Raul Castro becomes Cuba's leader

AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/24/08 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

HAVANA — Nearly 50 years of rule by Fidel Castro ended in Cuba on Sunday as parliament chose his brother Raul to replace him — a transition that leaves the island's communist system unshaken.

The new president proposed consulting with the ailing 81-year-old Fidel on all major decisions of state, and parliament approved the proposal.

The 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 transition was not likely to bring a major shift in policies of the communist government that have put it at odds with the United States. But many Cubans were hoping it would open the door to modest economic reforms and improvement in their daily lives

[AdmSmith]

So what is Cuba now, a parlamentary monarchy?

Probably a gerontarchy.

[driftless2]

"gene pool"

The shallow end.

[Travis McGee]

Pres. Obama will give Raul and Fidel the Presidential Freedom Medal.

[Christopher Lincoln]

When, after 1962, did any president do anything to oust Castro?

[AU72]

Raul was selected, not elected.

[reagan_fanatic]

It will be interesting to see what develops once satan sticks his pitchfork into Fidel and drags him down to the nether regions of hell.

The glue that kept the Cuban government together was Fidel and his legend. With him gone and his aged, lackluster brother in charge, things could get very interesting.

[dmartin]

[Raul CAN’T be worse, imho. May actually be better ...]

You’re right and I hope he has a different mindset than Castro does. Perhaps Raul was out and about more and knows how much the Cubans would benefit from good relations with the U.S.

Raul has been his brother's enforcer for fifty years. Anyone who assumes that Cuba will suddenly become a free and open society because Fidel is dead is very much mistaken. The last thing Raul has any interest in is the quality of life of the average Cuban.

[nicmarlo]

Castro is Castro is Castro ...

I agree....however, Phil may be a bit more correct...it's even possible the this Raul guy could be worse.

[potlatch]

They don't sound all that unhappy in Cuba!

LINK

"Modern-day Cuba, perhaps more than any nation, bears the imprint of its leader. Over 49 years, the longest tenure of any living head of government, Castro monopolized the attention of his people, many of whom consider him the father of their nation".

"But he has long been reviled by Cuban exiles and their descendants, many of whom lost homes and land in the revolution, and by the island's suppressed dissidents, who cast him as a heartless dictator".

[PhilDragoo]

'Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him', By Humberto Fontova

I was fortunate to hear this author for an hour today. He said things have been run by the army since Castro's stroke ca. 2003, that Raul is nothing.

Amusing dissertation on Khruschev revealing how unhinged he found Castro to be when Fidel kept pressuring him to launch missiles on the U.S.

Fontava said Fidel sent Che to Bolivia to have him hit there with deniability, that Che was no longer useful.

I would say anyone surviving in the Cuban elite for five decades is complicit in the 100,000 murders and not apt to institute democratic reforms.

[potlatch]

"Raúl Castro was described as a long-term "special unofficial contact" cooperating with the KGB since the Nikita Khrushchev era by Sergei Tretyakov, a Russian defector".

"As well as being defence minister and first vice-president of the Council of State - the constitutional successor to Fidel - Raúl Castro was vice-secretary of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. He is also reported to have influenced financial policy from behind the scenes".

"Prior to assuming the presidency, he had indicated that a collective leadership would most likely govern Cuba following his brother's death".

LINK

[dmartin]

They don't sound all that unhappy in Cuba!

Either you forgot the sarcasm tag or I think you are on the wrong site. The site that caters to liberal utopian delusions is down the hall on the left.

[potlatch]

I’ll hold the door for you..

[SoldierDad]

Dictators in Cuba come from the same shallow end of the gene pool. Couldn't resist.

[SoldierDad]

Dictators in Cuba come from the same shallow end of the gene pool.

Couldn't resist.

[dixiechick2000]

Excellent post, and you make some very good points.
I still got a chuckle out of it, though.

“the Twelfth Imam from Chicago”

That phrase still tickles me to death. ;o)

[dixiechick2000]

If he’s smart he will!

Has he ever been accused of being smart?

[MeekOneGOP]

buuuuummmmp !!

[MeekOneGOP]

G’night!

Time again for me to hit the rack!

See you soon! :^D

[magellan]

In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.