Castro to resign; “This is not my farewell to you;” Update: US to maintain trade embargo
Update 11:03am. Cuban exiles in Miami react… “‘I hope this is the beginning of the end of the system, but we have to wait,’ said 35-year-old chemist Omar Fernandez, who left Cuba for the U.S. six years ago.”
Update 10:18am. State Dept “has indicated” the trade embargo with Cuba will remain in place.
***
Don’t ask me why I’m up, but I am. And the AP has just put out a news alert that many have been awaiting for years: Fidel Castro has announced he will be resigning.
Just a single line so far: “HAVANA (AP) — Official media quotes Fidel Castro saying he will not seek new presidential term.”
Time to reinstitute the Fidel Castro Death Watch?
Stand by for more…
Val Prieto at Babalu Blog posted the Castro zombie doll yesterday as the “perfect symbol of The Revolution.” Behold the Living Dead:
***
Reuters has details of Castro’s letter:
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.
Castro, 81, said in a statement to the country that he would not seek a new presidential term when the National Assembly meets on February 24.
“To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament … I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept — I repeat not aspire to or accept — the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief,” Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper.
The National Assembly or legislature is expected to nominate his brother and designated successor Raul Castro as president in place of Castro, who has not appeared in public for almost 19 months after being stricken by an undisclosed illness.
Don’t you love how Reuters cloaks its sympathy in journalistic neutrality:
A charismatic leader famous for his long speeches delivered in his green military fatigues, Castro is admired in the Third World for standing up to the United States but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.
Who’s gonna organize the Tinseltown vigil for Hollywood’s favorite tyrant? From Humberto Fontova’s excellent book:
“Very selfless and moral. One of the world’s wisest men.” –Oliver Stone.
“Cuba’s Elvis.” –Dan Rather.
“Castro is at the same time the island, the men, the cattle, and the earth. He is the whole island.” –Jean Paul-Sartre.
“A dream come true!” –Naomi Campbell.
“If you believe in freedom, if you believe in justice, if you believe in democracy, you have no choice but to support Fidel Castro!” –Harry Belafonte.
“A genius.” –Jack Nicholson.
“Fidel, I love you. We both have beards. We both have power and want to use it for good purposes.” –Francis Ford Coppola.
“The first and greatest hero to appear in the world since the Second World War.” –Norman Mailer.
“Socialism works. I think Cuba might prove that.” –Chevy Chase.
“Castro is an extraordinary man. He is warm and understanding and seems extremely humane.” –Gina Lollobrigida.
Ziva at Babalu Blog has both the Spanish and English versions of Castro’s missive and writes simply: “Right now, at this late hour, my emotions are in turmoil.”
Castro’s parting words:
Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and later they have given glory to the country with their heroic performance and their internationalist missions. They have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is also the intermediate generation which learned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organizing and leading a revolution.
The path will always be difficult and require from everyone’s intelligent effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its antithesis the self-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the worst variable. The principle of being as prudent in success as steady in adversity cannot be forgotten. The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century.
This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of ‘Reflections by comrade Fidel.’ It will be just another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful.
Thanks.
Fidel Castro Ruz
February 18, 2008
***
Val Prieto’s reality check:
“The day there is real change in Cuba - and not a carefully choreographed one - will be the day when every single Cuban on the island is allowed to know who Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet is. When every Cuban is allowed to know exactly and truthfully why he, and so many like him, have been rotting away in putrid jail cells for years.
For fifty years, the Cuban people have been physically, mentally, spiritually, ideologically, culturally and emotionally emasculated. Today’s news is just another snip in a surreptitiously planned and meticulously orchestrated surgery.”
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- Neocon News » Say what? Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban President
- A NEWT ONE
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- CASTRO QUITS!!! « rjjago.wordpress.com
- Fidel Castro Steps Down from Presidency » The American Mind
- Matt Sanchez
- The Nose On Your Face » Blog Archive » Cuba’s Castro Won’t Seek New Term; Concerned He Won’t Be Able To Serve Full 49 Years
- Rhymes With Right
- Slapstick Politics
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Castro out
- JammieWearingFool
- Commie scum “retiring”
- Castro Death Watch | Dead Fidel Castro, Havana Cuba » Blog Archive » BREAKING: Fidel Castro resigns
- Murderous Communist Tyrant To Resign « Ramblingcrusader’s Weblog
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » Fidel Castro Resigns
- Pro Cynic
- Webloggin - Blog Archive » Castro to Resign
- Morning Coffee » Blog Archive » Castro Stepping down
- A Blog For All
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- Cuba’s Long Nightmare is Closer to Over : The Sundries Shack
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Categories: Cuba

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Im up too. I think this is a sign that he is on his deathbed
CNN has more
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.
This is going to be a very busy news day. I’m still voting for Weekend at Bernie’s 3.
