Raul Castro Now In Power In Cuba, Fidel Still Has 'Influence'

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While Fidel Castro is no longer “ruling” Cuba, the nation’s rule is still in the family as his brother Raul has been chosen to take over the Cuban presidency. That does not necessarily mean that Fidel Castro does not have influence over Cuba. Many have said that Fidel Castro can still have a say in how Cuba is run. In his address, Raul said that they consult Fidel in regards on important decisions.

81-year-old Fidel Castro was not present at the meeting. He had said it was because of his health condition that he resigned. The resignation letter was published in the newspaper. In the statement, Fidel Castro said: “It would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer.”

Before officially resigning, Fidel Castro back in 2006 temporarily transferred power over to Raul Castro. Raul was the defense minister under Fidel’s government. He was also instrumental to the Cuban revolution in which Fidel Castro had taken power.

There have been attempts to remove Castro from power. But, all attempts had failed

Raul is notorious for being ruthless with his enemies. Fidel’s daughter, Alina Fernandez who lives in Florida said that nothing will probably change with Cuba. She has opposed the regime of Fidel Castro for a long time.

“I think that the government will remain mostly the same, but I think they are going to bring on different faces that they need,” Fernandez had said.

The issue of Cuba has been a topic for both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. US Democratic hopeful and frontrunner Barack Obama has drawn criticism for implying that he would meet with Cuba unconditionally.

In the recent CNN Democratic debate, Clinton attacked Obama for what he had said in regards to Cuba. Clinton said that she would not meet with Cuba unconditionally. One condition she did lay out was that the political prisoners would need to be freed.

US Republican hopeful and frontrunner John McCain said that Cuba must meet certain benchmarks if they wish to get US assistance. US Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee was less than diplomatic as he stated that nothing will change in Cuba until Fidel Castro is dead.