Havana.– Fidel Castro said Friday that as a young man he hoped to cling to power but has long since outgrown the urge, the latest ambiguous statement about his future at the helm of the country he has ruled for nearly five decades.
In a letter read at Cuba's year-end session of parliament, the ailing 81-year-old clarified an assertion he made Dec. 17, that he "was not a person clinging to power."
"Let me add that I was for a time, because of excessive youth and lack of conscience," Castro wrote. "What made me change? Life itself."
By the time he led Cuba's 1959 revolution, he had already realized it was his "duty to fight for (socialist) goals or die in combat," not to stubbornly hold on to power, the letter said.
Castro's words drew a standing ovation from 509 lawmakers at the legislature on Friday, where his chair sat empty next to his 76-year-old brother, Raul Castro.
Castro has not said when — or if — he will step aside for good after emergency intestinal surgery forced him to cede "provisional" authority to his brother 17 months ago. He has not been seen in public since, but remains the head of Cuba's Council of State, its highest governing body.
Castro has vowed not to stand in the way of younger leaders, but remains on the ballot in parliamentary elections Jan. 20 — a candidacy the Communist Party supports, Raul Castro said, suggesting his brother has no plans to retire.
Re-election to parliament is essential for the older Castro to retain his post atop the Council of State.
From: Dominican Republic, SPM
Another Franco. Both responsible for 100s of thousands of deaths!!
Written by: Edward, 29 Dec 2007 7:35 PM
From: United States, Leominster, Massachusetts
I'm glad that Fidel is finally showing his softer and rational side. Hopefully we will see reforms in Cuba soon.
From: United Kingdom
Viva la Republica?????
Written by: Caudillo, 30 Dec 2007 12:57 AM
From: Dominican Republic
we can only wait and see what is going to happen...
Written by: cpone, 31 Dec 2007 12:05 PM
From: United States
Funny as dictators come to older age, they seek the lord to repent for teh hundreds of thousands of lives they destroyed.
Fidel should have gotten a bullet to the head long ago.
He will not be missed, may he rot in hell.
Written by: Edward, 31 Dec 2007 12:54 PM
From: United States, Leominster, Massachusetts
There is no hell
From: Dominican Republic
question: how many people here slandering Castro has actually been to Cuba?
Reason i ask is because, my moms recently visited Cuba for 3 weeks with her Cuban husband. And from what she observed in the country was that, it seem to be in better shape than DR.
The light never left, The water never left, everyone had a house given to them by the government. While my moms was there her husband's aunt, suffered a ruptured Pancreas, and was operated free of charge. If that was here in DR that lady would have been out of gas, cause here in DR if you don't have insurance u most likely don t have have any money to pay for an operation.
And thats real cause there is always people here in DR , stopping traffic with a rope, asking for donations, cause some one in there family badly needs a operation.
Oh and eduction is also free. The only thing those people do not have is the latest materialism. and i think thats due to US sanctions on Cuba.
Written by: Edward, 31 Dec 2007 2:53 PM
From: United States, Leominster, Massachusetts
I agree with Time2Rize. Cuban may be authoritarian, but at least they have the basic necessities and they don't go hungry and without a place to live. I would like to see reforms and that Cuba at least develops into a social democracy.
Written by: cpone, 2 Jan 2008 10:03 AM
From: United States
So sacrificing basic freedoms is enough if you have a free Pancreas surgery and light.
Seeing as MOST in Cuba don't have light in the rural areas outside of Havana I fail to see how them having light all the time is so wonderful. Seeing as DR's Santo Domingo has a much larger sprawling city then Havana therefore demanding more light, I fail to see how this is comparable.
But hey Fidel ROCKS!
time2rize may I suggest you read www.babalublog.com
From: Dominican Republic
Cpone you are familiar with the Patriot Act right?
Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. There are significant flaws in the Patriot Act, flaws that threaten your fundamental freedoms by giving the government the power to access to your medical records, tax records, information about the books you buy or borrow without probable cause, and the power to break into your home and conduct secret searches without telling you for weeks, months, or indefinitely.
