Castro resigns.

[Daikun]

Yep. The [strike]dictator[/strike] "president" of Cuba has resigned after five decades in office.

Source

 

[ROBOTRON]

- Bout time. This guy was pretty old during the cuban missile crisis which happened before I was born. The fact he's still alive is amazing enough. He must have a wicked case of Alzheimer's by now.

 

[TheGLIVEN]

I find this very surprising, actually. I always thought that Castro would die in office, before resigning...I guess I was wrong.

 

[SirLemming]

This is really surprising. I just hope it's for real and the office doesn't go to a puppet of Castro.



"Give what back?"

 

[Zeonic Freak]

I think the worlds been waiting for this moment (specialy Cuba) for a long time.

I mean, the guys has been in poor health over the past few years (even tripping over chairs), so he must be in pretty bad shape in order to resign like this.

As for giving back, the man got a Nobel Peace Prize like 10 years ago. Yea, that confusess me too...

 

[Anyone00]

As for giving back, the man got a Nobel Peace Prize like 10 years ago. Yea, that confusess me too...

Hitler won a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[Zeonic Freak]

Hitler won a Nobel Peace Prize.

Yea, but that was before the war though, right?...

 

[Classic Speedy]

Much like Sadaam's capture a few years ago, this is a historic day. Remember this day, people: 2/19/08.

 

[Aclaim]

Much like Sadaam's capture a few years ago, this is a historic day. Remember this day, people: 2/19/08.

I'm sure today's date will be mentioned in history books soon.

 

[Ishtar]

I heard about it this morning. All I gotta say though is that it's about time. He's been the leader of Cuba for almost 50 years now.

 

[entransify]

This is really surprising. I just hope it's for real and the office doesn't go to a puppet of Castro.



"Give what back?"

He was bound to resign seeing how his brother won their recent elections.

He'd rather give it up than lose it like a gentleman.

 

[purplehairedwonder]

Huh. I knew his health was failing, but I was expecting him to die in office rather than resign. I wonder what this will mean for the future of Cuba.

 

[The Guitar Slayer]

Good on Fidel. I'll admit freely that his administration is far from the communist ideal, but he's managed to outlive and outfox 7 presidents of the United States, despite numerous assassination attempts. There are people that do sincerely love him, and there are just as many people who are willing to swim to Florida to escape him; I'm sure some people would say the same thing about our president. Marxism is about equal conditions for the working class and the white collar classes, as they all contribute to the community; those who want more money and more power tend to leave (i.e., the rich and upper class). By putting everyone on the same level, you're going to have rabid supporters (whose lives have improved greatly) to great detractors (who feel as if they were robbed and deserved better). Such is the nature of socialism.

Just remember: the US put him in power instead of the Batistas.

However, he did do a responsible thing here with leaving office in the way he did. I did not like what President Bush said upon receiving the news; democracy is not for everyone -- it doesn't work, period, for certain people with certain beliefs. We've tried to install that in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many of the people don't like it -- they would prefer a theocracy. It's not the Western ideal, but it's what they want as the people.

We'll see what happens now in Cuba. Do they want capitalism? Do they want democracy? Do they want a monarchy? Parliament? It should be up to them, not the United States or any other nation, what happens next. They are a sovereign nation. Let's not get embroiled in their civil war, should it occur; we should have learned that the hard way in Iraq, not to mention our plates are quite full.

Random note: I do hope that I get down to Cuba before McDonald's. Morgan Spurlock commented that once Castro dies, all the good food will leave Cuba; it's one of the last strongholds of untouched native cuisine thanks to the embargo.

 

[Joe]

Castro's brother, Raul Castro, is (almost certainly) succeeding him. I highly doubt that there will be any significant deviance from Fidel's original course for Cuba.

As he said, Fidel's deteriorating health was making it too difficult to lead the nation properly.

 

[EscaflownePilot]

I did not like what President Bush said upon receiving the news; democracy is not for everyone -- it doesn't work, period, for certain people with certain beliefs. We've tried to install that in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many of the people don't like it -- they would prefer a theocracy. It's not the Western ideal, but it's what they want as the people.

I don't want to get into this too deep since it involves politics too much, but I do have to say that this idea that democracy isn't for everybody never sits well.

True, democracy in the sense that we know it in the US may not be right for everybody, but the general, basic idea of a democracy - that the people should have a say in how their lives are run - is not just a Western ideal, but a basic human right.

Now, it may very well be that through a result of a democracy - tailored for the needs and climate of the country, of course - the people end up with laws and state sponsored relgion and all the things that can come from a theocracy - but at that point, iideally, it's by the people's will that such laws are enacted and not by the will of whatever the head of the official religion, no matter how corrupt, decides is right.

A western style democracy that attempts to purge many religious and cultural aspects from society isn't right for everybody (I think that was a big mistake we made with Japan, personally) but in general, I don't know anybody that would say no to having a say in how THEIR OWN LIVES are run.

Of course, how loose or tight of a democracy is established, as well as how we go about getting a democracy established (and whether it's even our job in the first place) is all valid heated debate material. But again, I don't really think it's a huge stretch to say that the idea of people having a say in their government isn't for everyone. Maybe I'm wrong - maybe I have democracy so ingrained into me that I can't think of it as anything but a universally good principal.

 

[Punisher]

You know, I always thought the day this finally happened it would be far bigger news.

 

[entransify]

Castro's brother, Raul Castro, is (almost certainly) succeeding him. I highly doubt that there will be any significant deviance from Fidel's original course for Cuba.

Raul isn't like his brother, actually.

They share some similarities, but Raul is much more outgoing and is actually open to having a normal relationship with the USA.

 

[The Guitar Slayer]

It's not that Fidel has been against the US; it's just that the US is a little less antagonistic toward his little brother. Fidel welcomed US students into the country and has invited others into his country to check it out for everything it's been accused of. Remember, the US has the embargo against Cuba, not vice versa. Everything that Castro has done to piss off the US has usually been done in retaliation for something else the US did to Cuba.

I think it's more of a personal grudge against him than an actual problem with the way the country is run. The US has dealt with totalitarian leaders and communists before without the amount of attention and thought given to killing Castro (China for example, or even North Korea recently). He's really just a thorn in their sides, personally.

 

[Dark Fact]

Considering his brother will assume the role of leader, I seriously doubt that we'll see Cuba go the way of Democracy at this stage. However, after Raul steps down or passes away, the possibility would be very high.

Personally, I always wanted to visit Cuba. It looks like a beautiful country for a vacation and I also want to pay a visit to the Hemingway house.

 

[Harvey Two Face]

This guy is a living legend, I mean he outlived 9 US presidents, lead a revolution and wrote a letter to Roosevelt requestion a $10 dollar bill at age 12. I believe this to be one of the most important incidents in Cuban history.