The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, February 25, 2013 - 3A
Raul Castro to begin fifth
term, says it will be the last
Nasser Nasser/AtP
Egyptian Ultras, hard-core soccer fans, chant anti-president Mohammed Morsi slogans while attending a rally in front
of the provincial government headquarters in Port Said, Egypt on Friday.
Elections in Egypt won't
calm turbulent streets
Castro says he
plans to establish
two-term limits
HAVANA (AP) - Raul Cas-
tro announced Sunday that he
will step down as Cuba's pres-
ident in 2018 following a final
five-year term, for the first
time putting a date on the end
of the Castro era. He tapped
rising star Miguel Diaz-Canel
as his top lieutenant and first
in the line of succession.
The 81-year-old Castro
also said he hopes to establish
two-term limits and age caps
for political offices inclciding
the presidency - an astonish-
ing prospect for a nation led
by Castro or his older brother
Fidel since the 1959 revolu-
tion.
The 52-year-old Diaz-
Canel is now a heartbeat from
the presidency and has risen
higher than any other Cuban
official who didn't directly
participate in the heady days
of the revolution.
"This will be my last term,"
Castro said, his voice firm.
In his 35-minute speech,
Castro hinted at other chang-
es to the constitution, some so
dramatic that they will have
to be ratified by the Cuban
people in a referendum. Still,
he scotched any idea that the
country would soon abandon
socialism, saying he had not
assumed the presidency in
order to destroy Cuba's sys-
tem.
"I was not chosen to be
president to restore capital-
ism to Cuba," he said. "I was
elected to defend, maintain
and continue to perfect social-
ism, not destroy it."
Castro fueled interest in
Sunday's legislative gathering
after mentioning on Friday
his possible retirement and
suggesting lightheartedly that
he had plans to resign at some
point.
It's now clear that he was
dead serious when he prom-
ised that Sunday's speech
would have fireworks, and
would touch on his future in
leadership.
Cuba is at a moment of "his-
toric transcendence," Castro
told lawmakers in speaking
of his decision to name Diaz-
Canel to the No. 2 job, replac-
ing the 81-year-old Jose
Ramon Machado Ventura,
who fought with the Castros
in the Sierra Maestra.
Castro said that Diaz-
Canel's promotion "represents
a definitive step in the config-
uration of the future leader-
ship of the nation through the
gradual and orderly transfer
of key roles to new genera-
tions."
Since taking over fromFidel
in 2006, Castro has instituted
a slate of important economic
and social changes, expanding
private enterprise, legalizing
a real estate market and relax-
ing hated travel restrictions.
Still, the country remains
ruled by the Communist Party
and any opposition to it lacks
legal recognition.
Castro has mentioned
term limits before, but he has
never said specifically when
he would step down, and the
concept has yet to be codified
into Cuban law.
If he keeps his word, Castro
will leave office no later than
2018. Cuban-American exiles
in the United States have
waited decades for the end of
the Castro era, although they
will likely be dismayed if it
ends on the brothers' terms.
Nevertheless, the promise
of a change at the top could
have deep significance for
U.S.-Cuba ties. The wording
of Washington's 51-year eco-
nomic embargo on the island
specifies that it cannot be lift-
ed while a Castro is in charge.
Fidel Castro is 86 and
retired, and has appeared
increasingly frail in recent
months. He made a surprise
appearance at Sunday's gath-
ering, receiving a thunderous
ovation from lawmakers.
Some analysts have specu-
lated that the Castros would
push a younger member of
their family into a top job, but
there was no hint of that Sun-
day.
While few things are ever
clear in Cuba's hermetically
sealed news environment,
rumblings that Diaz-Canel, an
electrical engineer by train-
ing and ex-minister of higher
education, might be in line for
a senior post have grown.
In recent weeks, he has fre-
quently been featured on state
television news broadcasts in
an apparent attempt to raise
his profile.
He also traveled to Ven-
ezuela in January for the sym-
bolic inauguration of Hugo
Chavez, a key Cuban ally who
had been re-elected president
but was too ill to be sworn in.
Morsi calls for vote
in attempt to end
widespread unrest
CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's streets
are turning into a daily forum for
airing a range of social discon-
tents from labor conditions to
fuel shortages and the casualties
of myriad clashes over the past
two years.
