A Chapter Closes

^{Posted @ 03.23 Eastern}
A chapter in US political history and foreign relations is coming to a close. According to the official Communist Party newspaper, Fidel Castro is resigning as the president and commander-in-chief of Cuba. He handed over rule of the country to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 and has not been seen in public for 18 months.

Castro, 81, assumed power in 1959 and, in the process, created the first Communist state in the western hemisphere. (See his speech, The Revolution Begins Now.)

Then President Kennedy invaded (The Bay of Pigs) in 1961. And in 1962, the Soviet Union planned to deploy missiles on Cuba's shores. The intervening years have been an uneasy political detente, with many reported assassination attempts by the US government and a long-standing trade embargo. Despite (or perhaps because of) the friction, Castro is the longest serving leader in the western hemisphere, per VOA, which has no reason to toot Castro's horn.

Last year, Castro called a Hillary Clinton / Barack Obama ticket "apparently unbeatable."

Update: More from Keith Porter, About.com guide to foreign policy, and Robert Langley, About.com guide to US government information.

See, BBC: Castro: Profile of the great survivor and PBS: Fidel Castro