Breaking news at 12AM = he is dead. Good riddance.
I think Micheal Moore is gonna be sicko tomorrow
BBC has more of the letter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7252109.stm
This could be good or bad news…depends upon which way the winds blow.
Danr he stole LBJ’s resignation. I think Obama will be jealous
I’ve never been happier to have my cell phone scare the hell out of me at 2:30AM.
Heh Castro couldnt last past the GW Bush administration. If Bush moves fast that could be one hell of a legacy
Bless your heart, Michelle, I see you up too often at this time of night.
I pray God is giving you sweet peace and good rest and good strength and health.
You are truly a great Watchman on the Wall.
We love you, Girl - blessings to your family.
As for Castro - they must be ready to admit he is dead and to have the state funeral - though they are not likely to admit for how long he has really been dead.
Some of you youngsters may not be familiar with this old habit of older Communist regimes, til up well into the ’60’s and ’70’s, of hiding the true nature of the health and death of thei “popular: and powerful dictators, until they are sure they have the power structure ready to contain any hope the peons might have had that his death would bring them FREEDOM through the collapse of his government.
Dictators could be hospitalized, or comatose for months, dead for WEEKS before the persistent rumors forced them to admit the dictator “was doing great and suddenly had a heart attack and died a “few minutes ago”.”
Sometimes they said Heart Attack, and in fact, it was really a successful coup. LOL!
Maybe Obama’s campaign can hurry up and slap some pictures of him on their flags before the Texas Primary. There’s still time!
#10… I don’t think it’s a legacy to have a 81 year old man retire. It’s really not like Bush did anything to Cuba to force him out.
My thoughts were post castro Cuba not before. If Bush can move Cuba to freedom that is one hell of a legacy.
Hugo will be up in arms however
Remember the Ol’ Soviet Union, Rose? How it was pretty much like that? A long silent time between a Premier kicking the bucket and the official announcement.
Poor Hugo and Obamallamadingdong!
I smell an SNL skit ala “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!” somewhere along the line.
Well, maybe not; that goes back to when SNL was funny.
Hope you get some sleep, Michelle. Way too late for you! I’ll believe Castro when I see him actually resign and stay home. I have a feeling he’ll be running the show, anyway, in the background. A man like that, with his obsession of power, and almost 50 years in control, doesn’t give it up easily. Hollywood will have a day of mourning, I’m sure. Those “out of touch with the world” actors is one major reason, my wife and I stay home from the theatres. They’re not worth watching on the screen. They continue living in a fantasy world, even off the stage.
He retired just in time. Obama’s going to need a suitable running mate.
I wonder how long his brother can hang on. He is in his 70’s. There might be hope in our lifetime. I have not heard of any number 3 in the line of succession.
I guess Che is out and Castro is in….at Obama’s campaign headquarters.
See? I told you he’d never last!
Heh.
Those poisoned cigars are so dang slow acting…
Give him an aricept and some Geritol and he’ll be good for another year…
Fidel Castro’s longevity is a testament to the fact good things happen to bad people.
Oh well, I’m sure Zombie Castro will rule Cuba with an iron fist.
Stand by for a congressional delegation to fly in and offer their support and homage to their favorite (barely) living dictator…
I wish Fidel well in his new career as a vegetable.
I’m all for a quick invasion to kick his brother’s behind all the way to Venezuela! Viva la conquer-istas!
Let’s make a decent neighbor out of Cuba, build some casinos. We can empty Miami to go work in them; the illegal Cubans down in Florida should have learned enough by now to run a democratic country.
Check out this site I found showing pics and stories of the ‘Real’ Cuba. There are links at the top that show different aspects of the country. Very Enlightening. And Sad.
http://www.therealcuba.com/index.htm
So begins a dark night of mourning for the American Left…
So begins a glimmer of morning for the people of Cuba…
I’m sorry…
I know its wicked, but…
I would give worlds for a hidden camera following Michael Moore today…!!!
Think of the ice-cream fueled paroxysm of despair…
Jabba-the-Hutt does despondency…!!!
Love, love, love the zombie doll!
Well said! The Left will be fainting from their grief over their lost “hero”. What will Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, et. al. ever do? While a friend of mine dances in the streets on this happy morning he said as he headed to the Metro to go to work at the DOJ.
Little brother Raul won’t be much better.
Wolf, Wolf!!!
One down (Che — thanks to my old unit), one in the oven (Fidel), one left (Raul).
Old unit? Google “8th Special Forces Group”
From Wikipedia “A Mobile Training Team from the 8th group trained and advised the Bolivian Ranger Battalion that captured and killed Che Guevara in the fall of 1967. However, they were not part of the capture and execution.”
Wolf. Wolf. Wolf
“You can still find me every day at 4 p.m. at the Havana Country Kitchen’s Early Bird Buffet.”
