Tuesday, February 19, 2008
CASTRO QUITS
Fidel Castro has announced he is quitting as Cuban dictator.
UPDATE. What was Castro, exactly? See if you can follow the clues in this fun Reuters quiz:
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.
Clue 1: “seized power in an armed revolution”
"I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept—I repeat not aspire to or accept—the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief,” Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper.
Clue 2: “Communist Party”
A charismatic leader famous for his long speeches delivered in his green military fatigues, Castro is admired in the Third World for standing up to the United States but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.
Clues 3 and 4: “Charismatic leader” and “considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom”
His illness and departure from Cuba’s helm have raised doubts about the future of the Western Hemisphere’s only communist state.
Clue 5: “communist state”
The bearded leader who took power in an armed uprising against a U.S.-backed dictator in 1959 had temporarily ceded power to his younger brother after he underwent emergency surgery to stop intestinal bleeding in mid-2006.
Clue 6: “armed uprising against a dictator” (note: was this other fellow only considered a dictator by his “opponents”?)
Castro has only been seen in pictures since then, looking gaunt and frail, though his health improved enough a year ago to allow him to keep in the public mind writing reams of articles published by Cuba’s state press.
Clue 7: “state press”
(By Alan R.M. Jones)