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Carter and Cuba 'A Perfect Fit'
By Herm Welty, Political Correspondent
February 19, 2008, Miami--Fidel Castro’s
surprise resignation has political analysts from Georgia to Havana
wondering if former U.S. President Jimmy Carter might assume control of
Cuba.
Citing health concerns, Castro, 81, announced Tuesday
he would not accept a new term when the Cuban parliament meets on Sunday.
The communist revolutionary has led the island nation
since overthrowing the government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Castro’s
tenure as Cuban president is the world’s longest for a head of state.
“Of course most Cubans expect Raul Castro to assume
power,” said longtime Carter advisor and former diplomat Andrew Young.
“Jimmy would also be a logical choice. Ideologically, he may be a closer
fit to El Presidenté than Raul ever was.”
Raul Castro, Fidel’s younger brother, has hinted at
government and social reforms since he began serving as acting president
when Fidel became ill in July 2006.
Since failing to win a second term as U.S. president
in 1980, Carter has devoted his life to working with Habitat for Humanity,
delivering speeches to college audiences and serving as a high profile
consultant to foreign tyrants.
At 83, Carter’s physical ability to lead a nation
would be the only hindrance as he has no philosophical differences with
Castro’s ruling communist party. But Young doesn’t think Carter’s age
would matter.
“Jimmy’s always been a revolutionary. Remember the
‘Fireside Chat’? The Playboy interview? Or how about building homes for
the poor?” said Young. “Poor people like Jimmy. He thrives on poverty,
says it makes him feel young, and given the amount of poverty in Cuba,
Jimmy might live another 50 years. Jimmy and Cuba are a perfect fit.”
Approached outside an army surplus store in Plains,
Ga., Carter said he had not spoken to Castro since the president’s
announcement but would be traveling to Havana in coming days.
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