Original reports from The Times: The
Bay of Pigs invasion | Cuban
Missile crisis starts | Krushchev
backs down
The
blog reaction
The United States stressed that its embargo of communist Cuba would remain in
force today despite the resignation of Fidel Castro as President after
almost 50 years in power.
Mr Castro, 81, the dictator who has not been seen in public since emergency
intestinal surgery 19 months ago, signalled the end to his rule when he
issued a statement early today saying he had no desire to continue as
President or commander-in-chief.
“To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of
electing me a member of parliament," he wrote in the online
version of the official daily Granma.
"I neither will aspire to nor will I accept - I repeat - I neither will
aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of
state and commander in chief.
"It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires
mobility and total commitment that I am not in physical condition to offer."
Western leaders responded by calling for democratic reforms in Cuba but John
Negroponte, the deputy US Secretary of State, confirmed that the US would
not be lifting its embargo, saying: "I can’t imagine that happening
anytime soon."
Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, later issued a statement
however saying that the US should consider easing the trade embargo if
progress was made.
"If the Cuban leadership begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic
change, the United States must be prepared to begin taking steps to
normalise relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades,"
he said.
Hillary Clinton, his main rival, said the US was "ready to meet"
Cuba if it made political progress, but mentioned nothing about lifting the
embargo.
"I would say to the new leadership, the people of the United States are
ready to meet you if you move forward towards the path of democracy, with
real, substantial reforms," she said. "The United States must
pursue an active policy that does everything possible to advance the cause
of freedom, democracy and opportunity in Cuba."
Republican front-runner John McCain - who was criticised by Mr Castro himself
this month in an article as being "the pawn of that mafia" of
conservative Cuban-Americans - said Castro’s resignation was "nearly
half a century overdue." He said: "Freedom for the Cuban people is
not yet at hand, and the Castro brothers clearly intend to maintain their
grip on power."
Speaking on a visit to Africa, President Bush – the 10th American leader that
Mr Castro has seen since he took office in a 1959 revolution – made a strong
call for democratic reform.
"What does this mean for the people in Cuba? They’re the ones who
suffered under Fidel Castro. They’re the ones who were put in prison because
of their beliefs. They’re the ones who have been denied their right to live
in a free society. So I view this as a period of transition, and it should
be the beginning of the democratic transition in Cuba," he said.
As the US debated its future policy towards Cuba, Britain, the Europeans and
Cuban dissidents persecuted by Mr Castro's regime all called for democracy
in the country.
David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said: "The Cuban people
will now be looking to the future, a future which we hope will offer them
political progress founded on democracy and human rights, and continued
progress based on social justice and individual need."
The European Commission offered to enter into a "political dialogue"
with Cuba to encourage a transition to democracy while Oswaldo Paya, a
well-known Cuban dissident, added: "This is a crucial moment. Cuba
wants change, the people want change."
Allies of the veteran Cuban President, however, claimed that he had pursued
the right policies and urged his brother, Raul, to continue his legacy.
"It’s a brave decision and, in taking it, I’m sure Fidel Castro was
guided by the interests of his country and his people," Gennady
Zyuganov, leader of the Russian Communist Party, told the state's Interfax
news agency. He added that the President was "a fantastic political
leader who has hosted high the flag of freedom".
Communist Vietnam also praised the President, with a foreign ministry
spokesman saying: "To the leadership and the people of Vietnam,
President Fidel is forever a great friend, a comrade and a very close
brother."
Mr Castro’s relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War took the
world to the edge of nuclear conflict in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis,
which was sparked off when Moscow sought to position nuclear-tipped rockets
on the island, facing Florida.
His announcement today came ahead of a session of the Cuban National Assembly
this Sunday which was due to pick key governors, including the president.
There had been speculation about whether Mr Castro would accept a nomination
for re-election to that post or retire. That increased when the dictator
published a letter in December in which he said it was his duty "not to
cling to power".
It followed his decision in July 31 2006, amid growing health problems, to
hand over day-to-day running of the country to his brother, Raúl, who is 76.
He also sparked speculation about a succession beyond the Castro family by
appointing a group of six other men to head up projects in the fields of
health, education and energy.
Since his rise to power on New Years Day 1959, when the fiery guerrilla leader
reshaped Cuba into a communist state, he resisted attempts by ten American
administrations to topple him, including the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion
in 1961.
Then, a year later, President John F. Kennedy announced the discovery of
Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After a tense week of diplomacy, the Soviet
President Nikita Khrushchev pulled them out.
