After 59 Years As President of Cuba, Fidel Castro Steps Down

Host:

Warren Olney

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In the Communist Party press today, Castro announced the end of an era although it’s uncertain what will happen next. We’ll talk to a reporter about the response he got when he spread the word on the streets of Havana. In Miami, the Cuban-American community is not what it was before, and we’ll get the reaction of a new generation. President Bush says the US will help Cubans establish democracy—but not without conditions. All that and a history including the Bay of Pigs, Soviet missiles and economic blockade.

Note: Today's WWLA is a re-edit of today's To The Point .

After 49 years as the leader of Communist Cuba, Fidel Castro has stepped down. Less than a week before the National Assembly will meet to select a new head of state, Castro says he is no longer “in the physical condition" to run the government, but expressed confidence in “elements of the old guard" and “others who were very young when the first stage of the revolution began." Speaking from Africa today, George W. Bush called for the release of political prisoners. The resignation of the 81-year old leader, who served during the terms of ten US presidents, is big news in the streets of Miami, where Cuban refugees and their descendents dominate local politics. Will Castro's brother, Raul, continue Cuba's current regime or will a younger generation embrace democracy as the US demands?

Guests:

Ray Sanchez: Havana Reporter, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Oscar Corral: Reporter, Miami Herald
William LeoGrande: Dean of the School of Public Affairs, American University
Susan Kaufman Purcell: Dean of the School of Public Affairs, American University

Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.

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