HAVANA - Fidel Castro, ailing and 81, announced Tuesday he was resigning as Cuba"s president, ending a half-century of autocratic rule which made him a communist icon and a relentless opponent of U.S. policy around the globe.
The end of Castro"s rule " the longest in the world for a head of government " frees his 76-year-old brother Raul Castro to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel fell ill in July 2006