Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban President

19 February 2007

"The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy," Bush told reporters during a visit to Rwanda.

Madrid-Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's President and commander in chief.

Castro's brother Raul is his designated successor.

In a statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper, he said: "To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament. I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept the position of president of council of state and commander-in-chief."

Castro has not been seen in public for 19 months since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

Born into a wealthy landowning family, he turned to Marxism because of the poverty he saw around him in Cuba.

He came to international prominence in 1959 when, along with Che Guevara, he led the uprising which overthrew the corrupt government of President Fulgencio Batista, who had turned Cuba into a decadent playground for America's rich.

Promising to give the land back to the people, he received the backing of the former Soviet Union, driving a wedge between Cuba and the US that has never been removed.

In April 1961 the US tried to topple the Castro government by recruiting a private army of Cuban exiles to invade the island.

At the Bay of Pigs, Cuban troops repulsed the invaders, killing many and capturing 1,000.

As money flowed from the Kremlin the Caribbean island became a cold war battleground.

But it was not just cash that headed west to Cuba from the former Soviet Union.

The CIA tried to assassinate him on many occasions - one plan involved filling his much-loved cigars with explosives.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1992 meant the financial plug was pulled on Castro.

He did however bring about real change in Cuba with free health care for all and one of the highest literacy rates in the world.

And his ability to needle the Americans has never diminished.