Fidel Castro Resigns Cuban Presidency

Tarek Morgen · 02-19-2008, 03:39 AM

According to Skyn new Castros retirement has just been announced

**Ironduke** · 02-19-2008, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Fidel Castro Resigns As President

In a statement issued to a Cuban newspaper he said he would not be returning to the Presidency.

Castro has not been seen in public for 18 months since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

Born into a wealthy landowning family, he turned to Marxism because of the poverty he saw around him in Cuba.

He came to international prominence in 1959 when, along with Che Guevara, he led the uprising which overthrew the corrupt government of President Fulgencio Batista, who had turned Cuba into a decadent playground for America's rich.

Promising to give the land back to the people, he received the backing of the Soviet Union, driving a wedge between Cuba and the US that has never been removed.

In April 1961 the US tried to topple the Castro government by recruiting a private army of Cuban exiles to invade the island.

At the Bay of Pigs, Cuban troops repulsed the invaders, killing many and capturing 1,000.

As money flowed from the Kremlin the Caribbean island became a cold war battleground.

But it was not just cash that headed west to Cuba from the Soviet Union.

In 1962 US reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet missiles on their way to sites in Cuba and the world stood on the brink of an apocalyptic nuclear war.

It was Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who blinked first, turning his weapon-laden ships around.

The Cuban missile crisis confirmed Castro, in American eyes, as the enemy in their own back yard.

The CIA tried to assassinate him on many occasions - one plan involved filling his much-loved cigars with explosives.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1980s meant the financial plug was pulled on Castro.

Still blockaded by the US, conditions in Cuba deteriorated, with food and fuel shortages and an economy in ruins.

Soon thousands of Cubans were fleeing to Florida in makeshift rafts, hoping for a better life in the arms of Castro's arch-enemy.

He did however bring about real change in Cuba with free health care for all and one of the highest literacy rates in the world. And his ability to needle the Americans has never diminished.

Castro's brother Raul is his designated successor, but many observers believe Cuba's communist state will not outlive the man who has divided international opinion for almost half a century.

Source: Fidel Castro Resigns As President Of Cuba |Sky News|World News

ned kelly · 02-19-2008, 03:54 AM

how many presidents has he seen come and go?

I will have to visit before it's too late

geurtjalink · 02-19-2008, 05:02 AM

I hope US change policy towards cuba

junoth1001 · 02-19-2008, 05:10 AM

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Fidel Castro announces retirement

The problems will now start with who is to replace him and what changes will they make to system he put into place.

We have the examples of other dictatorships where the successor was incapable of sustaining the leadership principle.

But only time will tell what will happen in Cuba.

cuba · 02-19-2008, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geurtjalink

I hope US change policy towards cuba

Aye, the US should stop this unnecessary and unfair boycott of Cuba.

dave lukins · 02-19-2008, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ned kelly

how many presidents has he seen come and go?

I will have to visit before it's too late

I'm sure you meant US Presidents. I think it is 10.

Bluesman · 02-19-2008, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geurtjalink

I hope US change policy towards cuba

I hope Cuba changes from a repressive Communist dictatorship to a free democratic liberal society and a responsible member of the international community.

Bluesman · 02-19-2008, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cuba

Aye, the US should stop this unnecessary and unfair boycott of Cuba.

Cuba should stop its unnecessary and unfair savage repression of its own citizens.

Elbmek · 02-19-2008, 07:06 AM

I believe his son will take over so its still a "Castro" in charge. I am unsure but was Castro as bad for Cuba as we were led to believe in the massively anti communist years of american history in the 60s?

Communist is great, on paper, but in real life cannot flourish - but did it in Cuba? I would be very interested in peoples views of communist Cuba.

Anyway, end of an era in the west.

Bluesman · 02-19-2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbmek

I believe his son will take over so its still a "Castro" in charge.

So, basically, just another dictator that passes power through his own family, instead of a rational and orderly transfer of authority according to rule of law and the people's wishes.

Meh. Seen it before, as a matter of fact, we see it every single time another 'people's republic' strongman is replaced by a method other than being toppled.

Quote:

I am unsure but was Castro as bad for Cuba as we were led to believe in the massively anti communist years of american history in the 60s?

Oh, I think I see your point: it was merely our paranoid fear that made him out to be a monster, not the fact that he was as murderous and repressive as any other benevolent personality cult that was working on behalf of his captive poplation, right?

Nah, sorry; I have read the accounts of what happens to dissidents and anybody that doesn't want to live in a police state. We have the examples of all those people that would rather lose their lives on the open ocean to escape than live under a ferocious regime of dicatatorship and slavery.

