Castro: I Will Not "Cling" To Power

Ailing Cuban Leader Says He Won't Stop Younger Generation, But Cites Example Of 100-Year-Old

(CBS/AP)  Ailing leader Fidel Castro said in a letter read on state television Monday that he does not intend to cling to power forever or stand in the way of a younger generation, but invoked the example of a renowned Brazilian architect who is still working at 100.

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived," Castro wrote in the final paragraph of a lengthy letter discussing the Bali summit on global warming.

Castro's thoughts about power and making way for younger leaders were similar to past comments, including those before he fell ill.

The 81-year-old Castro has not said when - or even if - he will permanently step aside after temporarily ceding his powers to his younger brother Raul 16 months ago. He has not been seen in public since he made that announcement in July 2006 after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.

But officially Castro remains the president of Cuba's Council of State, making him the country's head of government.

Castro has repeatedly claimed that he is not the leader of Cuba because he wants to be but because it's necessary - i.e. as long as the U.S. is hostile toward the island and demanding his resignation, reports CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum from Havana.

Several times a week he pens essays, many of them on international issues that are carried on state media.

"I think like (Oscar) Niemeyer that you have to be of consequence up to the end," Castro wrote in Monday's essay, referring to the Brazilian architect who was honored around the world as he turned 100 on Saturday.

Niemeyer helped design the U.N. headquarters and the main buildings of Brazil's capital, winning in 1988 the Pritzker Architecture Prize - dubbed the Nobel of architecture.

In an essay over the weekend, Castro paid homage to Niemeyer, a lifelong communist who was exiled for several years during Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship.

Despite his physical absence from public life, Castro currently is a candidate for re-election as a deputy to the National Assembly, or parliament, during Jan. 20 national elections.

Within weeks after that balloting, the newly formed parliament is expected to select a new Council of State and its president, but there has been no official word on Castro's role.

Cuba's unchallenged leader since 1959, Castro has held the council presidency since its 1976 creation.

When the parliament re-elected Castro to his sixth term as Council of State president in March 2003, Castro said he would stay power only as long as he felt he was contributing.

"I promise that I will be with you, if you so wish, for as long as I feel that I can be useful - and if it is not decided by nature before - not a minute less and not a second more," he said at the time. "Now I understand that it was not my destiny to rest at the end of my life."

[libsluvsuvs]

when was the last time we heard of an american LIBERAL riding some made up floatation device to DEFECT to Cuba?????????????

[libsluvsuvs]

Posted by closethippy1 at 07:06 PM : Dec 19, 2007
+ report abuse

************

stop getting your news from comedy central because YOU ARE PRETTY MUCH WAY OFF WITH YOUR FACTS..name one with a true socialist or communist system that is "best".

better yet..if it is that good..why are you here when you can be there??????????????

[closethippy1]

Communism/socialism are almost extinct. Who do we have left? China, North Korea & Cuba. The Three Stooges. Capitalism & the USA will still be here long after communism/socialism is just a memory.
Posted by Keithle1

What are you talking about? Socialism is making a big come back through Latin America, and it has always been used when needed in Europe.
Heck, free education and free health care is to be found almost in every country now.
Mix the best of this with the best of that and you got it. No need to be so orthodox about it.

[speakinup]

FROM THE GRAVE

[tbweb]

Castro: I Will Not "Cling" To Power

Isn''t it a little too late to be making a statement like that when you already have?

[keithle1]

Die you old b a s t a r d commie, die!

Sick of looking at you in your stupid Army fatigues. Cuba is a joke. If the ocean swallowed up Cuba tomorrow, who would care? Nothing but a two-bit island where people are driving cars that are more than 50 years old. No one can criticize Castro & the government. Biggest thing to come out of Cuba is cigars.

Communism/socialism are almost extinct. Who do we have left? China, North Korea & Cuba. The Three Stooges. Capitalism & the USA will still be here long after communism/socialism is just a memory.

[terrorislam6]

Posted by Questionnews at 10:53 AM : Dec 18, 2007

he will never provide anything to back up any of the BS he espouses

[terrorislam6]

Posted by antoniof123 at 08:36 AM : Dec 18, 2007

there has never been an open election in cuba since he took power haji

[yongamerica]

"I will not cling to power"
BLAH BLAH BLAH, that''s what he said fifty years ago.

