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Cuba’s President Fidel Castro seen speaking in Havana Tuesday, March 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano).

Today Fidel Castro announced he would not seek a new term as president, not that he has need to do much seeking to gain new terms, but he will be stepping down. President Bush has expressed hopes that a democratic government can now be set up, but we will see. Cuba still has a long way to go, but now maybe people can move forward with a more functional government, instead of their token government it which officially sanctioned candidates from Cuba’s communist party run unopposed. The people of Cuba are still extremely poor despite their free health care that people such as Micheal Moore trump as such a great thing. There per captia GDP is a mere $4,500 a year. By comparison our per capita GDP is $46,000 a year. Of course the GDP is not always a the best estimate for the entire population, if gives us a range for their income, and their range would still be really low even if we were to exclude the billionaires and millionaires from our per capita GDP. In addition, Cuba is also allowing force child labor, and they are a destination country for sexual tourism major source for exploration of women and children through sex trafficking. Sufficient to say Cuba has a long way to go, to recover from the damage the Castro has inflicted on the country. So now when you read Castro’s letter that seems like he is trying to do what is best for his country you can put it in perspective.

Here is an excerpt detailing the economic situation of Cuba following by an excerpt from Castro’s letter:

The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban’s standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2007, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country’s energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that had plagued the country since 2004. CIA World Factbook

Below is an excerpt from Castro’s letter of resignation

Dear compatriots:

… For many years I occupied the honorable position of president…. I always had the necessary prerogatives to carry forward the revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people.

There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition, thought that my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, from the position of President of the State Council, which I left to First Vice President Raul Castro Ruz, was permanent…. It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-á-vis an adversary which had done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply…

My first duty was to prepare our people both politically and psychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery “was not without risks.”

My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That’s what I can offer.

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.