Fidel Castro resigns Cuban presidency

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MacNews
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Fidel Castro announced his resignation as Cuba's president Tuesday, ending nearly a half-century of rule.

"I will not aspire to nor accept -- I repeat, I will not aspire to nor accept -- the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief,'' read a letter signed by Castro published early Tuesday in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma.
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I don't want to make this an overly political post. I am overjoyed to see Castro step-down, hopefully it is a harbinger of things to come!

Having visited Cuba in 2007, I was not impressed with the bumpy roads, old outdated buildings and poor wages paid to 99% of the population. It'd be nice if more than just the elites could travel outside their village in their lifetime.

Now Raul is in power and will continue Castro's path, however he has promised modest reforms which may be the tip of the iceberg. :cr: Glasnost anyone?
sixbeamers
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I love Cuban music and Cuban food but I didn't care for Fidel's treatment of political or journalistic opponents. He has tended to shoot or imprison those who don't agree with him.
Cuba remains a wonderful sun destination for those who prefer to look the other way. But "Cuba Libre" is still just a tropical drink, not an expression of the fundamental freedoms we in North America enjoy.
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WestCoastJoe
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As far as dictators go, Fidel Castro, although not innocent, must rank amongst the "least bad." Ya gotta have some sympathy, it seems to me, for a guy who can outlast 9 US Presidents (Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, G. H. Bush, Clinto and G. W. Bush), an attempted invasion set up by the US, and untold numbers of assassination attempts by the CIA.

I look forward to visiting Cuba someday. It sounds beautiful.

I wonder who is in line to succeed Raul, and will Cuba move towards a democratic system.

And I wonder, since the dispute between the US and Castro seemed to be personal, if sanctions will be lifted when Fidel Castro passes away.
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Bosco
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
I wonder who is in line to succeed Raul, and will Cuba move towards a democratic system.

And I wonder, since the dispute between the US and Castro seemed to be personal, if sanctions will be lifted when Fidel Castro passes away.
From what I've read, the U.S. emabargo will remain in place as long as there is a Castro running Cuba. Although some encouraging developments have occurred during Fidel's absence, Raul is still looked as "Fidel Lite". Legitimate democratic elections could sway the U.S. from lifting the embargo.
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WestCoastJoe
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jcalhoun wrote:Hey all,

I wonder if he's considering retiring to Florida?

Cheers,

James
That depends. Can he windsurf?

I expect the Cuban expatriate community in Florida would forgive him, wouldn't they? :wink:
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So MacNews what do u have to say about the bumpy roads, outdated buildings and poor wages paid to those in Mexico, New Orleans and Nova Scotia?

Cuba deserved a chance. Castro woulda been long gone if the US could learn to keep it in their pants.
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Fidel will be able to afford a expensive raft to make it to Florida. However they are rumors he is already dead and has been so for a year or so.
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Robbie
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And now Fidel Castro has passed: August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016
祝加拿大加式足球聯賽不列颠哥伦比亚卑詩雄獅隊今年贏格雷杯冠軍。此外祝溫哥華加人隊贏總統獎座·卡雲斯·甘保杯·史丹利盃。還每年祝溫哥華白頭浪隊贏美國足球大联盟杯。不要忘記每年祝溫哥華巨人贏西部冰球聯盟冠軍。
改建後的卑詩體育館於二十十一年九月三十日重新對外開放,首場體育活動為同日舉行的加拿大足球聯賽賽事,由主場的卑詩雄獅隊以三十三比二十四擊敗愛民頓愛斯基摩人隊。
祝你龍年行大運。
恭喜西雅图海鹰直到第四十八屆超級盃最終四十三比八大勝曾拿下兩次超級盃冠軍的丹佛野馬拿下隊史第一個超級盃冠軍。
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Robbie wrote:And now Fidel Castro has passed: August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016
bout time
Every day that passes is one you can't get back
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He outlasted 9 US presidents
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KnowItAll
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TheLionKing wrote:He outlasted 9 US presidents
only the good die young
Every day that passes is one you can't get back
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Sir Purrcival
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I think it was fair to say that he was a proper dictator. I think it is also fair to say that America had a lot to do with creating the conditions that gave his rise to power. And then in a fit of ill-grace in a country that wasn't theirs, they decided to get very huffy about the whole thing and tried to physically and economically intimidate Cuba which only drove them further into the arms of the Soviets. I'll give him his due. His methods were barbaric but compared to some nations, he managed to create a somewhat stable country that not only withstood many of those crippling sanctions from the US but also managed to overcome the fall of the Soviet Union by adapting to the new realities of the day. Yes there are many poor people in Cuba but they have schools, socialized medicine and have managed to maintain a rich culture largely free of American trappings. That isn't easy when you have a country that is obtuse when it comes to business interests and personal slights only 100 kms away.
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http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/us/nfl-co ... index.html
Miami fans jeer Colin Kaepernick amid comments on Castro

By Shachar Peled, CNN

(CNN)San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was greeted with a chorus of boos Sunday when he took the field at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

It wasn't just because the 49ers were playing against the home-standing Miami Dolphins.

