and speeches, fidel ctro would remain a thorn in the side for ten u.s. presidents. it wasn t an assassination that removed him from power. but a botched stomach surgery. near death he turned over the reigns to brother raul. now a weak and infirm castro retreated from the public spotlight n. 2016 castro made a rare public appearance to call on communist party officials to remain loyal to his revolution after his death. soon i will be like all the rest, castro told the officials, everyone s turn comes. in cuba there are few monuments to phi kell castro, no streets are named after him. unlike other strong men the leader avoided creating a cult of personality. but children once year recreate castro s triumphant arrival as a
looking at the changes that have been happening under raoul castro, under the u.s. president barack obama improved travel relations, improved relations as a whole. is this a possible opening for the raoul castro government to push more improvements and the bit of uncertainty with the united states now bringing in a new president, donald trump in january? make no mistake about it. the succession plans started ten years ago when fidel castro fell ill and wasn t able to continue governing the island. he gave the reigns to his brother raul, who became the president in 2008. since then they have been trying to educate, indoctrine ate some of the younger members of the party that are of the same political persuasion to take some of the positions that they will no longer be able to have. so it is not going to be an overnight change in cuba.
room. off of his sick bed, wearing that bright blue track suit looking incorrectly frail. but going to the party to one last voice on his politics. and he denounced any idea of reform. and he was very critical of president obama in an article after president obama left. but it is assumed that without his say-so and without his blessing, so to speak, his brother raul would not have made that. still, a real conflicted relationship between castro s cuba and the united states. christiane amanpour, thank you very much. i know we ll be talking more with you throughout the morning. thank you. ahead, we re live from miami, where cuban-americans are inspired by what fidel s death would mean for the history of cuba. i ve been waiting for 56
writing in january, 2015, that although he doesn t trust u.s. policies and have not exchanged a word with them, this does not mean, however, that i would oppose a peaceful solution to conflicts or threats of war. in september last year, fidel met with pope francis. they talked about common problems of humanity, but the pope had once condemned what he called cuba s authoritarian and corrupt regime. in march this year, american president barack obama visited cuba, seven months after the two countries reestablished diplomatic relations. he met with raul castro but not fidel. at his 90th birthday party in august of this year, a frail fidel castro appeared at a theater named for carl marx and was shown in occasional photos with foreign leaders. fidel castro came to power as a revolutionary inspired by marx, but as he died, castro was watching his revolution change in a way that was beyond his
selective reasoning, but castro never lost faith in the revolution. his intelligence and shrewdness continued to command fear and respect. he would eventually outlive many of his critics and outlast 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 raul. in his last years, castro appeared only occasionally, mostly in photos, looking frail. at times he tried to play the role of elder statesman. but more and more he simply seemed inconsequential. interpreter: the cuban government has been very agile. it slowly removed him from the scene. it would have been one thing if he abruptly died back in 1986. instead his importance has slowly faded. reporter: castro insisted death is not something he