's ever said in his entire presidency, and I voted for him:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/19/america/castro.php?page=1http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4309361&page=1Fidel Castro said Tuesday that he would step down as the president of Cuba, opening the way for his brother Raúl Castro, or another member of his inner circle, to become Cuba's head of state when Parliament chooses a new leader this weekend.
The announcement was made in a letter to the nation under Castro's name, which was read on radio and television programs. In the letter, Castro said his failing health made it impossible for him to return to the presidency.
"It would betray my conscience to occupy a responsibility that requires mobility and the total commitment that I am not in the physical condition to offer," he wrote in the letter, which was posted on the Web site of Granma, the official newspaper, early Tuesday.
Under the Cuban constitution, a newly chosen Parliament will select a 31-member Council of State on Sunday, which in turn will choose the next president. Though Cuban officials say the process is democratic, experts on Cuban politics say the choosing of a successor remains in the hands of Fidel Castro, his brother and his inner circle, many of whom hold positions in the cabinet.
There seemed to be little if any outward reaction to the news, which many Cubans had been expecting for months. Schools remained open, garbage continued to be collected and clusters of ordinary people waiting for a bus or truck to take them to work seemed as large and numerous as ever.
State-owned networks did not interrupt regular schedules but read the announcement as part of the morning news, then returned to the usual mix of music and children's broadcasting. Radio Rebelde, the radio service started by Castro almost half a century ago, broadcast popular music and a discussion of the roots of the Afro-Cuban sound. It only mentioned the resignation briefly, during regularly scheduled newscasts.
In late July 2006, Castro, who is now 81, temporarily handed over power to his brother, Raúl Castro, 76, and to a few younger cabinet ministers, after he underwent emergency abdominal surgery. Despite numerous operations, he never fully recovered, but he has remained active in running government affairs from behind the scenes.
Now, just days before the selection of a new head of state, Fidel Castro said he would resign permanently. "I will not aspire to neither will I accept - I repeat I will not aspire to neither will I accept - the position of president of the Council of State and commander in chief," he said in the open letter.
President George W. Bush, traveling in Rwanda on a tour of African nations, greeted the news by saying that it should usher in a transition to democracy. He also called for Cuba to release political prisoners and to begin building "institutions necessary for democracy that eventually will lead to free and fair elections."
The unexpected announcement left unclear the roles that other high-level government ministers - among them Vice President Carlos Lage Dávila and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque - would play in the new government.
Castro also indicated that he would continue to be a force in Cuban politics through his writings, just as he has over the past year and a half. "I am not saying goodbye to you," he wrote. "I only wish to fight as a soldier of ideas."
That statement raised the possibility that little would change after the vote on Sunday and that Cuba would continue to be ruled, in essence, by two presidents, with Raúl Castro on stage while Fidel Castro stands in the wings.
Castro sent several signals in recent months that it was time for a younger generation to take the helm. For example, he said in December, "My primary duty is not to weld myself to offices, much less obstruct the path of younger people."
In the letter published Tuesday, he expressed confidence that Cuba would be in good hands with a government composed of elements of "the old guard" and "others who were very young when the first stage of the revolution began."
Castro said he had declined to step down any earlier to avoid dealing a blow to the Cuban government before "the people" were ready.
That strategy appears to have been successful. After decades in which Castro seemed omnipresent, making endless speeches and appearing at rallies and ceremonies all over the island, he has not been seen in public since July 2006. No details of his illness or condition have been released. Many Cubans long ago accepted the fact that he must be seriously ill and would never return to power.
Castro seized power in January 1959 after waging a guerrilla war against the dictator Fulgencio Batista, promising to restore the Cuban Constitution and hold elections. But he soon turned his back on those democratic ideals, embraced a totalitarian brand of Communism and strengthened ties with the Soviet Union.
He brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the autumn of 1962 when he allowed Russia to build missile launching sites just 145 kilometers, or 90 miles, off U.S. shores. He weathered a U.S.-backed invasion and used Cuban troops to stir up revolutions in Africa and Latin America.
Those actions earned him the permanent enmity of Washington and led the United States to impose decades of economic sanctions that Castro and his followers say have crippled the Cuban economy and kept their socialist experiment from succeeding completely.
For good or ill, Castro is without a doubt one of the most influential and controversial leaders to rise in Latin America since the wars of independence in the early 19th century, not only reshaping Cuban society, but providing inspiration for leftists across Latin America and in other parts of the world.
His record has been a mix of great social achievements and dismal economic performance that has mired most Cubans in poverty. He succeeded in providing universal health care and free education through university and made inroads in rooting out racism. But he never broke the island's dependence on commodities like sugar, tobacco and nickel, nor did he succeed in industrializing the nation so that Cuba could compete internationally.
In the minds of many Latin Americans, he stood in stark contrast with rightist dictators - like the one he overthrew - who often put the interests of business leaders and the foreign policy goals of Washington above the interests of their poorest constituents.
Whether Castro's remaking of Cuban society will survive the current transition remains to be seen. Some experts note that Raúl Castro is more pragmatic and willing to admit mistakes than his brother. He has given signals he may try to follow the Chinese example of state-sponsored capitalism.
Others predict that, without Fidel Castro's charismatic leadership, the government will have to make fundamental changes to the economy or face a rising tide of unrest among rank-and-file Cubans.
Anthony DePalma reported from Havana and James C. McKinley Jr. from Mexico City. Graham Bowley contributed from New York.
Transition to democracy? Keep dreaming, Bush...
Anyway, his brother's 99.99% certain to become the new president. Here comes the new asshole, same as the old asshole. Considering the things Raul has said about the small concessions to private business Fidel made in the past, I doubt he's going to really go for China's Bizarro Capitalism:
La psicología del productor privado y del trabajador por cuenta propia en general, en función de su trabajo de carácter personal o familiar y del origen de sus ingresos -el comercio particular del producto o del servicio que presta-, tiende al individualismo y no es fuente de conciencia socialista.
My Spanish is a bit rusty, but this translates roughly into "Private business is against the spirit of socialism."
