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Cuba Starts Election Cycle, Likely Last of Castro Presidency

by Associated Press

   HAVANA --

   Cuba is starting an electoral process that is expected to end with
   President Raul Castro stepping down in February.

   The Council of State says in Wednesday's state media that voting for
   municipal assemblies will take place on Oct. 22. It doesn't set the
   date of voting for the country's parliament, which selects the Council
   of State and the president. Elections are held every five years.
   Castro has said he'll step down as president in February, although he
   is expected to remain head of the ruling Communist Party.
   Above the municipal level, Cuban elections are choices between
   candidates preselected by the Cuban Communist Party and related
   organizations. That guarantees that the country's nominally
   representative bodies in practice answer to the president and a small
   group of high-ranking officials.