Castro Retires as President

Castro Retires as President, but Not Much May Change in Cuba
A look back at almost 50 years of Fidel Castro’s Cuba and its stormy relationship with the U.S. Transcript of radio braodcast:
22 February 2008


This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

One of the world's longest serving leaders announced this week that he is leaving office after just short of fifty eventful years. Fidel Castro of Cuba is eighty-one years old and in poor health. He named his brother Raul as acting president in two thousand six.

In a letter published Tuesday, Fidel Castro said he was not saying goodbye to the Cuban people. His only wish, he said, is to "fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas."

On Sunday the Cuban National Assembly is expected to name seventy-six-year-old Raul Castro as president. The two brothers appear to share very similar ideas about governing the communist-ruled island. Fidel Castro will apparently remain a member of Parliament and is widely expected to still have strong influence.

He came to power as a socialist revolutionary in nineteen fifty-nine. He overthrew the pro-American Fulgencio Batista, who himself had seized power. Fidel Castro soon won the support of the Soviet Union at the height of its cold war tensions with the United States.

In nineteen sixty-one, a force of Cuban exiles trained by the American Central Intelligence Agency launched an invasion of the island. The Cuban government learned of the plan. Within days its troops defeated what became known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. The failure was a public relations disaster for the United States and its president, John F. Kennedy.

In February of nineteen sixty-two Kennedy used power approved by Congress to ban all trade with Cuba. The embargo of goods except food and medicine is still in effect.

In October of nineteen sixty-two, the United States found that the Soviets had missiles in Cuba. Cuba is one hundred forty-five kilometers from the Florida coast. President Kennedy warned of the risk of a nuclear strike on the United States. He ordered a naval blockade which soon forced the Soviets to remove the missiles.

But the Soviets remained Cuba’s top ally and trade partner for thirty years. The Cuban economy suffered after the Soviet Union collapsed in nineteen ninety-one. But in recent years the economy has improved. Venezuela, led by socialist President Hugo Chavez, has become an important ally.

Supporters of Fidel Castro praised a leader who provided free health care and education in Cuba. But others condemned a dictator with a repressive government that spread communist revolution in Latin America and Africa.

Cuba has one legal political party, the Communist Party. The media rights group Reporters Without Borders rates Cuba as the fifth worst nation for press freedoms. Human rights groups say Cuba's eleven million citizens are denied privacy, free speech and fair legal process.

The Bush administration says it has no plans to end economic restrictions against Cuba without changes like free elections. President Bush says he hopes the end of Fidel Castro’s rule can be the beginning of peaceful reform.

And that’s IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Bob Doughty.




----------------------------Google Translate

卡斯特罗退休后，作为总统，但没有太大的变化，可能在古巴
回顾将近50年的古巴领导人卡斯特罗的古巴及其风雨飘摇同美国的关系誊电台braodcast ：
2008年2月22日

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语。

其中一个是世界上最长的现任领导人本周宣布，他将离开办公室后，只是短暂的50年的。卡斯特罗的古巴是81年老身体状况不佳。他叫他的弟弟劳尔担任代理主席，在2000六名。

在一封信中发表周二，古巴领导人卡斯特罗说，他不说再见，向古巴人民。他唯一的愿望时，他说，是为了"争取作为一名士兵在战斗中的想法" 。

上周日古巴全国代表大会预计将名下76岁高龄的劳尔卡斯特罗出任总统。两兄弟似乎占有率非常相似，理念，执政共产党的统治之下岛。卡斯特罗显然将继续成为国会议员与市场普遍预期仍有强大影响力。

他上台后，为社会主义革命，在1959年。他推翻了亲美的巴蒂斯塔fulgencio ，他本人曾夺取政权。卡斯特罗很快赢得了支持苏联在高度冷战时期的紧张局势与美国。

在1961年，一支部队的古巴流亡者，由受过训练的美国中央情报机构发动了入侵该岛。古巴政府了解到这一计划。数天内，其军队打败了什么后来被称为猪湾入侵。失败是一个公关灾难，为美国和它的总统，肯尼迪。

在2月的1962年的坚尼地使用权获得国会批准，禁止所有与古巴进行贸易。禁运的商品除食品和药品仍然有效。