Fidel Castro stated on Tuesday that he would not return to lead the Communist Cuba after his 49 year reign. Some factors to Castro's departure may be attributed to his current age of 81 and his ongoing stomach surgeries for the past year and a half.
Castro, who took power during a Cold War revolution, has been most remembered for his strict leadership characteristics, national censorship, and involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Castro has also been questioned about Cuba's policies of freedom and speech. He has even been seen as a 'tyrant who suppressed freedom'.
The US has had a constrained relationship with Cuba for the past several decades. There has been a tight economic embargo between the two, but due to this change in leadership, nations like the US hope this will lead to a change in direction for Cuba's people, policies and perspectives.
Do you think Castro's departure will lead to any big changes in Cuba, or will the next leader just continue his legacy? Will the US have any influence in Cuba? Why or why not? And in connection with our own elections, which candidate do you think, if any, could potentially be the best in creating better connections with Cuba.
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8 comments:
I dont think that Castro's resignation is anything to get worked up about. i dont know much about the subject, but usually when a powerful dictator steps down, he chooses his successor, and that person usually embodies all of the beliefs and ideals of the first leader. even thought there are going to be elections, i dont think that they will actually portray the will of the cuban public mang.
His brother's been ruling while Castro was out right? So then it would be logical to assume that he's going to be the next ruler. That also mean that it's unlikely that their will be a major policy change in Cuba. The voting will probably be just like Greg said, the same as in Russia, it won't really matter.
I doubt that any real changes will take place. As Greg said, dictators usually choose their successors, so someone with a similar ideology will probably come into power after Castro. On the bright side, at least now there's a slight chance that the new dictator will possibly act differently and possibly not restrict freedom as much.
I wouldn't count on any changes between the United States and Cuba any time soon. Unless the future rulers of Cuba hate Castro, they might not forgive the U.S. for its past actions, like its support of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and the missile crisis in 1962. Both events were attempts to limit and eradicate the power of communism in Cuba. So, due to the eventful past between the two nations, some kind of conciliatory state probably will not happen for awhile.
I don't think the US is going to have any influence in Cuba as Fidel Castro departs. We are probably going to try and force change and cause even more problems there. The next leader is probably going to have the same ideals and toughness as Castro and continue his legacy. This shouldn't be a shock since it was going to happen sooner or later.
With the whole soviet union comparison that greg made, what if Castro's succesor is like a Gorbacez. I have a feeling that now that Castro is out of power, Cuba and the US is going to start becoming more tolerant and get the Cuban ban to finally end.
I think that the US will involve themselves in Castro's resignation as seen through this article. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jb95ErgZF6n0c_BDxUWclvhGB6IA
Barack Obama even said that "as president, he would be prepared to meet without preconditions with Cuba's next leader". This leads me to believe that the US will continue to be involved in Cuba and try to help regulate what is going on in Cuba. Also the article says, "The assembly is widely expected to confirm Raul Castro as the new president". So, Yakov was right when he said that Cuba was run by Castro's brother while he was out.
Considering that the dictator's brother is almost guaranteed to be the next dictator, I think there won't be much change in Cuba. I think they have similar beliefs that run in the family...
I also heard Bush saying that the US would still keep its ban on Cuban goods and such even though Castro’s leaving office. However, Bush has less than a year in office, which gives him less influence on the US’s interactions with Cuba in the future and leaves lots of time after he's gone for the next President to possibly change the status quo with Cuba, as John said. The next president will surely have lots of issues concerning foreign policy, and this event might push the candidates into talking about their foreign policy experience, perhaps, in order to get voters confident in them.
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