Fidel Castro has finally formalized his long drift into retirement -- I've posted some thoughts over at Comment is free:
Castro's drift to the sidelines ... clears the way for tentative social and political reforms. So far, Raúl has struck a relatively conciliatory tone toward the US and has given the appearance of wishing to edge away from his brother's absolute intolerance of political dissidence. The number of political prisoners in Cuba has gradually dwindled since Raúl took the reins, and his administration has even encouraged public criticism of its policies. It's not yet clear whether this is a genuine shift toward greater political freedom, a safety valve intended to obviate the need for more sweeping reforms or merely Havana's Hundred Flowers moment. Either way, these tentative first steps are a sign that Raúl and the party cadres have a plan for the future and won't be crying uncle simply because Fidel has begun cashing his pension checks.That's a jab in the eye for George Bush, who'd assumed that regime change would be the inevitable consequence of Castro's departure. That certainty bred complacency: rather than reaching out to the next generation of Cuban leaders, Bush stuck to a more-of-the-same Cuba policy, continuing to serve up the economic sanctions and confrontational rhetoric that for decades have only bolstered the Castro regime.
Fidel has seen nine US presidents come and go and made no secret of wanting to add Bush to that list. But while Fidel may not have outlasted Dubya, he certainly outfoxed him. The smoothness of the handover of power in Havana has left the White House's Cuba policies looking dated, clumsy and ineffectual.
Read the whole thing here.
