And it's about time. Castro is quoted as saying that he wanted to take time to prepare the Cuban people for the shock of his resignation.
Maybe Castro himself is the one who needed the preparation to leave office. That seems more likely. With rumors of his death and the counting of days since last seeing him in public, I don't think anyone would be so shocked at his leaving the political scene except Castro.
Poor guy. No more parades or waving throngs of admirers. He must be missing it.
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Alas, it appears that immortality has eluded him
Hey, Econo-Girl, fyi (from "SpyTalk" at CQ Politics, http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=hsnews-000002675678):
The Masons are hoping Fidel Castro’s passing from the scene will make it easier for their brethren in Cuba. That’s right, the Masons: Suppressed by Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung and monarchies alike, the apostles of self-help, high morals and good government have somewhat mysteriously been allowed to flourish in totalitarian Cuba.
“Freemasonry survived the regime’s spies and strong tactics because of the longstanding respect the Fraternity enjoys among the Cuban people,” said Akram Elias, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the District of Columbia, in a formal statement last week.’
It’s not so far-fetched, historically speaking. Like many of the signers of our own Declaration of Independence, Cuba’s first revolutionary Jose Marti was a Mason. The order flourished in Cuba over the centuries.
Elias thinks Castro found it easier to keep an eye on the Masons than drive them underground.
Envoys from the D.C. lodge have been to Cuba eight times since 2001, a remarkable feat considering the Bush administration’s severe restrictions on travel to the island, still subjected to a U.S. economic embargo nearly 50 years after Castro came to power.
Will things be better under Raoul Castro, brother of the erstwhile dictator?
“We’re certainly optimistic,” Elias said.
Then again, they would be, wouldn’t they?
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