Cuba -- The Pending Boom

It appears that Fidel is writing his epitaph. When he goes, his brother, Raul, is likely to succeed him. Raul has been to China, the former failing marxist experiment that is now in a hybrid zone and moving closer to capitalism. If there is such a condition as market communism, China defines it. It would be to the benefit of the 12 million Cuban citizens for the march to capitalism to begin. They've waited nearly 50 years for prosperity, but getting it will depend on Fidel's death. That day is getting closer.

If Raul has the sense to bring Cuba into compliance with US demands, Cuban citizens will finally enjoy the revolution Fidel falsely promised since 1959.


Castro Hints He May Step Down

AP
Posted: 2007-12-17 21:50:43
Filed Under: World News
HAVANA (Dec. 17) - Ailing leader Fidel Castro said in a letter read on state television Monday that he does not intend to cling to power forever or stand in the way of a younger generation.

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived," Castro wrote in the final paragraph of a lengthy letter discussing the Bali summit on global warming.

The 81-year-old Castro has not said when - or even if - he will permanently step aside after temporarily ceding his powers to his younger brother Raul 16 months ago. He has not been seen in public since he made that announcement in July 2006 after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.But officially Castro remains the president of Cuba's Council of State, making him the country's head of government and state. Several times a week he pens essays, many of them on international issues that are carried on state media.