Fidel Castro will have to convince Cubans not to re-elect him as leader, official says

Fidel Castro will have to convince Cubans not to re-elect him as leader,
official says
The Associated Press
Published: September 12, 2007

HAVANA: Fidel Castro will have to persuade Cubans — even his brother
Raul — if he decides not to serve another term as president because of
health issues, a Cabinet member said Wednesday.

Elections are expected to vote next spring for Cuba's National Assembly,
or parliament, which in turn will chose a new Council of State, the
country's supreme governing body. Castro has held the council presidency
since 1976, although he has been the nation's unchallenged leader since
1959.

Castro "would have to convince the people not to be re-elected," Culture
Minister Abel Prieto said. Cubans are convinced "Fidel has to stay on
top, and even Raul would totally agree with that."

Castro still officially holds the title of Council of State president,
even though he announced in mid-2006 that emergency intestinal surgery
was forcing him to cede power to a provisional government headed by his
younger brother, who is now 76.

"I'm convinced that the immense majority of our people, the sweeping
majority, are going to want Fidel to continue as president of the
Council of State," Prieto said. "I don't know what he would say about
the state of his health, and I think it depends a lot on that."
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Castro was re-elected to his sixth term as council president by the
parliament in March 2003, following direct elections in which 97 percent
of Cubans participated.

Castro has not been seen in public since stepping aside and Prieto said
he had no new information about the 81-year-old's medical status. But he
said the essays Castro has issued every few days over six months "give
me the impression that he is in good health and continues recovering
favorably."

Speaking to foreign reporters after a book presentation, Prieto also
knocked down a month of rumors circulating in Miami's Cuban exile
community that the elder Castro is dead or dying. The latest rumors
gained steam after Castro's 81st birthday passed on Aug. 13 without the
release of any new photographs or videos of the leader.

"I think people are confusing their wishes with reality," said Prieto,
the first senior official to comment on the rumors.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/12/news/CB-GEN-Cuba-Castro.php