Fidel Castro hints at retirement

[CelticKing]

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<div class="sh">Fidel Castro hints at retirement</div>
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<div class="cap">Fidel Castro has not been seen in public for 16 months</div>
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Cuba's ailing communist leader, Fidel Castro, has raised the possibility that he may never return to the presidency. </font></p>

<font size="2">In a letter read out on state TV, Mr Castro, Cuba's leader since 1959, said he had a duty not to hold on to power or obstruct the rise of younger people. </font></p>

<font size="2">Last year, he temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul and has not been seen in public since. </font></p>

<font size="2">His message comes before elections next year to choose a national assembly which then selects the president. </font></p>

<font size="2">Reacting to the statement, the White House said it believed democracy would "soon" come to Cuba. </font></p>

<font size="2">"It's an interesting letter. It's hard to make out what he is saying or what he means," said spokeswoman Dana Perino, quoted by the AFP news agency. </font></p>

<font size="2">"So we're just continuing to work for democracy on the island and we believe that day will come soon." </font></p>

<font size="2">Mr Castro's message was delivered during Cuba's main nightly current affairs programme, Mesa Redonda. </font></p>

<font size="2">"My basic duty is not to cling to office, and even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to pass on the experiences and ideas whose modest worth stems from the exceptional era in which I have lived," it said. </font></p>

<font size="2">Parliamentary seat </font></p>

<font size="2">The BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says there was no indication about how or when the Cuban leader might step down. </font></p>

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<div class="sih">FIDEL CASTRO</div>
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<div class="bull">Born in 1926 to a wealthy, landowning family</div>
<div class="bull">Took up arms in 1953, six years before coming to power</div>
<div class="bull">Brother Raul was deputy and Che Guevara third in command</div>
<div class="bull">Has outlasted nine American presidents</div>
<div class="bull">Target of many CIA assassination plots</div>
<div class="bull">Daughter is a dissident exile in Miami</div>
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<font size="2">But the mention of younger leaders suggests that his younger brother Raul, who is 76, may not automatically succeed him, our correspondent says. </font></p>

<font size="2">Fidel Castro has ruled Cuba since leading the 1959 revolution. </font></p>

<font size="2">Earlier this month he was nominated as a candidate for a seat in Cuba's National Assembly - a move seen as an indication that he might still hope for a return to power. </font></p>

<font size="2">Mr Castro must be re-elected if he is to remain president of the Council of State, and so head of Cuba's government. </font></p>

<font size="2">Nationwide elections will be held on 20 January. </font></p>

<font size="2">The assembly will then choose the Council of State, which President Fidel Castro has headed since the early 1960s. </font></p>

<font size="2">Reactions </font></p>

<font size="2">Mr Castro's illness last year sparked much speculation about the end of one-party rule in Cuba. </font></p>

<font size="2">But many observers say that there has been a relatively smooth transfer of power. </font></p>

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<div class="sih">KEY POLITICAL FIGURES</div>
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<div class="bull">Felipe Perez Roque, 42: Foreign Minister since 1999, Fidel Castro's protege and former chief of staff</div>
<div class="bull">Carlos Lage, 56: Vice President, key economic adviser from early 1990s</div>
<div class="bull">Ricardo Alarcon, 70: President of National Assembly. At 18, joined Fidel Castro's revolution, organised youth brigades</div>
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<font size="2">BBC Americas editor Emilio San Pedro says the letter appears to be a calculated attempt to prepare Cuba's 11 million people for a Cuba without the emblematic revolutionary leader in charge. </font></p>

<font size="2">"He has left a solid foundation for us to continue. Even if someone else takes the seat of power, nothing will change," a Havana resident told Reuters news agency. </font></p>

<font size="2">In Miami, home to many Cuban exiles, there was scepticism about the statement's actual meaning. </font></p>

<font size="2">Gina Forcellado said she thought the announcement was part of a cynical move by Fidel Castro. </font></p>

<font size="2">"He knows that he's not going to be judged very well by history, so he's trying to correct it," she told the BBC. </font></p>

<font size="2">Mr Castro stepped aside after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006. His health is a state secret. </font></p>

<font size="2">Since earlier this year, he has made his presence felt through regular newspaper editorials. </font></p>

<font size="2">In Monday's message, Mr Castro paid tribute to the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, a lifelong communist who turned 100 on Saturday. </font></p>

<font size="2">"I think like Niemeyer that you have to be of consequence up to the end," he wrote. </font></p>

<font size="2">The comments came in the final paragraph of a letter dealing with this month's climate change conference in Bali. </font></p>