今日头条:Castro Circle Likely to Hold Power After His Resignation卡斯特诺辞职后其政团可能执政

By ANTHONY DePALMA and JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

Published: February 20, 2008



HAVANA — Fidel Castro said Tuesday he would step down as the president of Cuba after a long illness, opening the way for his brother Raúl Castro or another member of his inner circle to become Cuba’s president when Parliament chooses a new leader this weekend.

The announcement was made in a letter to the nation under Mr. Castro’s name, which was read on radio and television programs that many Cubans heard as they headed to work.

Under the Cuban Constitution, a newly chosen Parliament will choose a 31-member council of state on Sunday, which in turn will chose the next president. Though Cuban officials say the process is democratic, experts on Cuban politics say the decision on a successor remains in the hands of Fidel Castro, his brother and his inner circle, many of whom hold positions in the cabinet.

There seemed to be little if any outward reaction to the news, which many Cubans had been expecting for months. Schools remained open, garbage continued to be collected, and clusters of ordinary people waiting for buses or trucks to take them to work seemed as large and numerous as ever.

Despite the relative calm with which Tuesday morning’s announcement was received, the resignation signifies a monumental change on the island of some 11 million people. Mr. Castro’s decision to give up the presidency ends one of the longest tenures of a communist head of state, whose authority was among the most absolute.

In late July 2006, Mr. Castro, who is 81, handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raúl Castro, 76, and a few younger cabinet ministers, after he underwent emergency abdominal surgery. Despite many operations, he has never fully recovered, but has remained active in running government affairs from behind the scenes.

Now, just days before the National Assembly is to meet to select a new head of state, Mr. Castro has resigned permanently, and signaled his willingness to let a younger generation assume power, a proposition he first stated late last year. In the open letter to the Cuban people, he said his failing health made it impossible to return as president.

“I will not aspire to neither will I accept — I repeat I will not aspire to neither will I accept — the position of president of the Council of State and commander in chief,” he wrote in the letter, which was posted on the Web site of the state-run Granma newspaper in the early hours of Tuesday.

“To prepare the people for my absence, psychologically and politically, was my first obligation after so many years of struggle,” he said.

He added, “It would betray my conscience to occupy a responsibility that requires mobility and the total commitment that I am not in the physical condition to offer.”

For good or ill, Mr. Castro is one of the most influential and controversial leaders to rise in Latin America since the wars of independence in the early 19th century, not only reshaping Cuban society, but providing inspiration for leftists across Latin America and in other parts of the world.

Though he never restored democracy or the Cuban Constitution as he had promised, and has ruled with absolute — and at times ruthless — power.

Others predict that, without Fidel Castro’s charismatic leadership, the government will have to make fundamental changes to the economy or face a rising tide of unrest among rank-and-file Cubans.