He ain’t dead yet- so the Miami fiestas may be subdued, but there will be fiestas none the less I’m sure as ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro finally admitted what most already knew, that he will not return to lead the country as president or commander-in-chief. This ends a 49 year run as leader of the Caribbean island nation, a position he took in a historic and controversial armed revolution.

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 — I repeat not aspire to or accept — the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief,” Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper.

It is expected that Raul Castro, Fidel’s 76 year old little brother, who has been running things since emergency surgery to stop intestinal bleeding forced Castro to delegate power on July 31, 2006, will be officially nominated as head of state.

This is the end of something historic. What the change in official power will actually translate to inside of Cuba and in how the rest of the world deals with Cuba remains to be seen.

Via / Yahoo! News