Cuba's Fidel Castro retires

[TainanCowboy]

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.

Reuters

[Huang_Guang_Chen]

Did the CIA offer him a congratulatory cigar?

HG

[TainanCowboy]

That didn’t work…pity.

AFP coverage

[Taffy]

I am disturbed at the gradual retreat of the beard from global politics. At the moment we have Brazilian president Lula proudly sporting some impressive facial hair, but other beardy leaders are thin on the ground. There is East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, but that’s stretching it a bit.

[TainanCowboy]

The Beeb is saddened

[TainanCowboy]

He’s fallen and can’t get up……

[TainanCowboy]

A possible, and very creepy, replacememt

[Chris]

Somehow, even in retirement, I believe the ol’ dictator’ll still be running things…

[Enigma]

You seen the bro’s shoulders? They seem to droop inadvertantly or maybe prematuratley. In any event, the six stars that adorn the epulants seem to not have enough space. I kinda wonder if he will:

1. reduce the size of the adornments
2. increase the size of the epulants
3. work out to increase his upper body size
4. Blame the U.S. and ban imports
5. Offer discounts for repair of 1953 Chevys
6. Build resort hotels and invite the world population to enjoy one of the best destinations in the world.
7. As an afterthought to number 6; Retiire in Boca Ratan in a trailer house and have sex with 40 recentlly single women who enjoy a stash.

[Taffy]

You missed the obvious one:

8. Grow a beard of biblical proportions. This will obviously help with any leadership issues.

[Chewycorns]

[quote=“Fidel Castro”]

It would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer.[/quote]

Conscience?

@Col. Oliver North

Where was this anguished sense of right and wrong in 1962 when he urged Nikita Khrushchev to “launch a pre-emptive [nuclear] strike against the United States”? Where was it in 1981 when he set more than 100,000 of his countrymen adrift in the Gulf Stream on homemade rafts and leaky boats from Mariel, Cuba?

Where was this Castro conscience in the 1980s when he dispatched tens of thousands of young Cuban soldiers to Guinea Bisseau, Mozambique and Angola as Soviet mercenaries? Where were Fidel’s now vaunted scruples in 1996 when he ordered his air force to shoot down two unarmed light planes, killing four civilians from Brothers to the Rescue while they searched for endangered refugees adrift in international waters? Where was Mr. Castro’s now tortured conscience in 2000, when he demanded that little Elian Gonzalez be returned to his “island paradise?

On the evening of Mr. Castro’s nostalgic resignation, ABC News’ Nightline offered a “retrospective” describing the brutal despot as “a patriarch” and reflected wistfully on how Castro had retained office while ten U.S. presidents had come and gone. The following morning New York Times correspondent Anthony DePalma, “reporting” from Havana, successfully avoided mentioning the 286 political prisoners rotting in Cuban jails — while gushing that Mr. Castro’s hand-picked, heir apparent — the dictator’s 76-year-old brother Raul — “has a pragmatic streak.”

Pandering to the new potentate in Havana didn’t stop there. The same New York Times that smears Sen. John McCain with innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations of infidelity and influence peddling, praises Raul Castro — the world’s longest serving Minister of Defense — because, “As acting president, he has encouraged more debate about Cuba’s economic woes.”

According to the newspaper of record, Raul “has brought up issues his brother never addressed. He has lambasted farmers for being inefficient. He has criticized the high cost of milk …The younger Castro also has a reputation as a manager who demands results from his Cabinet members.” Of course, Joe Stalin did all these things too.

The staunchly anti-communist Cuban exiles with whom I spoke have a somewhat different perspective. “Raul is utterly corrupt,” one of the refugees with family members still in captivity told me. Another observed, “Fidel’s little brother gives shorter speeches, but he knows how to line his pockets. He decides which foreign hotel chains get to build and he tells them where. It all depends on who pays him the most.”

So has anything really changed in Cuba? Apparently, the Cuban people don’t think so. Despite the country’s disastrous economy, no official in Havana has embraced the idea of free, fair, multi-party elections as the means of opening the doors to American investment. In the days since Fidel tendered his “resignation” there have been few celebrations in Miami and the number of Cubans trying to flee 90 miles to freedom is undiminished. Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who hopes to inherit the mantle of Latin America’s commie caudillo, has pledged to continue daily deliveries of roughly 100,000 barrels of heavily subsidized oil to keep Cuba’s lights on — and that the 20,000 Cuban “medical volunteers” in his country are still “welcome to assist in the Bolivarian revolution.”

To reassure anxious readers, loyal party members and apprehensive Ameri-phobes — and to ensure that no one has any doubt about who is really pulling the strings in Havana — Granma has promised, “We will continue waiting for the ‘Reflections of Comrade Fidel’, which will be a powerful arsenal of ideas and guidance.” That’s sure to do a lot for circulation. Hopefully, the New York Times will publish every word.

foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331736,00.html

[Chris]

I have no love for Castro, but seriously… Oliver North?

[TainanCowboy]

[quote=“Chris”]I have no love for Castro, but seriously… Oliver North?[/quote]What is your disagreement with his, Norths’, comments?

[Huang_Guang_Chen]

@Chris

I have no love for Castro, but seriously… Oliver North?

:roflmao:

[Chris]

@TainanCowboy

[quote=“Chris”]I have no love for Castro, but seriously… Oliver North?[/quote]What is your disagreement with his, Norths’, comments?

North is not exactly what I’d call a trustworthy source.

[TainanCowboy]

Personally, I think its time for the USA embargo of Cuba to end.

Let the Cuban people set-up their ‘war crimes’ tribunals and watch the heads roll.