Fidel Castro has confirmed his resignation from the top leadership of the Cuba Communist Party.
He had served as the first secretary in the Central Committee of the Party since its creation in 1965.
The veteran leader said he had handed over the functions of the Party to Raul Castro when he ceded power to his brother due to poor health in 2006, though he retained the first secretary title.
"Raul knew that I would not accept a formal role in the party today," Fidel Castro said in an article on the Cubadebate.cu website, referring to his absence from Monday's Central Committee elections.
The AFP newsagency says his resignation comes as the Party approved landmark economic reforms at its conference in Havanna.
These include clearance for Cubans to buy and sell homes for the first time in decades, the cutting of more than a million government jobs and the phasing out of the country's universal monthly food ration. |