Raul Castro resigns as head of Cuba's Communist Party

Raul Castro said Friday he is resigning as head of Cuba's Communist Party, ending an era of leadership that began with his brother Fidel and the country's 1959 revolution. The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement in a speech at the opening of the eighth Congress of the ruling party, the only one allowed on the island.

He said he was retiring with the sense of having "fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland." "Nothing, nothing, nothing is forcing me to make this decision," Castro said in his speech to the closed Congress, part of which was aired on state television. "As long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrup to defend the homeland, the revolution and socialism with more force than ever."