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Raul Castro becomes Cuba's leader
AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/24/08 | AP

Posted on 02/24/2008 12:19:03 PM PST by 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


TOPICS: Breaking News; Cuba; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: castro; cuba; deathwatch; fidel; raul
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To: Vince Ferrer; nuconvert
So what is Cuba now, a parlamentary monarchy?

Probably a gerontarchy.
81 posted on 02/25/2008 4:59:38 AM PST by AdmSmith
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To: Bushbacker1
"gene pool"

The shallow end.

82 posted on 02/25/2008 5:08:12 AM PST by driftless2
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To: wardaddy

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


83 posted on 02/25/2008 5:15:02 AM PST by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
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To: Digital Sniper

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


84 posted on 02/25/2008 6:09:40 AM PST by Christopher Lincoln
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To: Christopher Lincoln

Raul was selected, not elected.


85 posted on 02/25/2008 7:01:49 AM PST by AU72
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To: NormsRevenge
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.
86 posted on 02/25/2008 7:20:32 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Obama and Hillary - it's right there in black and white)
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To: potlatch; All
[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.
87 posted on 02/25/2008 10:09:25 AM PST by dmartin (Who Dares Wins)
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To: MeekOneGOP; PhilDragoo
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.

88 posted on 02/25/2008 2:00:17 PM PST by nicmarlo (A vote for McRino is a false mandate for McShamnesty)
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To: dmartin
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".

89 posted on 02/25/2008 2:00:27 PM PST by potlatch
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To: nicmarlo; MeekOneGOP; potlatch; devolve
'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.

90 posted on 02/25/2008 2:37:19 PM PST by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: PhilDragoo; All
"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

91 posted on 02/25/2008 2:56:09 PM PST by potlatch
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To: potlatch
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.
92 posted on 02/25/2008 5:45:41 PM PST by dmartin (Who Dares Wins)
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To: dmartin

I’ll hold the door for you..


93 posted on 02/25/2008 5:48:18 PM PST by potlatch
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To: Bushbacker1
Dictators in Cuba come from the same shallow end of the gene pool. Couldn't resist.
94 posted on 02/25/2008 9:02:56 PM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a 2nd BCT 10th Mountain Soldier home after 15 months in the Triangle of death)
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To: Bushbacker1
Dictators in Cuba come from the same shallow end of the gene pool.

Couldn't resist.

95 posted on 02/25/2008 9:03:19 PM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a 2nd BCT 10th Mountain Soldier home after 15 months in the Triangle of death)
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To: PhilDragoo

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)


96 posted on 02/25/2008 9:33:14 PM PST by dixiechick2000 (There ought to be one day-- just one-- when there is open season on senators. ~~ Will Rogers)
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To: wardaddy

If he’s smart he will!

Has he ever been accused of being smart?


97 posted on 02/25/2008 9:34:31 PM PST by dixiechick2000 (There ought to be one day-- just one-- when there is open season on senators. ~~ Will Rogers)
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To: PhilDragoo; potlatch

buuuuummmmp !!


98 posted on 02/25/2008 10:17:52 PM PST by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: potlatch

G’night!

Time again for me to hit the rack!

See you soon! :^D


99 posted on 02/25/2008 10:24:54 PM PST by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: NormsRevenge

In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.


100 posted on 02/26/2008 5:42:09 AM PST by magellan
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