The End of an Era: Castro Steps Down
A huge shocker broke early Tuesday morning as Fidel Castro announced his retirement as Cuba’s president and is expected to pass his power to his brother. Here is the BBC story:
Cuba’s ailing leader, Fidel Castro has announced he will not return to the presidency in a letter published by official Communist Party paper, Granma. “I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the Council of state and commander in chief,” he wrote in the letter. Mr Castro handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery. The 81-year-old has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959. In December, Mr Castro indicated that he could possibly step down in favour of a younger generation.
What an end of an era. Castro has outlasted 9 American presidents. If you want some perspective on how long that really is, MTV has only lasted through four and The Simpsons, seemingly around forever, only three. That’s a long time. This huge news means that February 19th, 2008 could mark the end of Castro in Cuba, the end of Musharraf in Pakistan and if Hillary drops Wisconsin and Hawaii by big margins, the end of of 20 years of Bush-Clinton in America. Tomorrow is the future.