Fidel: Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
Is it hot in here or is it just you, ♥Fidel♥?
-Satan
Arriba! COHIBA!
I wonder if we will be treated to a mummification in a transparent sarcophagus ala Lenin.
Are those quotes from Hollywood people real? It boggles the mind. Hey, Chevy- Cuba’s socialism works if part of its principles is to get people to drown in a raft made of old tires trying to escape the place!
mazing that Hollywood Royalty heaps such glowing praise from the comfort of their cocoons in the United States. If they believe in their rhetoric, why not live with Fidel in the land of plenty? I am sure there is plenty of room for them in Cuba.
Hollywood: A fantasy world where the inhabitants create their own reality and call it truth.
Socialism: A fantasy world where the inhabitants create their own reality and call it truth.
President Johnson will posthumously be suing Castro for plagiarism.
This quote is dripping with irony. It almost sounds sarcastic, but I know it’s not.
When this dictator goes off to his just reward (I’m using semantics here), he will not be able to use fiery speeches to make his case that he did the best he could with the Cuban people. No, the axe is at the foot of the trees Mr. Castro, you will not escape the justice you so rightly deserve.
Granma Internacional/Cuban State Newspaper, Message from the Commander in Chief
#33:
Indeed. During Fidel’s and Raul’s 50-year joint reign, Fidel was the renown charismatic frontman, while Raul was the quiet executioner.
I see no cause for celebration here.
Back in the early days, Raul looked like a thug. Now he looks like a tired bureaucrat.
DLTDHYOTWO!!!!
Now maybe we can empty Cuba like we are doing to Central American and bring in more low wage workers to combat the dratted high wages in America.
Will the Cuban exiles get on a raft and float back to Cuba? NOT!
I see no reason for rejoicing, large swathes of Latin America are socialist and I’m pretty sure that Chavez will have no difficulty in maintaining the status quo, maybe with his own hand-picked successor, either now or after Raul.
On the other hand, does it really matter? Cuba ceased to be a major threat after the Cuban missile crisis was defused and the USSR agreed not to station nuclear missiles there. After the Soviet Union disappeared, any lingering threat effectively became zero. And that’s when the embargo should have been lifted, because while U.S. companies saw a prospective market just a few nautical miles from Florida remain closed to them, all the other countries in the world merrily signed all sorts of contracts and got in there first. Now even if the Cuban dictatorship crumbles and the embargo is lifted, it’ll be too late, and getting a part of the cake will take time, effort and money that could otherwise have been made a lot easier.
I really don’t understand the U.S. Government’s attitude to these Latin American “Communist-Lite” tinpot dictatorships. They love it when they can rant at the U.S., especially when they get a reaction to it. If any U.S. president since the fall of communism had said: “Right, the real threat’s over now, these little nations can play at communism if it amuses them. Let’s make some money”, it would have made a whole lot more sense.
I wonder if one of the reasons that celebrities who visit Havana are so effusive in their praise of Fidel is that he has the goods on them. The Cuban secret police bugs their rooms and follows them everywhere. I imagine somebody like Jack Nicholson orders up a little room service, if you know what I mean. Perhaps a few words of lavish praise are all it takes to keep those tapes and video out of public view.
How can that be? A small island of about eleven million people who drive around in rusty old 1950s automobiles, headed by a bearded loon who dressed as a guerillero well into his seventies? And yet he managed to be perceived as standing up to the United States?
I’ll tell you how - because the U.S.A. gave him importance by acknowledging him. Made him feel that he somehow mattered.
Hey Fidel….
Give a Message to “Che” when you get to hell in the near future. Ask him why he is all down and depressed like it’s 4,000 degrees all the time down there?? It can’t be no more than 3,980…..
Burn you sorry Communist Dictator bastard.
May Fidel join his tyrant brothers in Hell. Adolph, Kim, Vladimir, Uncle Joe, Attila, someday Osama and Ayman, Omar too.
When Havana can become once again Vegas Southeast, the Cuban economy will explode with opportunity and prosperity for the people who have suffered for so long.
Freedom has a beach head on that island already. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are already in place with much hardware to help in assisting the poor. Think Tsunami relief, only this disaster has lasted 50 years, and is entirely man-made. Think of that irony! What the leftists have called “the modern gulags”, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base could speed up the recovery greatly. The real modern gulag is the rest of that island.
Everyone should pray that the gates can be torn down, sooner than later.
A free Cuba would very quickly become THE destination in the Carribean. There is a huge fleet of yachts, speedboats, private jets (like EIB One) and commercial cruise ships loaded with capital to spend just 90 miles away.
Two examples:
Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson lives in the Florida Keys. His setup down there is legendary among the guests he invites to “go fishing”. He’s got the top-notch watercraft, and a list of friends that are all millionaires. Don’t you think he would love to try the fishing grounds around Cuba? He would pay very well.
