FIDEL CASTRO is...
 

...no longer President of Cuba.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...tro/index.html

The story broke 2 minutes ago on my local 10 o'clock news. So far nothing on the TV news channels, but it was on CNN's website.

I swear, this is worse than the Generalissimo Francisco Franco death watch!

End of an Era-Fidel Castro has resigned
 

OTW-you beat me just because of the timing of the announcement;)
(Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the communist country, retiring as president 49 years after he seized power in a revolution and became a central figure of the Cold War.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080219/...Ru34dY3d6s0NUE
Message from the Commander in Chief
Dear compatriots:
Last Friday, February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I would deal with an issue of interest to many compatriots. Thus, this now is rather a message.
The moment has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its President, its Vice-Presidents and Secretary.
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2008/02...l/artic10.html

Updated CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...tro/index.html

Updated FoxNews:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331149,00.html

Updated MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23229795/

I do find the timing "interesting" to say the very least.

The question now is, how (and if...) this will figure into the election debates this year and what kind of stance the US will take in relations with Cuba...and what kind of government (if there are any changes) under Raul Castro...let's not applaud yet...they are only exchanging Castros.

I hope this is the end of that era indeed. I know so many Cubans and Cuban Americans who will be so happy upon hearing the news.

Agree.
Bush already has made the comment about a Democratic Cuba.

Like a Democratic Iraq?

and we all know how that worked out

If we invaded Cuba, I'd join the Foreign Service. Hellloooooo beaches, great food, and sessy mens! I'd be livin just like Omar from the Wire.

LMAO!!!! You are coocoo for Coco Puffs...:D

Well, most aren't celebrating yet...
My mother's exact words this morning when I called to see if she'd heard about the resignation were, "Ha! Yeah right; call me when he's dead."

I don't think his brother Raul will make any real changes until after Fidel dies, and I am just praying that doesn't happen until Bush is out of the White House.

I did not believe that he is talking about an armed invasion; even though we have tried to take over Cuba at least 5 times.

However, big business and car collectors are just drooling to get their hands on the country.

Cruise companies already have eyes on ports.

not so much an out and out armed conflict...but who wouldn't try to start a coup?

I heard on NPR this morning that Raul Castro is willing to improve relations, but not until Bush is out of office.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=19157999

LOL, you ain't right! :D

You'd be surprised how many Cubans to truely like Castro. While they would like to improve their socio-economic situation, they would like to do it gradually and retain their sovereignty. An invasion, whether armed or economic could make things worse for them.

Can we please end this silly embargo now?

That's too bad...Cuba will be ruined forever. It's kinda nice to visit a place that doesn't have McDonalds and Booger King. (I've been there twice.)

Amen to that! I've been once and I'm planning to go back at the end of this year. It was great experiencing the Cuban culture and it would be a shame to see it so westernized.

Ditto on that

By the way...

In today's News, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead...
--Chevy Chase on Early Saturday Night Live...

OK, if we can put the US politics aside for a minute, I think it was Letterman who had a really funny line.

He was saying that conventional wisdom assumes Raul Castro will take over the country, but there is one other possibility.

Fidel's idiot son, Fidel W. is also being mentioned.

I laughed out loud...

LMAO on both parts!

For any of those with an interest:
1) A commentary by Cal Thomas:
http://www.caglepost.com/column.aspx?c=5482&pg=1
The Left’s favorite dictator, Fidel Castro, is “resigning” as Cuba’s president of the Council of State. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), who was born in Cuba and, at the age of 15, along with his brother, was evacuated from Cuba during Operation Pedro Pan, observed: “…Castro has resigned from a position he was never elected to in the first place.”

2) Some of the leading Op-Ed cartoonist pitch in:
http://cagle.com/news/CastroQuits/

I hope you don't mean that you would be happy to see Cuba remain exactly as it is today...?

Where have you been in Cuba, if I may ask? I went on a tour last year which included quite a large part of the island, and we (mainly) stayed with Cuban families. It was heartbreaking to see the daily struggle that so many people endure just to survive.

Yes, let's keep Cuba just as it is, for the benefit of tourists who don't want to rub shoulders with Americans...:rolleyes:

I don't think anybody really knows what will happen in Cuba, but I'll tell you this -- I hope things improve on that island for the sake of the people who actually have to live there.

While I'm obviously no mind-reader, I don't think either of those comments were made to suggest that they don't want to see the Cuban people have better lives.

They were in response to "Big Business" getting in there and destroying Cuba's rich culture.

Hooking Left: Cuba Tees Up Golf's Revival
 

After Che Beat Fidel,
A Course Was Lost;
'Sand Trap from Hell'
By JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA
February 23, 2008; Page A1

Now that Fidel Castro has retired, perhaps he can find the time to work on his golf game.
In 1962, Mr. Castro lost a round of golf to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who had been a caddy in his Argentine hometown before he became a guerrilla icon. Mr. Castro's defeat may have had disastrous consequences for the sport. He had one Havana golf course turned into a military school, another into an art school. A journalist who wrote about the defeat of Cuba's Maximum Leader, who was a notoriously bad loser, was fired the next day.........
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1203...we_banner_left

No, not at all. I would like to see Cuba improve their economic situation, but I would like to see them do that while maintaining their sovereignty. I would like to see the US stay our of their affairs.

I was in Holguin.

Someone said a long time ago that Raul Castro was worse than his brother.

I truly hope that is not the case.

But I am tired of the Castro brothers. And of communism. And of seeing my Cuban friends and colleagues be unhappy.

This is so weird that he's finally leaving. He's been in office since I was a child. We lived a few blocks from the Houston airport and Cubans carried out a few hijackings on Houston-based planes at the time. Then during the Cuban missile crisis, we had to have bomb drills in which we got under our desks. Nobody ever explained what bombs were like and I thought it meant that planes could fly over the school and drop cannonballs on our heads.

I remember those, too.

Reminds me of the line in a Billy Joel song:

"Cold war kids were hard to kill under their desks in an air raid drill..."

The Cuban Missle Crisis was unbelievably scary for a kid.