A hero of our times

The beard, the cigar, the fatigues, above all the unflinching courage and determination of the world’s
longest-serving and most charismatic political leader are unmistakable. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruiz —
Fidel to his legion of admirers in every continent — has announced that he will stand down on Sunday.
Now 82, this revolutionary has been Prime Minister and President of Cuba since the band of
revolutionaries he led overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He has outlasted nine U.S.
Presidents and six top leaders of the Soviet Union or Russia. Tiny Cuba has endured an economic
blockade — which even a moderate commentator calls ‘thuggish’ — imposed by the United States. It
was the target of a failed CIA-inspired invasion in the Bay of Pigs in 1960 …..
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/23/stories/2008022355291000.htm