And finally, we have the historical record of Castro's relentless spread of the misery of 'revolution' from his own horrible vision for his people throughout Latin America and Africa.

So, no sale; it wasn't us that chose to somehow make him worse than he was, because that wasn't really possible. Indeed, there are the useful idiots among us that, even as he was committing black crimes against humanity, chose to praise him and hold him up as a shining example of a 'progressive' leader.

Quote:

Communist is great, on paper, but in real life cannot flourish - but did it in Cuba? I would be very interested in peoples views of communist Cuba.

Communism is NOT great on paper, or anywhere else, and that's an ignorant interpretation that we've all grown up hearing. It's ALWAYS a system of evil, and that's true even in the philosophical realm.

Quote:

Anyway, end of an era in the west.

And good riddance. It'll be an even better day when the old bastard finally dies and goes to his hot little corner of Hell for the reward he so richly deserves.

**Shek** · 02-19-2008, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbmek

Communist is great, on paper, but in real life cannot flourish - but did it in Cuba? I would be very interested in peoples views of communist Cuba.

Sure it flourished. Free health care for all [cue Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life . . . ]. A high literacy rate so people could read the state controlled press.

Of course, dire poverty, lack of services, and the strong desire to flee to the freedom that the US offered kind of diminishes that flourishing, don't you think?

Elbmek · 02-19-2008, 07:52 AM

Whoa!! I asked a plain and simple question - I am not expecting such sarcastic criticism. I ask simply what was Cuba like? I have not studied it, I have other things to do with my life - and the replacement of a Castro with a Castro is fact, not an opinion of my own. I asked for views, thats all.

Bluesman · 02-19-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbmek

Whoa!! I asked a plain and simple question - I am not expecting such sarcastic criticism. I ask simply what was Cuba like? I have not studied it, I have other things to do with my life - and the replacement of a Castro with a Castro is fact, not an opinion of my own. I asked for views, thats all.

Nobody's attacking you, Suzie. Shek simply offered an opinion on the question you asked - Did communism flourish under Castro? - by answering that it sure did. But the PEOPLE didn't flourish under communism. Savvy?

BenRoethig · 02-19-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbmek

Whoa!! I asked a plain and simple question - I am not expecting such sarcastic criticism. I ask simply what was Cuba like? I have not studied it, I have other things to do with my life - and the replacement of a Castro with a Castro is fact, not an opinion of my own. I asked for views, thats all.

To be honest, Cuba hasn't modernized very much since Castro took over. Add to that the large subsidies paid by the Russians are long since gone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesman

Cuba should stop its unnecessary and unfair savage repression of its own citizens.

Well, Raul has already decided that $20 a month is note enough to live on.

02-19-2008, 03:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
Tarek Morgen *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 02-08-07 Location: Kassel Posts: 807 Country:	Fidel Castro Resigns Cuban Presidency According to Skyn new Castros retirement has just been announced __________________ uh I might be wrong

02-19-2008, 07:06 AM	#10 (permalink)
Elbmek *Military Professional* Join Date: 12-31-06 Location: Sutton Coldfield Posts: 419 Country:	I believe his son will take over so its still a "Castro" in charge. I am unsure but was Castro as bad for Cuba as we were led to believe in the massively anti communist years of american history in the 60s? Communist is great, on paper, but in real life cannot flourish - but did it in Cuba? I would be very interested in peoples views of communist Cuba. Anyway, end of an era in the west. __________________ Never lie, then you have nothing to try and remember.

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02-19-2008, 03:54 AM	#3 (permalink)
ned kelly Regular Join Date: 02-18-08 Location: sydney Posts: 118 Country:	how many presidents has he seen come and go? I will have to visit before it's too late

02-19-2008, 05:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
geurtjalink Regular Join Date: 08-08-06 Location: eindhoven the netherlands Posts: 26 Country:	I hope US change policy towards cuba

02-19-2008, 05:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
junoth1001 New Member Join Date: 02-01-08 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2 Country:	BBC NEWS \| World \| Americas \| Fidel Castro announces retirement The problems will now start with who is to replace him and what changes will they make to system he put into place. We have the examples of other dictatorships where the successor was incapable of sustaining the leadership principle. But only time will tell what will happen in Cuba.

02-19-2008, 07:52 AM	#13 (permalink)
Elbmek *Military Professional* Join Date: 12-31-06 Location: Sutton Coldfield Posts: 419 Country:	Whoa!! I asked a plain and simple question - I am not expecting such sarcastic criticism. I ask simply what was Cuba like? I have not studied it, I have other things to do with my life - and the replacement of a Castro with a Castro is fact, not an opinion of my own. I asked for views, thats all.

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