FIDEL ABDICATES

Heijoshin said:
WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO CE?

stockula said:
CUBA LIBRE!

Fidel Castro has resigned as president of Cuba, according to a statement in state-run newspaper Granma.

Heijoshin said:
WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO CE?

crispy said:

stockula speaks the truth ... CNN is reporting this, as well.

HAVANA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.

"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 ... the position of president of council of state and commander in chief," Castro said in a statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper.

FearTheReaper said:

It's being run by people who don't know what a link is.

stockula said:
God, who knows. But the symbolism is the main thing. He's gone.

FearTheReaper said:
Civil war coming soon.

FearTheReaper said:
Civil war coming soon.

Heijoshin said:
So does anyone think they'll life the embargo now?

stockula said:
I think Cuba can only go up from this point.

Indeed, Raul is also called "the practical Castro," and when and if he does succeed Fidel permanently, many Cuba watchers speculate that he'll actually bring a less confrontational, more reform-minded rule to the communist island. "I think he will try to adopt more of a China economic model, probably continuing much of the harsh political regime but allowing more private enterprise and loosening foreign investment rules," says Latell, a senior researcher at the University of Miami's Cuba Institute and author of the recently published book After Fidel. "And I think he's also going to want better relations and more dialogue with the U.S."

Source

Obama: "Our longstanding policies toward Cuba have been a miserable failure, evidenced by the fact that Fidel Castro is now the longest-serving head of state in the world. If our isolationist policies were meant to weaken him, they certainly haven't worked. I believe that normalization of relations with Cuba would help the oppressed and poverty-stricken Cuban people while setting the stage for a more democratic government once Castro inevitably leaves the scene."

Source