Parliamentary elections
called over the weekend by the
Islamist president hold out little
hope for plucking the country
out of the turmoil. If anything,
the race is likely to fuel more
unrest and push Egypt closer to
economic collapse.
"The street has a life of its own
and it has little to do with elec-
tions. It is about people wanting
to make a living or make ends
meet," said Emad Gad, a promi-
nent analyst and a former law-
maker.
Islamist President Moham-
med Morsi called for parlia-
mentary elections to start in late
April and be held over four stages
ending in June. He was obliged
under the constitution to set the
date for the vote by Saturday.
His decree brought a sharp
reaction from Egypt's key oppo-
sition leader, Nobel Peace Lau-
reate Mohamed ElBaradei, who
said they would be a "recipe for
disaster" given the polarization
of the country and eroding state
authority.
On Saturday, ElBaradei
dropped a bombshell when he
called for a boycott of the vote.
An effective boycott by the oppo-
sition or widespread fraud would-
call the election's legitimacy into
question.
But in all likelihood, Morsi's
Muslim Brotherhood and its
ultraconservative Salafi allies
will fare well in the vote. The
Brotherhood has dominated
every election in the two years
since the 2011 uprising that oust-
ed autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The mostly secular and lib-
eral opposition will likely trail
as they did in the last election for
parliament's lawmaking, lower
house in late 2011 and early
2012 - a pattern consistent with
every nationwide election post-
Mubarak.
President Morsi's Brother-
hood-dominated administra-
tion has been unable to curb the
street protests, strikes and crime
that have defined Egypt in the
two years since the uprising.
NEWS BRIEFS
MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich.
Suspect in MSU stabbing awaits court
Lansing-area police say they've arrested a suspect in the fatal stab-
bing of a Michigan State University student from suburban Detroit.
They say the suspect faces arraignment Monday in district court in
Mason.
Meridian Township police Sgt. Andrew McCready tells The Detroit
News that 23-year-old Andrew M. Singler was stabbed about 4 a.m. Sat-
urday at an apartment complex near campus and died shortly after his
roommate brought him to the emergency room at Lansing's Sparrow
Hospital.
McCready says Singler was from the Rochester area in Oakland
County.
The sergeant says Singler apparently knew his killer and the two got
in some kind of argument before the stabbing. He says police arrested
the suspect about two hours after the attack and says he's in the Ingham
County jail.
NEW YORK
Romney grants post-election interview
Fox's Chris Wallace has landed the first postelection interview
with defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.
Wallace said on "Fox News Sunday" that the interview will air
on his show next week. Additional portions will be on Fox News
Channel the next day. Wallace says he'll ask Romney how he has
dealt with the defeat, what he plans to do and his thoughts about
President Barack Obama's second-term agenda.
Fox News spokeswoman Ashley Nerz says the interview will be
taped this week in southern California, where Romney has spent
much of his time since the election.
Romney has also said he will speak March 15 to the Conservative
Political Action Conference in Washington, an annual event that
draws leading Republican voices.
LONDON
* Banksy graffiti auction halted in UK
A mural by secretive graffiti artist Banksy has been withdrawn from
an auction sale after a campaign by London residents to reclaim it.
The stencil of a young boy sewing Union Jack bunting on an antique
sewing machine vanished earlier this month from the side of a north
London bargain store. Only exposed brick remained at the site, but the
artwork has appeared on the website of a Miami auction house.
The mural was due to be sold Saturday with an estimated price of
between $500,000 and $700,000. Fine Art Auctions Miami later said
that the item was withdrawn from sale, though it did not explain why.
Claire Kober, leader of local authority Haringey Council, said it will
now try to bring the artwork back to the community.
KHARTOUM, Darfur
Tribal fighting in Darfur leaves 60 dead
Renewed fighting between two Arab tribes over mining rights has
left 60 people dead in the northern Darfur region, Sudan's state news
agency said Sunday.
The state news agency said fighting on Saturday was the worst since
a cease-fire agreement was reached last month. The agency said fight-
ing began when a group of armed tribesmen in vehicles and riding
camels attacked the El-Sireaf area in North Darfur.
Sudan's western region of Darfur has been afflicted by violence
since 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central government
in Khartoum. Fighting also periodically erupts between tribes in the
area.
-Compiled from Daily wire reports