Fidel Castro steps down
By Helen Macrae
After 49 years in power, Fidel Castro released a statement this week announcing that due to health problems he will not be taking up another 5 year term as president when the National Assembly meets this Sunday. The information was published as a letter by Granma, the official Communist Party newspaper, in which Fidel wrote “I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief”.
He continued: “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.” Castro, aged 81, temporarily handed power over to his brother Raul, 76, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery, and it is widely believed that it is Raul who will continue as his Castro’s successor, although Vice-President Carlos Lage Davila, 56, is also reported to be a strong contender for the role.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in 1926 into a prosperous landowning family and began his political career at the University of Havana. After serving two years in prison for a failed attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista, in 1955 he went to Mexico where he met Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who further helped to shape his political ideology. With brother Raul as his deputy and Che as third in command, Castro and his rebel forces returned to the island where they seized power with the aid of guerilla tactics, and on 16th February 1959, Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba.
Castro has ruled Cuba for almost half a century, outlasting nine US Presidents and surviving numerous CIA assassination attempts. The news of his resignation has been met with with mixed reactions, although it is thought that very little will change in Cuba as a result, at least in the short-term.
Tags: america, cuba, fidel castro, usa