Castro quits; end of an era

Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as Cuban leader. In a statement published in the official Communist party's Granma website he said he would not seek or accept a new term as president when the newly elected parliament meets on Sunday.

"I will not aspire nor accept, I repeat, I will not aspire or accept — the post of president of the council of state and commander in chief," read the letter from the 81-year-old president.

The new National Assembly is meeting Sunday for first time since Cuba's January elections to pick the governing council of state, including the presidency Castro holds.

Castro has been in failing health since he underwent intestinal surgery in July 2006. He temporarily transferred power to his brother, Raul, but never officially gave up control.

He continued to have some influence in the nation's day-to-day affairs, spent a lot of time writing about critical national and international issues and even hinted that the time had come for younger people to carry the torch and continue the revolution he started in 1959, with the overthrow of the Batista regime. He has not been seen in public, except in official media released photos and videotapes.

Castro led a band guerillas and toppled the Batista government in 1959 and immediately won the approval of the United states. But relations started to go sour soon after as the young revolutionary began reshaping the country into a communist state.

The Americans were particularly upset with Castro's move to nationalize U.S.-owned businesses, and develop close links with the Soviet Union. Washington's answer was to impose trade sanctions against the island, which caused further alienation and a closer friendship with the Soviets.

Castro's most notable fight with the Americans was over his attempt to establish Soviet bases and store weapons on the island. Presidents Kennedy and Khrushchev eventually settled the matter, but for a while as the two super powers started down each others, the world was sitting on tenterhooks, fearing a nuclear confrontation over the Cuban missile crisis.

The Americans have never normalized relations with Castro and Cuba. He was the target of CIA assassination plots, and 10 U.S. administrations tried to topple him, most notably the failed CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.

Castro always remained a friend of Canada, though. In 1976 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau visited the communist leader and both of them developed a close and lasting friendship. Castro was among the world leaders at Trudeau's funeral in Montreal in 2000.

Castro has been praised by those who admire his politics and social development agenda and demonized by others who see his as a dictator who has continually violated established human rights conventions, quashed individual rights and and carried out political assassinations.

Read a foreign policy opinion on what Castro's departure means for Cuba