Raul Castro resigns as Communist chief
HAVANA (AP) — Raul Castro said Friday he is resigning as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership that began with his brother Fidel and country’s 1959 revolution. The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement in a speech at the opening of the eighth congress of the ruling party, the only one allowed on the island. He said he was retiring with the sense of having “fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland.” “Nothing, nothing, nothing is forcing me to make this decision,” said Castro, part of whose speech to the closed Congress was aired on state television.