Oh and cellphone taps,Emails Taps, etc where is your basic freedom ?
From: United States
actually, Time2rize, some people see the right to an education, the right to health care, the right to housing and the right to a minimum daily intake of calories as basic human freedom. there are others who believe that if you cannot go into a supermarket and have a choice of 246 different breakfast cereals, you are living in tyranny. the Ronald Reagan era in the united states gave us the phenomenon of the ¨rugged individualist¨. every man for himself, God for us all,devil take the hindmost. so what we have in america today is the people who see life as a zero sum game, and we must all grab as much as we can. ironically, the guys with the benzes and the bimmers want good roads to drive them on; god forgive they should damage a rim falling into a pothole. if the mansion is on fire, they want expeditious response from the fire department. they want good schools for their children, and all the services a government should provide. yet, they dont want to pay taxes. they vote for
From: United States
political aspirants whose only platform is not to raise taxes. people like these will always criticise Fidel and Cuba, because they have no social epicenter, and see themselves as the only articles of importance on the planet. no intellegent person is going to give Fidel a clean bill of health regarding the social dynamics of Cuba. we all can find areas of disagreement. but if we look to a so called democratic society a few hundred miles away, the Dominican Republic, there are far more uneducated people who have no health care, no housing, and no food. and in certain cases the human rights are not much better, at least in practice. when senior military and police persons can summarily expropriate the property of others with impunity, such as the stolen-recovered cars and SUVs which ended up in the personal use of militarios and their concubines, you have to wonder what else can, or cannot, happen.
Written by: DaniDr, 12 Jan 2008 11:50 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
dreadlocks that's a great comment. Specially the example about the stolen SUVs really shows how out of control some things get and how shifted the critics can become. In my opinion, news shouldn't be 13 different separated articles, it should be just a little story every day. People tend to see issues as separate things and can't correlate them in a big picture of what's happening.
From: United States
thanks DaniDr, for your compliment. all i am saying is that before people get too comfortable here and think they have " democracy", they should examine what real power they have. this country is full of people who have lost their businesses simply because they appear successful and some powerful guy wants to take over. i met many people in the dr who had their cars "confiscated" by the police, who alleged that the cars were used in crimes, and had to be held as evidence. the police simply turned over these cars to their friends, family members and outside lady-friends, for their personal use. years later, the car would be returned in a substantially depreciated condition, and there was no compensation for the use thereof. when the security forces of a country can do this to you, and you cannot respond with any kind of effective legal action, you are not living in a democracy, even though you might think so!
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Fidel should have gotten a bullet to the head long ago.
He will not be missed, may he rot in hell.
Reason i ask is because, my moms recently visited Cuba for 3 weeks with her Cuban husband. And from what she observed in the country was that, it seem to be in better shape than DR.
The light never left, The water never left, everyone had a house given to them by the government. While my moms was there her husband's aunt, suffered a ruptured Pancreas, and was operated free of charge. If that was here in DR that lady would have been out of gas, cause here in DR if you don't have insurance u most likely don t have have any money to pay for an operation.
And thats real cause there is always people here in DR , stopping traffic with a rope, asking for donations, cause some one in there family badly needs a operation.
Oh and eduction is also free. The only thing those people do not have is the latest materialism. and i think thats due to US sanctions on Cuba.
Seeing as MOST in Cuba don't have light in the rural areas outside of Havana I fail to see how them having light all the time is so wonderful. Seeing as DR's Santo Domingo has a much larger sprawling city then Havana therefore demanding more light, I fail to see how this is comparable.
But hey Fidel ROCKS!
time2rize may I suggest you read www.babalublog.com
Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. There are significant flaws in the Patriot Act, flaws that threaten your fundamental freedoms by giving the government the power to access to your medical records, tax records, information about the books you buy or borrow without probable cause, and the power to break into your home and conduct secret searches without telling you for weeks, months, or indefinitely.
Oh and cellphone taps,Emails Taps, etc where is your basic freedom ?