As you may remember, Raúl Castro had promised to leave power next February. It was a done deal, as everyone in the international media reported. A few days ago, Raúl Castro decided to extend his term.  Don't you love how dictators do that? The official explanation is Hurricane Irma, or the serious damage that it did to the island.  This is what they are now saying in news reports: The official announcement, published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma on Thursday, said the decision was made because of the impact of Hurricane Irma, which hit Cuba as a category 5 storm in September and caused more than $13 billion in damages. Storm recovery also delayed municipal elections – the first step in a process that was to culminate in the Feb. 24 election of a new National Assembly and the selection of a new president. Provincial elections where candidates are selected by slates determined by electoral commissions also...(Read Full Post)