Cuban Leader Delegates Powers Provisionally To Brother Raul

[MosJan]

HAVANA - Fidel Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, rebuffed repeated U.S. attempts to oust him and survived communism’s demise almost everywhere else, temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night because of surgery.

 

The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, according to a letter read live on television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga.

 

“The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest,” said the letter. Extreme stress “had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure.”

 

Castro said he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his younger brother and successor Raul, the defense minister, but said the move was of “a provisional character.” There was no immediate appearance or statement by Raul Castro.

 

It was the first time in his decades-long tenure that Castro has given up power, though he has been sidelined briefly in the recent past with occasional health problems.

 

The elder Castro asked that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces.

 

Castro said he would also temporarily delegate his duties as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Raul, who turned 75 in June and who has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

 

Longest-ruling head of government

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro has been the world’s longest-ruling head of government. Only Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer.

 

The “maximum leader’s” ironclad rule has ensured Cuba remains among the world’s five remaining communist countries. The others are all in Asia: China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea.

 

In Old Havana, waiters at a popular cafe were momentarily stunned as they watched the news. But they quickly got back to work and put on brave faces.

 

“He’ll get better, without a doubt,” said Agustin Lopez, 40. “There are really good doctors here, and he’s extremely strong.”

 

In the nearby Plaza Vieja, Cuban musicians continued to play for customers — primarily foreign tourists — sitting at outdoor cafes. Signs on the plaza’s colonial buildings put up during a recent Cuban holiday said, “Live on Fidel, for 80 more.”

 

“We’re really sad, and pretty shocked,” said Ines Cesar, a retired 58-year-old metal worker who had gathered with neighbors to discuss the news. “But everyone’s relaxed too: I think he’ll be fine.”

 

When asked about how she felt having Raul Castro at the helm of the nation, Cesar paused and said one word: “normal.”

 

Over nearly five decades, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled Castro’s rule, many of them settling just across the Florida Straits in Miami.

 

Cheering in Miami

The announcement drew cheering in the streets in Miami. People waved Cuban flags on Little Havana’s Calle Ocho, shouting “Cuba, Cuba, Cuba,” hoping that the end is near for the man most of them consider to be a ruthless dictator. There were hugs, cheers and dancing as drivers honked their horns. Many of them fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did.

 

White House spokesman Peter Watkins said: “We are monitoring the situation. We can’t speculate on Castro’s health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba’s freedom.” The State Department declined to comment Monday night.

 

Castro rose to power after an armed revolution he led drove out then-President Fulgencio Batista.

 

 

The United States was the first country to recognize Castro, but his radical economic reforms and rapid trials of Batista supporters quickly unsettled U.S. leaders.

 

Trade embargo

Washington eventually slapped a trade embargo on the island and severed diplomatic ties. Castro seized American property and businesses and turned to the Soviet Union for military and economic assistance.

 

On April 16, 1961, Castro declared his revolution to be socialist. The following day, he humiliated the United States by capturing more than 1,100 exile soldiers in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

 

The world neared nuclear conflict on Oct. 22, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced there were Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After a tense week of diplomacy, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev removed them.

 

Meanwhile, Cuban revolutionaries opened 10,000 new schools, erased illiteracy, and built a universal health care system. Castro backed revolutionary movements in Latin America and Africa.

 

But former liberties were whittled away as labor unions lost the right to strike, independent newspapers were shut down and religious institutions were harassed.

 

Castro continually resisted U.S. demands for multiparty elections and an open economy despite American laws tightening the embargo in 1992 and 1996.

 

He characterized a U.S. plan for American aid in a post-Castro era as a thinly disguised attempt at regime change and insisted his socialist system would survive long after his death.

 

Fidel Castro Ruz was born in eastern Cuba, where his Spanish immigrant father ran a prosperous plantation. His official birthday is Aug. 13, 1926, although some say he was born a year later.

 

Talk of Castro’s mortality was long taboo on the island, but that ended June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly returned to the stage, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would one day die.

 

‘Better than ever’

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but typically laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report that he had Parkinson’s disease.

 

“They have tried to kill me off so many times,” Castro said in a November 2005 speech about the Parkinson’s report, adding he felt “better than ever.”

