Castro has not said whether he will seek office

Cuba sets election dates
Castro has not said whether he will seek office
The Associated Press
November 2, 2007

HAVANA - Newly-elected municipal assemblies will convene across Cuba in
two weeks as the island's multitiered-election process advances without
word on the future of Fidel Castro.

In an order published Thursday on the front page of the state newspaper
Granma, Cuba's top executive body decreed that the 15,236 municipal
assembly members elected on Oct. 21 and in two subsequent runoff votes
will meet for the first time Nov. 16. The order was signed by Castro's
brother and acting president, Raul.

Assembly members later will start choosing candidates for parliamentary
elections due next spring.

It is unclear whether Fidel Castro, 81, will be healthy enough to run
for parliament, where he must hold a seat to remain head of government.
Even if he retains his seat, legislators could decide to replace him
with his brother as head of the Council of State.

Fidel Castro has been Cuba's unchallenged leader for nearly five
decades, from his 1959 overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista until
July 2006, when he underwent emergency intestinal surgery and ceded
power to his younger brother and designated successor.

The elder Castro has not been seen in public since, although he
continues to sign published essays every few days and appeared lucid in
recent government videos. He retains his post atop the governing Council
of State.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flacuba1102nbnov02,0,3870309.story