NPR: Fidel Castro Steps Down

Fidel Castro Steps Down

Filed under: News

Fidel Castro speaks shortly after taking power in 1959.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

After almost 50 years in power, 81-year-old Fidel Castro is formally stepping down as Cuba's president.

Next up, his 76-year-old brother Raul. With Fidel's health failing, Raul has had the reins since July 2006. The AP reports:

The younger Castro has raised expectations among Cubans for modest economic and other reforms, stating last year that the country requires unspecified "structural changes" and acknowledging that government wages that average about $19 a month do not satisfy basic needs.

Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 through an armed revolution. The AP adds this grace note:

Entering Havana triumphantly, Castro declared: "Power does not interest me, and I will not take it."

Bonus: A Castro timeline.

Laura Conaway

6:27 AM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Fidel Castro may be "retired" but his legacy remains. That legacy is one of history's most brutal dictatorships ??? complete with executions, exile and the exercise of abosulte power for more than 49 years. That is the legacy Raul is inheriting ??? in fact, a legacy Raul helped create ??? so it is fantasy to suggest that real change is imminent. Unfortunately, that will happen only when the dictatorship, the Castro brothers and their co-conspirators, are dead and buried.

Sent by Marc Masferrer, Bradenton, FL | 7:58 AM ET | 02-19-2008

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