 

But the Cuban president also said he would not insist on remaining in power if he ever became too sick to lead: “I’ll call the (Communist) Party and tell them I don’t feel I’m in condition ... that please, someone take over the command.”

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Boghos]

But the Cuban president also said he would not insist on remaining in power if he ever became too sick to lead: “I’ll call the (Communist) Party and tell them I don’t feel I’m in condition ... that please, someone take over the command.”

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

He can use my phone...

 

Castro is one of the various pernicious myths created by the "Left". A bloodthirsty dictator.

[MosJan]

"He characterized a U.S. plan for American aid in a post-Castro era as a thinly disguised attempt at regime change and insisted his socialist system would survive long after his death."

 

I say 5 years after his deathe his socialist regime will " change"

[Yervant1]

"He characterized a U.S. plan for American aid in a post-Castro era as a thinly disguised attempt at regime change and insisted his socialist system would survive long after his death."

 

I say 5 years after his deathe his socialist regime will " change"

Far less than that. Maybe 2 years max.

[Boghos]

I think even less than that. Nobody, thankfully, has the charisma that Castro has. Once he is out of the picture the various mafias will start fighting each other more aggressively.

[Yervant1]

I think even less than that. Nobody, thankfully, has the charisma that Castro has. Once he is out of the picture the various mafias will start fighting each other more aggressively.

I totally agree with you Boghos, there will be a big carnage after he's gone for power struggle, because he did not groom a successor. Also I think the country is waiting for his passing in order to get rid off the regime.

[Z'areh]

I totally agree with you Boghos, there will be a big carnage after he's gone for power struggle, because he did not groom a successor. Also I think the country is waiting for his passing in order to get rid off the regime.

 

 

Unfortunately it's going to be a case of "back to the future". Various mafia elements are going to jockey into positions, the descendents of the Batista thugs in Miami are going to jump on devouring Havana, and the only people in the Caribbean that have some normalcy of life, medical care and schooling en mass, will suffer the most by joining the fate of their Caribbean brothers in poverty stricken Haiti, Jamaica etc......

 

 

all the while Washington will hail the dawn of democracy in Cuba. I dread the passing of Castro, not because I’m a fan but because what will come after is going to be more tragic,

[Boghos]

Zareh,

 

I think you havebn´t been to Cuba, or at least not in a while. Health and education, the only things that they had to showcase have gone down the drain. No surprise here.

 

Second, I don´t know why everybodylikes to compare Cuba to Haiti, the poorest country in the continent. How about comparing it to Trinidad or Costa Rica?

[Z'areh]

Zareh,

 

I think you havebn´t been to Cuba, or at least not in a while. Health and education, the only things that they had to showcase have gone down the drain. No surprise here.

 

Second, I don´t know why everybodylikes to compare Cuba to Haiti, the poorest country in the continent. How about comparing it to Trinidad or Costa Rica?

 

 

Boghos, I have been to Cuba, was there three weeks ago, and I have been to remote areas and you are right the system has gone down the drain, and it would get worse with limited resources at hand. But kids are still going to school in bright clean uniforms, milk is rationed to be available for families with small children, vaccinations are universally available to newborns and small children and no one is starving. I realize that a society cannot take pride in mere “not starving”, but Cuba is more than that, universal education, health care and civic order makes Cuba an island (pardon the pun) of stability in the region.

Are the people of Trinidad or Costa Rica really much better off than Cubans? perhaps a small minority is rich and the rest of the populace simply “not starving”.

 

With Cuba, I cannot imagine a smooth transition, I think it's going to be very violent. Civil war is possible, if not imminent, Cuban exiles are already in position to make sure the system does not have time to "breathe", and finally criminal elements will exploit the situation to come out as profitable as possible. In other words, a country that experienced the longest period of peace in the region is going to descend to hell.

 

I hope, I am 100% wrong. Everyime I go to Cuba my affinity towards the gentle Cuban people grows by leaps.

Edited August 1, 2006 by Z'areh

[Boghos]

Zareh jan,

 

The people in Costa Rica are immeasurably better than the Cubans. Aside from having at least as good health and educational conditions, they have freedom of expression and movement. Make no mistake, Fidel and his gang are as criminal, or actually worse criminals, than the Batista people. How about the thousands of political prisoners in the worst possible conditions? How about the shortages of everything that have nothing to do with the blockade but everything to do with the failed system?

