Beijing – Fidel Castro hasn't retired yet and his brother Raul and other Cuban leaders must still listen to his opinions, according to a Chinese analyst of the online publication China Business News.
"We can't say that he has retired just because he left the post of secretary of Cuba's Communist Party to his brother, who told the recently concluded congress that Fidel is the leader even without an official position in the government," Prof. Xu Shicheng of China's Institute of Latin American Studies said.
The expert said that Fidel Castro continues to write articles every day for Granma, the official mouthpiece of the Cuban Communist Party.
"While that doesn't mean that Raul Castro doesn't exercise power or that he has to ask Fidel's permission to do anything, Fidel generally comments on international affairs and leaves internal matters to Raul," Xu said.
On Tuesday the Chinese government expressed its support for the plan of economic reforms approved by the 6th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, saying that they "will be very important for the development" of the island, which will successfully "construct a socialism with (Cuban) characteristics."
Cuba's economic reforms, like the ones China launched more than 30 years under the direction of Deng Xiaoping, seek "to guarantee the continuity and irreversibility of socialism," according to the resolution of the 6th Congress.
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