With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, and the loss of aid from the
collapsing Soviet Union, Cuba plunged into a financial crisis but the
economy slowly recovered in the late 1990s, boosted by tourism, although it
remained beset by low wages, chronic shortages and a crumbling transport
system.
During this period, Mr Castro's regime ensured Cuba remained among the world’s
five last remaining communist countries.
His supporters admired his ability to provide a high level of healthcare and
education for citizens while remaining fully independent of the United
States. However, his detractors called him a dictator whose totalitarian
government denied his people individual freedoms and civil liberties such as
speech, movement and assembly.
Cuban watchers say that Mr Castro's decision to stand aside could mark a
change in the country's relations with the West after half a century of
conflict, with younger economic reformers recently gaining in influence at
the expense of hardline Castro loyalists such as Felipe Pérez Roque, the
Foreign Minister.
In addition, Carlos Lage Dávila, the Vice-President, 55, who enjoys the
support of Raúl Castro, has become one of the most visible figures on the
political scene.
The former doctor has represented the Cuban Government at most international
meetings and trips abroad and nurtured the all-important relationship with
Hugo Chávez. The Venezuelan President provides vital aid to the Cuban
economy.
Mr Lage is credited with implementing the economic reforms that helped Cuba to
ride out the Soviet collapse. After the worst of the economic crisis was
over, many of those tentative reforms were subsequently reversed by Fidel
Castro.
His younger brother is believed to favour a gradual opening of the economy
while retaining firm political control.
Waiting in the wings
Raúl Castro (b1931) Nominated his brother’s successor in the late 1990s. Lacks
Fidel’s popular appeal and talent for public speaking. Former Cuban Defence
Minister
Carlos Lage Dávila (b1951) Vice-President of the Council of State and
Secretary of the Council of Ministers, is considered the ‘de facto Prime
Minister’ of Cuba. Credited with negotiating the favourable deal bringing
Venezuelan oil to Cuba
Felipe Pérez Roque (b1965) Cuban Foreign Minister, one of the youngest members
of government and one of few born after the revolution. Thought to be open
to negotiating an end to the US embargo on Cuban goods
Sources: nndb.com ; Cuban Government; Times archives
Will the US government ever grow up and stop sulking about Cuba?
E J Murray, Kerry, Ireland
FiThe US hailed Fidel when he kicked ot their prvios pullt Batista.
imagine theri surprise that he wan an incorruptible idealist dedicated to the cause of the oppressed. American companies refused to pay taxes and were nationalized. causing the embargo,
If you are an American what freedom do you have when you can only go to Cuba on an approved educational tour? Many Americans come up to Canada to travel to Cuba, unwilling to put up with Yanqui bully-boy tactics.
For all its ranting, the US has repeatedly shown its hypocrisy- the CAI admits to havinrg tried to murder Fidel hundreds of times, defying the formal laws of Amerika itself.
What I say is that Fidel Castro has lasted because he has used power well. Who do you think will be remembered. Castro or little Bush, the hero of freedom who is wrecking Iraq to prove do is a hero?
bavanek, Toronto, Canada
This small country produced a giant of a man! I think my fellow countrymen who call for 'democracy" on the island should reflect on the fact that we have a president who stole an election, plundered the economy and plunged us into a ruinous war, and yet we have the temerity to judge Cuba.
I too would hope that they have more than one party rule, but the many times I have been to Havan I feel safer there then in the streets of my native Oakland,Calif. The Cubans have a degree of pride and knowledge that we do not see in our kids here and I still work in a high school after a career as an administrator. Viva Cuba!!!Y la gran humanidad
Marty Price, Oakland, California
George Bush' rosy verbal promise to "help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of liberty" has to be seen alongside a few of the negatives of American society that will inevitably accompany an American free-hand in Cuban cultural affairs.
1. Repeated mass shootings at schools & Universities.
2. One of the highest murder rates in the world.
3. Perennial epidemics of crime caused by epidemics of crystal meth & crack addiction.
Mass obesity, junk food, daytime TV & healthcare that only the lucky few can afford (easily); Cubans may want some change, but do they want all this too?
john, Gold Coast, Australia
It's for the people of Cuba to decide what they want. Leave them alone, today maybe they are shocked, they are accustomed to Fidel. Will The United States finish their cruel embargo? The Cubans will find their own way let’s respect them. Does Bush think he can lead that path? Shame on him.
clara, Buenos Aires , Argentina
Cuba is dirt poor because Fidel wanted it that way. If Cubans gained financial strength and independence, they might have the temerity to want political independence from a dictaorship. Health care and compulsory education don't make up for the lack of freedom of movement, speech, press, and the chance to choose those who rule. Those who feel that Cuba under Castro is to be admired obviously haven't had to live where words alone can put you in prison for decades. Birds of a feather flock together: Castro, Chavez, Kim Jong Il, Bashir Al Assad, and Ahmadinajad. The fact that these people cling to each other is very telling about the lot of them.