Miami is home to a large community of Cuban exiles and they are outraged over Kaepernick's comments supportive of the man they consider a brutal oppressor, the now-deceased Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Castro died Friday at 90.

Kaepernick is used to being booed. He's been raising a streak of controversies ever since his August decision to sit in protest during the national anthem before an NFL preseason game.

Kaepernick: 'Let's make America great again, for the first time'
Kaepernick's take on the presidential debate: "Let's make America great again, for the first time"

After that game, he showed up at a news conference wearing a T-shirt depicting a meeting between Castro, who was alive then, and Malcolm X, the pioneering African-American leader and activist who was assassinated in 1965.

During an interview with Miami reporters on Wednesday, Kaepernick defended his choice to wear the T-shirt, according to Miami Herald columnist Armando Salguero's personal account.
Over a teleconference call, Kaepernick reportedly praised Castro for investing in Cuba's education system, as opposed to the American investment in the prison system, according to Salguero.

He spoke to reporters after the Dolphins 31-24 victory over the 49ers and expounded on his remarks, which he said were taken out of context.

"I agree with the investment in education. I also agree with the investment in free universal health care as well as the involvement in helping end apartheid in South Africa," Kaepernick said.

"I would hope that everybody agrees those things are good things. And trying to push the false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things that he did is just not true."

Kaepernick also received a lot of criticism earlier this month. He didn't vote in the recent election, saying it would be "hypocritical" of him to cast a ballot.

As for Sunday's game, it came down to the final play. Kaepernick had the ball in his hands but was stopped short of the goal line.

The 49ers' defeat was the 10th consecutive loss for the team, the worst losing streak in its history.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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WestCoastJoe
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http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/opinions/ ... index.html
What Trudeau's Castro comments reveal

By Peniel Joseph

Trudeau defends his tribute to Castro 01:10

Peniel Joseph: Fidel Castro re-shaped global politics before reaching the age of 40

Joseph writes that as a revolutionary, Castro was both an icon and an oppressor

Peniel Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Political Values and Ethics and the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also a professor of history. He is the author of several books, most recently "Stokely: A Life." The views expressed here are his.

(CNN)The firestorm over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's praise for Fidel Castro is proof that, despite the US government's official denunciation of the Cuban leader, Castro's legacy around the world ultimately remains far more complicated.

Trudeau's characterization of Castro as a "legendary revolutionary and orator" drew swift and withering rebukes from American elected officials, most notably from Sen. Marco Rubio, who tweeted that Trudeau's remarks are "shameful & embarrassing," and Sen. Ted Cruz, who called them "disgraceful." Both senators are descendants of Cubans who fled pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba and both remain determined to close off US-Cuban ties until the island's communist regime is replaced with free elections.

Castro's death, taking place against the backdrop of President Obama's efforts at the end of his tenure to normalize relations with Cuba, has touched off a fierce international debate over the meaning of human rights, social justice and political revolution.

Trudeau's praise illuminates the fact that the meaning of Castro's legacy largely depends on historical context. He stands alongside Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as a political icon who indelibly shaped world history and re-shaped global politics before reaching the age of 40. Castro's successful 1959 revolution overthrew the US-backed Batista regime in favor of a socialist political experiment that was soon backed by the Soviet Union. Castro's acumen as a revolutionary reached far beyond his country's borders. He excoriated American imperialism in jaw-dropping three-hour speeches before the United Nations, met with Malcolm X and stayed in Harlem during a September 1960 visit to the States. He offered military, financial and medical assistance to unfolding liberation movements in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Trudeau calls Castro a "remarkable leader." As the leader of a tiny island 90 miles off the coast of Florida determined to reject the dictates of US foreign policy, Castro was nothing if not a survivor: He weathered assassination attempts, fallout from the Cuban missile crisis and the economic punishment of the US embargo to emerge as the symbolic leader of revolutionary movements raging across the Third World during the 1960s and 1970s.

For liberation movements—including Nelson Mandela's African National Congress in South Africa—Cuba proved itself to be, under Castro's leadership, a friend of last resort, willing to stand by jailed and demonized guerrilla fighters who, over time, emerged as global statesmen. Cuba provided safe space for Black Panthers, political exiles and revolutionaries around the world challenging what Castro blasted as American imperialism.

Castro's swashbuckling forays into international affairs also overshadowed a visible dark side: the ruthless suppression of anti-Castro opposition forces, the curtailment of freedom of speech and expression, the imprisonment and killing of political enemies and a failure to confront racial hierarchies in revolutionary Cuba.

For all the genuine strides his regime made in offering free education, medical care, housing and resources for the Cuban people, Castro's authoritarian rule atrophied a once-promising revolution into a virtual dictatorship.

Castro's most enduring legacy is a contradictory one. For millions around the world, he remains a defiant figure: the handsome, cigar-chomping leader who attended UN meetings in olive fatigues, comfortably gossiped with Cuban peasants without security guards and challenged the hypocrisies of American politicians who balked at his close ties to the Soviet Union and nationalization of Western industries on the island but were willing to support pro-capitalist dictators. For his critics, especially the large Cuban-American exile community in Florida, Castro remains in death an egomaniacal dictator who murdered friends, families and innocents and forced them into over a half-century-long exile they pray will end soon.
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