Reports: Fidel "might retire"

[Chacor]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7149170.stm

Fidel Castro hints at retirement

Cuba's ailing communist leader, Fidel Castro, has said he has a duty not to hold on to power or obstruct the rise of younger people.

Correspondents say the letter read on state TV is the first suggestion that the 81-year-old president may give up his position in Cuba's leadership.

Last year he handed over power to his brother Raul on a temporary basis.

Since then, he has not made a public appearance - although the government has released pictures of Mr Castro.

In the letter released on Monday, he said his duty was not to cling to office but "to pass on experiences and ideas whose modest value arises from the exceptional era in which I lived".

The message was delivered during Cuba's main nightly current affairs programme, Mesa Redonda.

Parliamentary seat

The BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says this is not a formal letter of resignation, and there is no indication about how or when the Cuban leader might step down.

The mention of younger leaders suggests that younger brother Raul - who is 76 - may not automatically succeed the president, our correspondent says.

Fidel Castro has ruled Cuba since leading the 1959 revolution.

Earlier this month he was nominated as a candidate for a seat in Cuba's National Assembly, a move seen as an indication that he might still hope for a return to power.

Mr Castro stepped aside after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

Since then he has made his presence felt through regular newspaper editorials.

In Monday's message, Mr Castro paid tribute to the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who turned 100 on Saturday.

"I think like Niemeyer that you have to be of consequence up to the end," he wrote.

[wyq614]

我十月份就要去古巴了，祝我好运。

I'm going to Cuba this October. Good luck to myself

I'll be there further studying Spanish for nine months.

[Chacor]

That sounds very nice, actually. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Maybe HURAKAN can tell you more about the place.