Fidel could step down as leader of the Communist Party

Fidel Castro, long standing leader of the Cuban Communist Party, is expected to step down, when the party holds its congress in April.

Mr. Castro, 84, previously handed over most of the responsibilities as First Secretary but kept the title.

His official departure from his last leadership position would be a symbolically important step toward a new era for the country he ruled for 49 years.

President Raul Castro, as second secretary of the Communist Party, is in line to succeed his older brother as its top leader, just as he did when Fidel resigned the presidency in February 2008.

However, because there are currently no other Castro family members in leading positions, the second secretary spot likely will be filled by someone without Castro as a last name for the first time since the party was created in 1965.

As first and second secretaries, the Castro brothers lead the party’s guiding Central Committee, for which elections originally were expected to be held at a party conference at the end of this year.

But the vote has been moved to April because party statutes say it must be done at a formal congress, sources said.

The Central Committee chooses the party’s powerful Political Bureau and its executive Secretariat, where numerous changes are also expected, sources said.

Some supporters think he should stay as party leader

Despite widespread expectation that he will resign, Fidel Castro, who has been in the background since he was stricken with an intestinal disorder in July 2006, still has supporters who think he should stay as party leader.

Both he and Raul Castro are among those who have been nominated in the local party elections.

The 2006 illness required emergency surgery and led to complications that Castro has said nearly killed him.

When he resigned as president, Fidel Castro said he was no longer in a condition to run the daily affairs of the country.

But he regularly writes columns for local media and the Internet and is consulted on important matters of state. He is still a member of Cuba’s parliament, but has not attended its twice-yearly meetings since falling ill.

After four years out of public view, he reappeared last summer and since then has held sporadic public encounters with groups of local professionals and visitors, videos of which are sometimes broadcast by state television.

(Source: CARICOM News Network)