This is going to be interesting:

Ailing revolutionary icon Fidel Castro permanently gave up the Cuban presidency on Tuesday, ending five decades of ironclad rule of the island marked by his brash defiance of the United States.

In a message published by the online version of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma, the 81-year-old Castro said he would not seek the presidency again when it is decided later this week.

“I neither will aspire to nor will I accept — I repeat — I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the Council of State and commander-in-chief,” Castro wrote, almost 19 months after undergoing intestinal surgery and handing power temporarily to his brother Raul Castro.

You can bet our government is working hard to try and get in there to push democracy. Of course Raul Castro will be the official President, and he is expected to continue on with Fidel’s rule.