Another Castro Becomes Cuba’s Leader
By ANITA SNOW,
AP
Posted: 2008-02-24 16:56:31
Filed Under: World News
HAVANA (Feb. 24) – Cuba’s parliament named Raul Castro president on Sunday, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel but leaving the island’s communist system unshaken.
The succession was not likely to bring a major shift in the communist government policies that have put it at odds with the United States. But many Cubans were hoping it would open the door to modest economic reforms that might improve their daily lives.
In another sign that major change was not afoot, Raul Castro, 76, proposed he would consult with the ailing, 81-year-old Fidel on all major decisions of state, and parliament approved the proposal.
An old guard revolutionary leader Jose Ramon Machado was named No. 2 — the slot that Raul Castro had previously held. The 77-year-old fought alongside the Castro brothers in the Sierra Maestra during the late 1950s.
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro suggested that the Communist Party as a whole would take over the role long held by Fidel Castro, who formally remains its leader.
The new president said the nation’s sole legal party “is the directing and superior force of society and the state.”
“This conviction has particular importance when because the founding and forging generation of the revolution is disappearing,” Raul Castro added.
Sunday’s vote came five days after Fidel said he was retiring, capping a career in which he frustrated efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to oust him.
The U.S. has said the change from one Castro to another would not be significant, calling it a “transfer of authority and power from dictator to dictator light.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday Cubans have a right “to choose their leaders in democratic elections” and urged the government “to begin a process of peaceful, democratic change by releasing all political prisoners, respecting human rights, and creating a clear pathway towards free and fair elections.”
Here is the full article.
Two things:
1) If the US really cared about the welfare of Cubans, they would drop their unfair and ridiculous sanctions . China is also a communist country, but for some reason they are not similarly punished.
2) After the last two elections, Americans would be well advised to refrain from lecturing the world on the virtues of democracy.
It is not surprising. David Letterman predicted last week that Cuba’s new leader would be either Fidel Castro’s brother Raul (the guy the article is about), or else Fidel’s idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I hear after Raul dies, they are going to replace him with a broken kuckoo clock. It will be right at least twice a day. Better performance than the current president.
Americans are not good at jokes either.
Fact is, Che and Fidel were the greatest revolutionary figures of the 20th century! Not only did they succeed in throwing the US out of Cuba, they also taught other peoples (Vietnam, the Arabs) that the US are not invicible, rather they are a giant with wooden legs.
Cubans are very proud of their Revolution and we, Europeans, love them much more than the American war-mongers. After all, they do not mess around when they smell blood (and oil)…
european pro-cuban:
Blah Blah Blah.
You don’t complain when you use my American dollars, products, and Internet. Yes, the Internet was invented and is still run by America. Ingrates like you make me sick to the point of regurgitation…
Commie puke bastard.
@anti-pro-cuban-european:
Well, it’s not the first time an American guy gets infuriated at hearing some bitter thruths.
“Your” American dollars, man? I’m afraid u r terribly wrong here. Besides, almost any product that is to be found in the american market, was invented either in Europe or in Asia. This applies to the Internet, too – otherwise it would still have been reduced for military reasons, like the American war-mongers planned. It is known that most top-graduated in the US colleges are either Europeans or Chinese, too.
Get down and read some reliable books on Cuba, man. As a European, I’ve been there several times, I’ve seen the progress made by the Cuban Gov. and people with my own eyes.
U, hateful, ignorant American…