Fidel Castro resigns
Updated on 19 February 2008
For 50 years American governments have tried to get rid of this man.
"I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief."Fidel Castro
They've plotted assassinations, launched invasions and funded failed coups.
Yet Fidel Castro's regime has endured. Images released just last month show the 81-year-old meeting the Brazilian President.
But now - quietly, almost apologetically - Cuba's leader has announced his retirement.
"It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion."Fidel Castro
Letter
In a letter to the Communist paper Granma he writes: "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 devotion."
In America the statement was greeted with some enthusiasm. George Bush was informed during a visit to Rwanda, and spoke on local TV.
Fidel Castro has survived ten US Presidents. The leader of a band of armed revolutionaries, he seized power in 1959.
Two years later he defeated a US-led invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
Yet his decision to install Soviet missiles on the Island brought the world to a nuclear brink.
President Castro's Communist regime has outlived decades of trade sanctions and the collapse of it's ally the Soviet Union. But at a huge social and economic cost to its citizens.
Hundreds of thousands of political opponents have either been killed, imprisoned or forced to flee the islands.
Yet despite this Comrade Fidel did apparently enjoy support that spanned three generations in Cuba. Just three years ago he announced he will die fighting in defence of his country.
His health has always been a state secret. But in recent years his frailty and illnesses have been impossible to hide.
He has met world leaders from his hospital bed., but was forced to cede temporary power to his brother Raul in the summer of 2006.
Now the National Assembly looks set to announce Raul Castro as his permanent successor. He has made some conciliatory comments about talks with America, but many feel he could be more hard line than his older brother.
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Jonathan Miller will have a special report this evening on the man famous for cigars, long speeches, and surviving numerous assassination attempts. Channel 4 News, at seven tonight.
