Fidel Castro "stepping down" after nearly 50 years
OK, so could someone please tell me exactly when Castro actually stood for re-election? Perhaps the Miami Herald could use a little reminder of what the term "dictator" actually means:
Saying he is no longer healthy enough to hold office, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has announced he will not seek reelection after 49 years in power and nearly 19 months sidelined by illness, marking the first official step in a long-awaited succession in the island's leadership.
The report returns to the same theme later:
And now he has made clear that he will not seek reelection, making way for a new leadership for his communist government.
But two paragraphs later observes:
Now it remains to be seen whether his 76-year-old brother Raũl … the world's longest serving defense minister and designated successor, will be named to officially take the reins of power, although Fidel Castro is widely expected to retain a strong voice in the country's strategic decisions for the time being.
While the article does eventually use the term "dictatorship" to describe the Castro regime (though it's via a quote from the leader of a Cuban exile group), the constant invocation of "reelection" is simply wrong, misleading, and disgusting when applied to a man who has ruled Cuba with an iron fist for nearly 50 years, and run the country and its people into the ground.
Good riddance to Castro, and here's hoping that his brother fails to hold onto power for another 50 years. And in the meantime, how about a little honesty about this family of Latin American tyrants?
Fidel Castro stepping down after nearly 50 years - 02/19/2008 - MiamiHerald.com