[terrorislam6]

Posted by brianbwb at 10:23 AM : Dec 18, 2007

hahaha you are so lame as to try and equivocate n. korea with the usa elections hahaha

and what will you say if hitlery kkklintoon is elected prez hahaha

better reread your manifesto commie
http://books.google.com/books?id=7bT1gfI3jjkC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=communism+equality for all we are all equal&source=web&ots=ZsvbEEOux9&sig=NIQdaTkKYhtQqbyKQ0tu4HC6fgg

[terrorislam6]

Posted by brianbwb at 10:18 AM : Dec 18, 2007

so mention the bleeding numbers

who the heck/hell wants to live in that sewer indonesia anyway?

they can have any and all the usa idiot citizens they want,,,

Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State
http://www.sullivan-county.com/id3/islamic_state.htm

The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591022495/qid=1112495572/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-9057235-9814324?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Abdullah revives Malaysian authoritarianism
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IL18Ae02.html

[gunnerv1]

"I will not ''cling'' to power", that''s because you know that even the Great Leader of the Communist Revolution of the Cuban People

[afmca]

The bottom line is Castro is a dictator - dictators use brutal methods to retain power, but next to the brutal dictatorships that America embraces Cuba doesn''t even make the top 10. Communist China and Russia killed and imprisoned more of their citizens than Cuba has people, but we were and still are friends with them. Most mid-Eastern countries are run by brutal dictators (Saudi Arabia, Egypt) and we send them military equipment. We still have normal relations with Chavez in Venezualia. The Repub obsession with Cubs is just to mollify some aging Cubans who through their own brutality and greed gave rise to the person who replaced them. One must remember that America also propped up the Shah in Iran until the people got fed up with his greed. Most of the time America reaps what it sows. Full relations with Cuba and within a decade people will not even remember who Castro was.

[questionnews]

But I digress, the question still stands, you Bush lovers like to cite the numbers of immigrants coming to the US, and conveniently don''''t mention the even larger numbers of Americans trying to get out...

Posted by brianbwb at 10:18 AM : Dec 18, 2007


What Americans are trying to get out of the US?
In what way are they being forced to stay?
What articles or reports support your statement that "the even larger numbers of Americans trying to get out"
I would like to investigate that statement (if true) so please provide credible sources.

[brianbwb-2009]

edit...

"i thought we were all equal???" Posted by terrorislam7

Come on, all your posts show that you''''ve never thought that, and if the thought did cross your mind, you might commit suicide.

[brianbwb-2009]

n kores hands power from father to son to son...
Posted by terrorislam7

You mean like Bush Sr., and Jr.?

"i thought we were all equal???" Posted by terrorislam7

"WHEN DID COMMUNISM BECOME A MONARCHY???" Posted by terrorislam7

It hasn''t, but US capitalism is well on that way, and it is precisely what you want, you need a king to owe fealty to.

Come on, all your posts show that you''ve never thought that, and if the thought did cross your mind, you might commit suicide.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by brianbwb at 12:55 AM : Dec 18, 2007
hahaha you mean you hahaha
the word stupid comes to mind haji
Posted by terrorislam7

Wrong, I do not have PR nor am I seeking it, I move through many countries, and have no need to become a PR in any of them. Not like those who make the mistake of coming here to marry a local, then discover that it does not qualify them, or those who try to set up a fake company, only to find out that trick is well known.

But I digress, the question still stands, you Bush lovers like to cite the numbers of immigrants coming to the US, and conveniently don''t mention the even larger numbers of Americans trying to get out...

[rushman71]

Castro loves to sing in the shower,"I''m an ASSHOOOLYOOOLYOLYOOOLYOLYOOOOOLE!!!!!

[antoniof123]

I am amazed he runs and wins but we don''t like him so we treat the Cubans and enemies. Yet the Saudi Arabia continues to be far more brutal to it''s people and they are an alley. I mean please pardoning a woman because she was raped. We are such Hippocrates aren''t we. Please it is their country and if they want it and they must maybe we should just leave it alone. I am tired of hearing the same old same old from everyone.

[ubrew12]

Story: "Ailing leader Fidel Castro said in a letter read on state television Monday that he does not intend to cling to power forever"

Sorry, he''s about 20 years late. In his case, actions speak WAAAAYYY louder than words. I''m a lib, and sympathetic to Castro and what people like him want to ''protect'' campesino''s from (i.e. the depredations of the wealthy), but he''s the worst example of what happens when you take that mission too seriously. Sorry, Castro, you overstayed your welcome by about 20 years and its long past time for your current admission. You''ve hurt the country you intended to help, and can only hope for a ''directed'' return to Cuban capitalism now. Appeal to the Europeans, most of all, who will help you in that regard much more than Americans will, because they are at least sympathetic with what you tried to accomplish.