Chris, Atlanta, USA
Nothing ever changes with the U.S. embargo of Cuba. We can deal with China who not too long ago ran over it's own people with tanks but we can't deal with Cuba only 90 miles away. The Embargo has helped to keep Fidel in power these 49 years. With U.S. trade and Americans going to Cuba, Castro would have long retired to his villa in Varadero beach. But no, the U.S. has let it's Cuban foreign policy be dictated by Cuban-Americans in Miami and New Jersey. Both political parties have played this card for the Cuban-American vote. So the charade goes on. Hopefully if Mr. Obama is elected president he will begin a conversation that will ultimately result in trade and relations that will benefit the Cuban people who are naturally our friends.
Tom, Boynton Beach, USA/Florida
Strange how when a country doesn't have oil the Foreign Secretary is happy to stand back and come out with spurious comments about "democracy".
I don't remember any comments on so called "democracy" when he talks about those states that control the oil supply. Who regularly torture and imprison their citizens and who wouldn't recognise an election if they saw it.
Vincent, London,
Simply amazing. I cannot believe the amount of people that support this dictator. Convenient that only those who haven't lived under continuous communist rule support the ideology so much. Yes, I'm talking to you left-wing Che Guevara shirt wearing people who clearly do not understand that communism is an ideology that outweighs fascism by far when you consider the number of people that have suffered and died under it.
PS Hopefully this is the end of Communism in the West, just Laos, Vietnam, N Korea and China left.
Ash, Sheffield,
Would you rather be poor in Cuba or 90 miles across the sea in Florida?
Personally I'd choose Cuba.
Deejay, Reading, Berks
The promulgators of the Cuban miracles of healthcare, education etc. are, guess what, all socialists! So, we can be sure these studies were all conducted in an unbiased and thorough manner. These same left-wing fanatics were saying the same things about healthcare et al in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and every other socialist hellhole of the last century. Look at the wonderful life expectancy today in these former slave-states compared to that of the corrupt and sickly western democracies.
These arguments are beside the point, however. Even if the socialists' lies could become true, who would want to exist as a slave for longer than he could live as a free man?
Steve, Bloxwich,
It is difficult for people with monopolist mentalities to allow freedom of the press, freely organized opposition political parties, free travel by Cubans within Cuba, free use of the internet and cell phones, free travel by Cubans outside of Cuba, free expression in the streets, and something other than Apartheid tourism by foreigners who travel to Cuba, a form of tourism in which Cubans are kept from any meaningful contact with outsiders.. Such mentalities simply cannot cope with these freedoms.
Let's all hope that these freedoms and many more will soon be enjoyed by all Cubans. Let's hope that Cubans will be able to join the 21st century.
for freedom, Jacksonville,
Good riddance. For too long the ordinary decent people of Cuba have suffered isolation from the real world. The vanity of Castro and the suffering of the country has been apalling in this day and age.
Bergman Coffey, Belfast,
I am simply amazed at all the people who have posted prior to myself. Are any of you Cuban? If so, were you there to experience any of it? Have any of you had to ration food? Do any of you reside in the United States of America? Opinions like those are just that OPINIONS, until you have lived it you cannot speak on such things with any true knowledge (or compassion apparently). Do any of you really think that the kind people of Cuba have any control over what will happen in the next few years, months, days? Only as much as the Iraqis did when Saddam was removed. I am a Cuban woman and I pray the people of Cuba will not suffer any longer.
Lilly, Virginia Beach, USA, Virginia
The passing of an era on the world stage more like - how many Presidents has Fidel survived ?
Love him or loath him - he's stayed the course and when he was the victorious new leader of Cuba he could walk on water forever !!!! Lets never forget that fact people !!!
Ian Payne, Walsall,
What exactly are these 'free' elections people speak of? Are they the 'free' elections of the West where the electorate have the wide and varied 'choice' of 2 parties, both of which will continue to uphold, maintain and develop a capitalist system which has overseen the development of a gap, unprecedented in history, between the haves and have nots?
Is a 'free' system which strips its own people of healthcare, decent education and wages undemocratic wars against other nations, completely against the will of its own people one to be proud of?
The Cuban system may have its imperfections but, unlike the finance-sector dominated nations of the West, the aims and actions of Castro have made Cuba a country which can honestly say it has acted in the best interests of ALL of its citizens and not just the elite.
