Raul Castro proposes term limits in Cuba [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

April 16, 2011
Raul Castro proposes term limits in Cuba

(AP) HAVANA (AP) — Raul Castro proposed term limits for Cuban politicians on Saturday, a remarkable gesture on an island ruled for 52 years by him and his brother, but one unlikely to have a major effect on his own future.

The 79-year-old president told delegates to a crucial Communist Party summit that Cuban politicians and other important officials should be restricted to two, five-year terms. Castro officially took over from his brother Fidel in 2008, meaning he'd be at least 86 when his second term as Cuban leader ended, depending on how the law is written.

The proposal was made at the latter stage of a long speech in which the Cuban leader forcefully backed a laundry list of economic changes which together represent a sea change for the country's socialist system, including the eventual elimination of the ration book and other subsidies, the decentralization of the economy and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.

Still, he drew a line in the Caribbean sand across which the reforms must never go, telling party luminaries that he had rejected dozens of suggested reforms which would have allowed the concentration of property in private hands.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/16/ap/latinamerica/main20054638.shtml