Breaking: CASTRO QUITS ! End of an Era - But End of Totalitarianism in Cuba ?

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- 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.

The resignation ends nearly a half-century of iron-fisted rule that

inspired revolutionaries but frustrated 10 U.S. presidents.

Castro revealed his plans without advance notice by publishing a

letter in the middle of the night in state-run newspaper Granma.

"I will not aspire to, nor will I accept the position of president of

the council of state and commander in chief," Castro wrote. "I wish

only to fight as a soldier of ideas. ... Perhaps my voice will be

heard."

Castro received treatment for intestinal problems two years ago and

cited his "critical health condition" in the letter published Tuesday.

He said "it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a

responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am

physically able to offer."

He also said he realized that he had a duty to prepare Cubans for his

absence.

"My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath,"

he said. "That's all I can offer."

Cuban leaders plan to elect a president within days. Castro's brother,

Raul, the country's defense minister, previously has been named

publicly as his successor.

The news is likely to send shock waves across the island and among the

tens of thousands of Cubans who have sought refugee in the United

States and other countries.

- - - - -

Yay ! The wicked witch is (effectively) dead !

Alas, there may be more witches hovering around on

their broomsticks - and that includes one named "USA".

Raul is as much a totalitarian as his brother, but

he's nearly as old as his brother too and doesn't

have the charisma or personality cult required to

weild the same amount of power for long without

Big Bro Fidel standing behind him. Likely some of

the ambitious underlings will soon effect a coup.

It might be a gentle coup, a messy coup - or there

may be a whole new revolution. We'll see.

"Democracy" in Cuba ? Well, maybe in some form. You

don't cast off decades of totalitarian habits quickly

however. We may see a "bananna democracy" as common

to the region - a rapid succession of weak and

disorganized governments with little-tin-dictator-

wannabes as presidents.

We may see something closer to the way Pakistan has

been run, with a de-facto military dictator maintaining

an outward facade of 'democracy'. But proper,

power-balanced representative 'democracy' where the

system is more powerful than those sitting in the seats

of authority - no, not anytime soon.

One plus for Cuba is the re-emergence of Russia as

a wealthy ambitious superpower. The USSR was very

fond of their forward base just a few miles from

US shores and todays Russia may derive similar joy

from the arrangement. It would mean a resumption

of economic & technical "help" - something Cuba

has been sorely lacking since Soviet communism

collapsed.

One potential NASTY is that Castros designated

butt-boy Hugo Chavez will seize the opportunity

to 'help' Cuba - economically AND militarily. He

could easily make a case for 'defending socialism'

from the evil predatory USA and intermix his

military with Cubas. His country has oil money and

an attitude too, something that guarentees Chavez

would be popular at (communist) parties.

And what of the USA and Cuba ? Alas, Chavez isn't

entirely wrong. Decades of official group hate

against Castro HAS given us a predatory attitude

towards Cuba. Our government would LOVE to insert

a 'friendly' dictator in Castros place - another

Batista to rubber-stamp anything the US military

or business sector wants to do there.

Really, at this juncture, the Cuban PEOPLE might be

somewhat better off sticking with Russia. However it

would not hurt to increase trade ties with the US -

as long as someone kept an eye out for attempts at

'economic imperialism'. US history with Cuba has

been extremely exploitative and I see no reason

why that would change now.

In any event, this IS the dawn of a new era for

Cuba and the Americas. For better or worse though,

well, it can go either way.