we feel proud with our clean record to relation to this problem. >> reporter: call it pride or selective reasoning, but he never lost faith in the revolution. opponents concede his popularity diminished as his beard grew whiter, but he continued to command fear and respect. he would eventually out live many of his critics and out last ten u.s. administrations. in the end, it was illness, not washington, that forced him to retire. passing cuba's leadership to his younger brother, raoul, in his last year he only appeared occasionally, mostly in photos looking frail. at times he tried to play the role of elder statesman, but more and more he simply seemed inkons can kwen shal. >> translator: the cuban government has been very ago aisle. it has slowly removed him from the scene. it would have been one thing had he abruptly died back on july 31st, 2006. instead his image and importance