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Fairwell Mr Castro and congratulations for being such an irritating itch to the US Government for all this time. You are the only man in this world who has given the Yanks a one fingered salute and told them where to go.For that, you deserve the utmost respect.
Posted by: Sparky of Melbourne 8:38am today

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THE United States has no plans to lift the decades-old embargo on Cuba anytime soon, even after its longtime nemesis Fidel Castro resigned as president.

By quitting with little fanfare, the ailing 81-year-old Castro may have marked an anti-climactic end to an era that began in the Cold War, but he has left a deep thorn in Washington`s side that may prove hard to remove.

London-based Amnesty International urged Washington to end the embargo, complaining of practices that impinge on the human rights of Cubans, while critics dismissed it as an ineffective way to pressure for change.

Castro did not say who he thought should be his successor as president, although most mentioned it his 76-year-old brother Raul Castro, who the US State Department has dismissed as "Fidel light".

Expected fiery retirement speech didn`t happen

Brian Latell, who was the top man at the Central Intelligence Agency for Castro for decades, said it was the end of an era marked by a larger-than-life Castro who stood up to a succession of US presidents on the world stage.

"It`s anti-climactic in a way, because so many of us expected that Fidel would go out with a big boom of some kind," Latell told CBS, adding he had expected perhaps a fiery speech from him.

Latell anticipated some changes, but no major ones from Raul Castro, who he says is more practical and flexible than his elder brother.

"I think he`s interested in implementing (grassroots) economic reforms. Not political reforms," Latell said.

A number of analysts in the last year have said they believe Cuba may eventually move toward the so-called Chinese model, adopting market reforms while maintaining the one-party system.

Summing up a policy intended to isolate Washington`s southern neighbour, US President George Bush said the change in leadership ought to begin a democratic transition.

A commission on Cuba that Bush created in 2003 to help defeat the Castro regime has recommended a series of steps to speed up the emergence of democracy, including funding for dissidents and support for an eventual transition government committed to holding free elections.

White House hopeful Democrat Barack Obama said Castro`s exit from power was long overdue but insufficient to bring democratic freedom to communist Cuba.

Republican front-runner John McCain called Castro`s resignation "nearly half a century overdue", but said "freedom for the Cuban people is not yet at hand, and the Castro brothers clearly intend to maintain their grip on power".

Defiant of Washington since seizing power in 1959, Castro has not only survived assassination plots, a US-backed invasion bid, and a US trade embargo but has worked hard to ensure his Marxist legacy endures.

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Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

Fairwell Mr Castro and congratulations for being such an irritating itch to the US Government for all this time. You are the only man in this world who has given the Yanks a one fingered salute and told them where to go.For that, you deserve the utmost respect.
Posted by: Sparky of Melbourne 8:38am today

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