Castro resigns : Cuba mulls reforms

HAVANA: Fidel Castro confirmed his exit from the Communist Party leadership on Tuesday, ceding power to his brother Raul as delegates prepare to vote on changes that could bring term limits to key posts. The move came after the sixth Communist Party Congress approved a flurry of measures on Monday aimed at keeping Cuba’s centrally planned economy from collapse. Castro, 84, served as first secretary in the Central Committee of the party   which underpins the country’s Communist government   since the party’s creation in 1965. Castro said he had handed over the functions of the party head to Raul when he ceded power to his brother. Castro said he supported the stepping aside of some of the older luminaries in the party, adding that “the most important thing was that I did not appear on that list. I have received too many honours. I never thought I would live so long.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th,  2011.