The story

President Raul Castro announced Monday that Cuba will convene its first Communist Party congress since 1997 -- a gathering that could chart the island's political future long after he and his older brother Fidel are gone.

Castro also said the government within weeks will commute death sentences for several inmates. The prisoners are likely to include two Central Americans sentenced for planting bombs, one of which killed an Italian tourist, in Havana tourist locales a decade ago. Capital punishment will remain on the books in Cuba.

The congress -- planned for next year -- follows a series of minor social changes the younger Castro has decreed during his first two months in power to make life easier and less restrictive for ordinary Cubans. Read full article »

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.