Paul , Wallsend, England
Je T'Aime, Fidel!
prudence eely bond mcguire, London, England UK
It's for the people of Cuba to decide what they want. Mr Bush no longer has any moral authority to dictate to others about *free and fair* elections given that America does not practice what it preaches to the rest of the world!
And it's America that has caused so many problems for the people of Cuba over the past fifty years.
Cuba is fantastic. Yes, it needs to make progress, but not by selling it's soul to the Americans or indeed the 'international' community. It's a starbucks/ mcdonalds/tesco/ pizza hut/ kfc free haven. Long may it remain so.
SL, London, England
Silvio, what you say has some truth in it: the people of cuba do not starve and everyone has a home... but the vast majority of the population has nothing and no way of getting anything. While there is universal healthcare there is a chronic shortage of medicine. Chavez and China may be providing coaches and cars but those coaches are used to ferry the tourists around and the cars are used for the rental fleet.
As a foreigner you are free and safe to do what you please. As a local your every move is tracked: you cannot buy a train ticket without first giving a reason why you wish to travel from one place to another.
These people need to be given free and democratic elections but the majority of them are so cut off from the outside world that they simply do not know that life could be any different. I think that the only way things will change will be through another revolution...but people are so controlled and so indifferent that this is quite unlikely.
susie, Amsterdam,
what bush really means is...
mc donalds, mc donalds, kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut!
ck, beds, uk
who here would want to live in Cuba as Cubans do?
NOT as tourist's do.
Food rationing, Travel restrictions and a health care service thats falling apart. yeah my idea of heaven.
however they do have nice weather, beaches and the people are very nice.
they also have the only multi linguel beggers in the world.
david, Peterborough,
To all those who praise the Cuban "achievements", I want to remind them what W. Churchill said:
"The vice of capitalism is the unequal share of blessings. The blessing of socialism is the equal share of misery"
Theodor Fishler, Haifa, Israel
I love reading the comments. I’d love to understand more about whom we are, what shapes our opinion. There are two common lines to most of the input: naivety and sarcasm. So here goes an attempt to be moderately contained: there will be problems between Caracas and Washington. Latter will suffer appalling pressure from Miami that will inevitably culminate in serious civil disturbance. The UN will dither, charged to do so by Beijing and Moscow. Madrid will put pressure on Brussels – naturally to no effect, unless Merkel and Sarkozy opt to assume control. So the final solution for Cuba, dear commentators will be the same sad, sad story dished up again – cold: Africa (take your pick), Balkans, Mid East, the Iraq set etc. There is no success story in modern times – Cuba will not be the moment when we suddenly all see the light and behave as good people might. With regard to Cuba itself: the effect of moving from the current regime to “freedom†will be chaotic, a time for pay-backs, a good 5 to 10 years of miserable frightening adjustment – total trauma. And that will be if the world leaves Cuba alone. It won’t - so imagine the worst and multiply that a million times. Can you imagine Caracas and Washington in this?!
Hugo, Vale Janelas,
Well said, Silvio in Cambridge.
I think Cuba is considered to be socialist, rather than communist, by the people who live there.
Sascha, London,
Cuba has one of the outstanding health care systems in the world today - lower infant mortality rates than America, a lack of anyone dying of easily treatable illnesses that have allowed to run on unchecked, excellent transplantation rates and recoveries. In a recent seminar, a leading plastic surgeon told the audience how he felt like crying when he went to Cuba because Britain fell so far behind in every aspect of healthcare. Their motto is; 'the health of one man is worth the property of a thousand men.'
The poor economy is in so many ways due to the lack of American support - they can't bear that any country is better than them ideologically and want to destroy what they can't have. :P Norman (from Nottingham?) - so you have more wages. What about your cost of living? If you needed a heart transplant, would you get it on the NHS in time? What can your money buy you - a good enough education, your health? As for food - yeah, it's great we have an obesity epidemic right now.
Anna, Bristol,
Let us hope that the decision of the future direction is left to the people of Cuba.
Many of the problems in Cuba today arise from the actions of the US - mostly from pique at having their corrupt followers ousted by Castro in the first place.
I hope that the US will have learnt by now when to leave well alone - but I doubt they have.
Chris, Ashford, Middlesex, UK
Fidel Castro - the product of some of the dumbest decisions ever made by the US government.
Decisions so dumb that they make the decision to go to war in Iraq seem the product of a genius
Alan, edinburgh, uk
Well said Mick Piggott! The last thing Cuba needs is the return of the Miami Mob who will try to turn the country into a money laundering gangster's paradise.
