Fidel Castro Resigns
Fidel Castro Resigns
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Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#1Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:52am
HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president of Cuba and commander-in-chief of Cuba's military on Tuesday, according to a letter published in the state-run newspaper, Granma.
Castro, 81, temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul Castro in July 2006 after undergoing intestinal surgery. He hasn't been seen in public since his surgery, but he has appeared in numerous videos and photos in state media.
The announcement of Castro's resignation appeared just before 3 a.m. on the Web site of the state-run newspaper.
The news is likely to send shock waves across the island and through the tens of thousands of Cuban exiles who have sought refugee in the United States.
In December 2007, a Cuban television news anchor read a letter reportedly written by Fidel Castro promising he would not "cling to office" or be an impediment to rising young leaders.
Castro took power in Cuba in 1959 and has ruled the island nation ever since, governing the first communist nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Fidel Castro captured the world's attention and imagination at 32 when the bearded revolutionary led a band of guerillas that overthrew a corrupt dictatorship -- and then became an irritating thorn in Washington's paw by embracing communism and cozying up to the Soviet Union.
For the next 47 years, Castro reigned in Havana with an iron hand, outlasting nine American presidents and defying a punishing U.S. economic embargo designed to dislodge him.
Raul Castro is generally seen as more pragmatic and less inclined to deliver the kind of long-winded speeches for which his brother is famous.
Ordinary Cubans have wondered whether a permanent change in power in Cuba will lead to lower food prices, higher salaries and more freedom to travel.
CNN
Updated On: 2/19/08 at 02:52 AM
#2re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 3:03amWhat happens now?
LePetiteFromage
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/19/08
#4re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 9:33amhis brother just takes over... and it continues.
#5re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:13amHis brother is only, I think, 5 years younger....this could get interesting in the next few years
#6re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:16am
i dont know... i mean its good to see him step down and hopefully he'll die soon, but nothings ever going to change with the government because i'm not so sure the people will even fight for change anymore... at some point you just get used to life being the way it is and complacency sets in.
as much as i know the country is old and in ruins now, it would have been cool to see it at some point in my life... just one of those things i'll never get to do.
#7re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:23am
why not? We have a friend here, who still has family there, and he went a few years ago through Mexico......
#8re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:39amIt's time to end the sanctions. The US and Israel are the only ones not trading with Cuba. They have accomplished nothing in the 40 years they have been in place except to keep the Cubans in Miami happy.
#9re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:40amexactly
#10re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:46amits a personal choice elphaba... i dont have family there anymore so in order to go i'd have to stay in a hotel, etc etc... thats something i chose not to do because i do not want to give money to the communist government.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#11re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 10:52am
"It's time to end the sanctions."
Why?
#12re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:06amoh idk, because they're pointless and don't work.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#13re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:16am
"oh idk, because they're pointless and don't work."
How do you suggest dealing with a dictator that separates people with HIV from the general population?
#14re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:18amIDK that that's the best argument you should be making considering one of the people from your party running for president thinks that's a pretty good idea.
mauriposa
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/14/05
#15re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:18amHmmm. I'm taking a class right now on contemporary Cuban culture. Tonight's lecture should be interesting.
#16re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 11:26amI once turned down a free trip to Cuba via Mexico. Also, I'm not pleased to report that I have a few friends from this country and Central America who've been there for the sex trade.
#17re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:00pm
what did they trade their sex for, javero? ;o)
I can totally respect that Pab
"How do you suggest dealing with a dictator that separates people with HIV from the general population?"
Hee, for a minute I thought Goth was talking about Huckabilly..
#18re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:20pm
Elphaba,
A gay friend of the family came back bragging about how he was able to bag a "portly phallus for $5 (US)".
#19re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:35pm
"Portly phallus"?
What kind of gay friends do you have who talk like that?
#20re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:40pmHe's a tired ole linguistics professor.
#21re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 2:43pmhmm, I thought Phallus was Phineas Fogg's brother, lol
#23re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/19/08 at 3:32pm
"How do you suggest dealing with a dictator that separates people with HIV from the general population? "
Keep up with the news:
"According to the UNAIDS report of 2003 there were an estimated 3,300 Cubans living with HIV/AIDS (approx 0.05% of the population). In the mid-1980s, when little was known about the virus, Cuba compulsorily tested thousands of its citizens for HIV. Those who tested positive were taken to Los Cocos and were not allowed to leave. The policy drew criticism from the United Nations and was discontinued in the 1990s. Since 1996 Cuba began the production of generic anti-retroviral drugs reducing the costs to well below that of developing countries. This has been made possible through the substantial government subsidies to treatment."
#24re: Fidel Castro Resigns
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:43pm
"HAVANA — Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president on Sunday, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel but leaving the island's communist system unshaken.
The vote came five days after Fidel said he was retiring, capping a career in which he frustrated efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to oust him.
The succession was not likely to bring a major shift in the communist government policies that have put it at odds with the United States. But many Cubans were hoping it would open the door to modest economic reforms that might improve their daily lives.
In another sign that major change was not afoot, Raul Castro, 76, proposed he would consult with the ailing, 81-year-old Fidel on all major decisions of state, and parliament approved the proposal."
Raul Castro Becomes Cuba's Leader
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