The big news today is that Fidel Castro is going to resign from his post at the top of the Cuban Government by not pursuing another term. Unfortunately, this is only a small step towards Cuban Democracy because he's likely going to be replaced by his brother Raul. Still, this is a step, and the Cuban community in the United States is rather celebratory today. Yahoo has the news:

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.

President Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition, though he doubts that would come about under the rule of another Castro. The State Department denigrated the change as a "transfer of authority and power from dictator to dictator light."

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. The State Department is absolutely right on this issue, and it's going to take some serious pressure for any real change to be made. The blockade on Cuban goods remains, as it should, and now we wait for Raul to make changes, or better, for him and his brother to die.