The American Mind

CNN reports:

Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president of Cuba and commander-in-chief of Cuba’s military on Tuesday, according to a letter published in the state-run newspaper, Granma.

Castro, 81, temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul Castro in July 2006 after undergoing intestinal surgery. He hasn’t been seen in public since his surgery, but he has appeared in numerous videos and photos in state media.

The announcement of Castro’s resignation appeared just before 3 a.m. on the Web site of the state-run newspaper.

The news is likely to send shock waves across the island and through the tens of thousands of Cuban exiles who have sought refugee in the United States.

Ziva at Babalu Blog has an english translation of Castro’s message to Cuba. It’s a big step towards freeing the island prison. The next steps being the death of Fidel along with the removal of his brother Raul and the Communist Party from power. There will be excitement and plenty of uncertainty among Cuban-Americans in Florida today.

UPDATE: I want to quote the key part of Fidel Castro’s letter:

To my dearest compatriots, who have recently honored me so much by electing me a member of the Parliament where so many agreements should be adopted of utmost importance to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I will neither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief.

Michelle Malkin rounds up a bounty of links in the wee hours of the morning.

This is sure to dominate the news cycle. It should play to Sen. John McCain’s strength with foreign policy and national defense.

UPDATE II: Steve Clemons already wants to dump the Cuban embargo:

Of all the low cost opportunities to demonstrate a new and different United States style of engagement with the world, Cuba is at the top of the list. Opening family travel — and frankly all travel — between Cuba and the US, and ending the economic embargo will provide new encounters, new impressions, and the kind of people-to-people diplomacy that George W. Bush, John Bolton, Richard Cheney, and Jesse Helms run scared from.

Can we at least digest the latest bit of news? And what’s with bringing up Jesse Helms? According to Wikipedia the man’s suffering from dementia.

I’ve stated the embargo should go since it hasn’t accomplished its goal: freeing Cuba. We don’t know what the reaction to Fidel’s resignation will be with Cubans, Cuban-Americans, and the Raul Castro-led Communist government. Maybe Raul will implement some reforms. Maybe he’ll have to crack down on inspired dissidents. Prudence tells us we should at least see how events play out in the short term.