Rush Limbaugh lives in Palm Beach. He has access to a private jet that could land in Havana in less than two hours. We know he’s loaded, and loves cigars, golf. Don’t you think he would just love to go to Cuba with his fat checkbook at hand?
All that money in South Beach would be available to Cubans hosting tourists from America. What a future that island could have if they can manage to do for themselves what the peoples of Eastern Europe have done.
Hope IS making a comeback!
Just freakin die already.
This reminds me of Garth Brooks’ endless string of “I’m not coming out of retirement” concerts.
Come on Castro die already.
So now Raul can open up the Cuban economy a bit, improve relations with the U.S., turn Havanna into a hot vacation spot for wealthy New Yorkers again, and the thousands of illegals that (set foot on US Soil) can go back home. Right?
Now that brings back some memories. In my much younger days, one of my Senior NCO’s was part of the 8th Special Forces Team that tracked Che through the jungles. They got very close more than a few times, and managed to deplete some of Che’s senior guys at each encounter. Che himself, seemed to be “protected by the devil”, if I recall the words correctly.
This guy saw Che’s work first hand, and to somehow claim Che was a hero to any cause is to ingnore Che’s brutal handiwork. Che makes Pol Pot and Adolph Hitler look like boy scouts.
And given the close association between Che and Castro, I have no doubt that Castro was directly complicit in the outright genocide that occurred. Millions upon millions of people were slaughtered by Che.
This is an occasion to visit the essence of Capitalist Piggery, your people’s socialist revolutionary mega-store,
CHE-MART!
Who is Che?
I love those guys at The People’s Cube!
Let’s give Obambi a break – he said he would meet with Castro, he never said Fidel, he must have meant Raul. Shouldn’t put words in his mouth (he does that himself just fine.)
Oh yeah…the 81 year old retires and the 76 year old takes over. I’m sure HUGE changes are in store…what with them being brohers anf Fidel still alive and all.
I’ve got a dollar that says Jesse Jackson attends Fidel’s funeral. Any takers?
and let us not forget that other classic MO-ment when talking about her baby daddy on 60 minutes…
“He is a black man in America. He could be shot anytime he stops to get gas at a service station.”
this is an angry misguided and racist woman….
I think he’s dead. Adios Muchacho! Vaya con El Diablo!
RetFireman—excellent point.Casto’s retirement for all purposes is a SO WHAT.Does anyone think that after 50 yrs, af indoctrination any thing is going to change?The time for change in US-Cuban relations passed several decades ago.Meet the new boss,same as the old boss.And the beat goes on.
Yes, he could be dead. Interesting that they released the news at that hour of the morning. Smacks of a last minute decision.Raoul gets elected and then they announce Castro died peacefully.
I’m waiting for the new movie coming out, “Weekend at Fidel’s”…
Wow, now I have more reassons besides being people with no true selves than not to listen to the people in HollyWood, and know why I don’t listen to them, ever. Oh well I talked to some guy that was sad about this news. To me its no big deal, even if Castro died it won’t make a differance, what most likely will happen is Castro will ordain Chavez and the Grand Leader of the Revolution. Two nations under his belt as one.
Not that many in Cuba just like NK or Iran or foaming at the mouth for democracy, those that do are seen by the general population as traitors and crazy.
Oh my, there so many Castro apologists out there it’s just amazing. They should but probably never will check the facts; he murdered thousands of his fellow citizens. Even if he had created a ‘perfect’ society would executing and imprisoning and torturing thousands be acceptable? Of course not. And on top of that the health care of the regular people is ship shod at best.
Rarely is there any medicine, and if so it’s usually expired drugs from Canada, not even aspirin is easy to come by. Don’t blame the Embargo, there are plenty of other countries that could have sold them drugs. The hospitals for regular people are roach infested hell-holes with feces and rusting equipment all over. Rich foreigners and Cuba’s leaders get the nice hospitals. 97% of the people work for the government, the average wage is $19 a month. Yes. Even the doctors. Look at the pictures you can find all over the place, like at http://www.therealcuba.com
There are shortages of everything. LOOK AT THE PICTURES of stores for tourists and the ones for regular Cubans. Communism doesn’t work, period. It would for ants or robots but not people. A commune can work, but not communism.
Castro is human garbage who has killed thousands of innocent Cubans in his failed pursuit of a communist paradise.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
Castro was BRILLIANT
like Marx, Lenin and Mao
he helped redefine EVIL
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
celebrities are GUILTY
of having talent and luck
so they must praise dictators
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never admit you were wrong
Communism’s FANTASTIC
BEST false ideology
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
keep your people poor
deny them decent health care
convince them they have it GREAT
.
Fidel Castro
murderous tyrant
- fools’ hero
communist freedom killer
imprisons many poets…
.
http://absurdthoughtsaboutgod.blogspot.com/
http://www.therealcuba.com/