Brian, Liverpool, UK
Amazing how any leader who is not a British Prime Minister or American President is labelled a despot at a drop of a hat! Castro is a hero! He has resisted DECADENT western values for half a century! He has paid his dues and deserves a honourable retirement. Long Live Castro and may another revolutionary continue to guide Cuba to greater respectable heights!
Gilbert Phiri, Swindon, UK
But, Mick, should the people of Cuba not be given the chance to choose this themselves in free elections? No Communist country has voted them back in yet. which is why Communism remains a dictatorship wherever it still exists.
Roger Tilbury, Worthing,
I believe that people don't realise what life is like in Cuba. Everybody percieves it a communist country but the reality is that it is not. Nobody in Cuba dies from starvation and their educational system and results are admired the world over, especially that of medicine.
It is the end of an era. What the future holds I don't know, but I hope they don't let themselves be led astray because of greed.
Silvio, Cambridge, UK
I was wondering what we were living for in the world.
I was wondering what kind of life was happy.
I was wondering what caused the global pollution which is threatening our own existence on the earth.
I was wondering whether it was our commn desire that have driven us into this corner.
I was wondering whether the desire was the original sin written in the Bible.
I was wondering whether the insipid porridge was truly more attractive than the eye-feasting beefsteak as shown in "Matrix".
I was wondering whether it was worse to live a desire-under-control life than to live a desire-driven life.
I was wondering what distinguished human beings from wild animals.
I was also wondering whether socialist Cuban people had no meat to eat or were suffering from malnutrition.
Birtrend Chen, Xin Yang, China
Memories of Little Cuba and my old Coolieman friend who became a Cuban general.
It was new and the rains were bad but a few days of sun were always welcome to dry all the mud.
The timber civil engineering and red roads had costs in landslips and flooding world wide. Far better to bring pontoons of gravel from the river mining interior and more concrete and aluminium use.
Now, the big Central America is on the move surrounding the Southern USA and A New Communism on mega scale.
Autochthony and Autonomy with self-determination on a grand scale and the democratic position for UK settlements getting worse and worse.
Drugs, serious malaria and filaria, gross family sizes and low life expectancy though Castro has lived pong while all the others suffer.
I hope we still have a democratic say after all these expansions and one party states.
Dr MI Barton MA. MBA.PhD, Oxon, uk
I really hope that this signals the start of a new era for the poor, very long-suffering, people of Cuba.
I holidayed there a couple of years ago and was impressed by the friendliness and stoicism of the people, despite the lack of income, transport, food (which is rationed!), fuel and - above all - freedom.
Make no mistake, this is a hard-line dictatorship (one of the last in the world, thankfully) and one where almost any change has to be for the better.
Will the US get involved? I don't think so - they have enough fights on their hands.
I hope that Cuba can, one day, look after its people again, without the terrible hardships which political dogma has caused them.
Martin, Birmingham, UK
HE WILL BE A SYMBOL OF REVOLUTION Fidel Castro CHE GUEVARA'S ,YASSER ARAFAT ,ABU AYAD ,ABU JEHAD SADDAM HUSEEN heroics people confronted the Zionism imperialism racialism.....I'll tell them go to rest there's many revolutionaries will carry your weapons
YAZAN BADRAN, new delhi , INDIA
Having recently visited Cuba, I believe that it is essential that Cuba's gains - one of the world's best educational systems and a superb system of health care - be preserved from the predations of Western capitalism: if the World Bank/IMF get any control of the Cuban economy the country will truly be ruined.
While foreign currency will be vital to the nation's survival it must be on the country's own terms; capital investment can be welcomed, foreign capitalism can be allowed to make a profit in return (eg in tourism) but the government must retain majority control of all shareholdings. Don't let America ruin all that's best about Cuba!
Mick Piggott, Mytholmroyd, U.K.
When I would like to know is this awful dinosaur going to expire.Asap would not be quick enough.A tyrant,a murderer,a thief.A man who stands up there with the likes of Stalin,Pol Pot,Mao as a complete oppressor of his own peoples freedom.Cuba would be a much better society today if this criminal had never lived.For those trendie lefties who belove the likes of Castro,chew on this. The average wage per month in UK is about £1600 in Cuba its about £6.50.Yeah Castro did a great job.
Norman, Notts,
The passing of a great era in Cuban and world politics
Tsatsu, geneva,
And so, best of riddances to the pinchbeck Stalin, the incurable chancre in Cuba's history. Slaves the world over shall never forget you.
Eugene, heidelberg, germany
well, isn't that magnanimous of him
raoul, chicago, us