 

Many Cuban emigrés have become incredibly succesful businesspeople, academics and so on. Not because they explore the system but because Cuba also lost a large part of its upper middle class.

 

Look, how many intellectuals have become disillusioned with the revolution? Cubans may be gentle but so are many other peoples. I find Armenians as a whole very gentle, but do I support Vochkarian? But that is different from supporting a sanguinary regime.

Edited August 1, 2006 by Boghos

[Yervant1]

One way or another Cuban people will go through more hardship after the man dies.

[Arpa]

If even for a moment those post Castro Cubans, the so called upper middle class expatriates think that Havana will once again become the virtual whorehouse for the Yankees and a “havana/haven” to the mafia…!!!

[Verginne]

Ah, yes the wonders of going back to eat your own vomit. The casinos and mafiosos will return, with the widespread prostitution and if they are really lucky, they will lose their free health care and education. And while they are at it, they can enjoy the taste of ameriKKKan ka-ka again. Edited August 2, 2006 by Verginne

[hovan]

the mafia never left they just changed their colors and paid a different don, alias casro. why do you think he has so much personal wealth stashed in off shore banks. he is a multi millionair. and his people are still poor. politicians are the same in every country. shoot all the politians and lawyers and the world will be at peace.

[Yervant1]

shoot all the politians and lawyers and the world will be at peace.

Do not dare to touch our Gamavor or else.

[MosJan]

Cuban exiles ponder life after Castro

 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The calls to Radio Mambi came from as far away as Europe: Cuban exiles were euphoric over

Fidel Castro's illness and wanted to share their joy with the AM station known as the voice of Miami's Cuban community.

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Disregarding the official reports from Cuba, many of Radio Mambi's listeners were ready Tuesday to declare Castro dead, 47 years after he took power. Some pointed to Castro's unprecedented handover to his brother Raul as evidence that he is either already gone or nearly so, and they excitedly planned to go home.

 

"I don't care if they say how he died. I'm already celebrating and I have my suitcases ready for me to go," one unidentified caller told Radio Mambi, adding that she was skipping work to revel in the news.

 

The calls echoed the opinions heard on Miami's streets. Many of Miami-Dade County's 800,000 Cuban-Americans have awaited Castro's demise. Many Cuban-Americans view him as a ruthless dictator who forced them, their parents or grandparents from their home after he seized power in a revolution in 1959.

 

Castro issued a statement Tuesday night saying the operation was serious but that his condition was "stable" and that "as for my spirits, I feel perfectly fine." The statement, read on Cuba's state-run television, did not provide any details about his intestinal illness, which was first announced Monday.

 

Cuban-Americans in Miami said the statement sounded like government propaganda.

 

"They know we are celebrating over here. They are just saying that. They are covering up the truth because they can't take an uproar of people within the island," said Cari Gonzalez, 26, whose parents came from Cuba in 1980.

 

Mirta Sotolongo, 54, said the statement was essentially meaningless.

 

"He's not going to return to power. I consider that he's dead and if he's not dead today, he will be dead tomorrow and if not, his days are still numbered," she said.

 

About 75 people gathered at midday outside the Versailles Cuban restaurant, waving Cuban flags and honking horns. Cuban-Americans elsewhere, from Tampa's Ybor City to Union City, N.J., rejoiced.

 

Authorities reported no problems or arrests Tuesday related to the celebrations. Miami-Dade County's Emergency Operations Center activated a rumor control line that received more than 500 calls by midmorning, most inquiring about Castro's health or street congestion and closures.

 

U.S. and Florida officials have long had plans in place to avert any mass exodus from Cuba in case the Havana government suddenly opened its borders. There is also concern that Cuban exiles might attempt to migrate in the opposite direction across the Florida Straits to return to their homeland or pick up family members.

 

The Coast Guard and other

Homeland Security Department agencies were on standby but reported no significant increase in activity Tuesday in the Florida Straits.

 

At Radio Mambi, the nine telephone lines that host Lourdes D'Kendall monitored Tuesday rang nonstop. She could do nothing else but take call after call — each from an anti-Castrist eager to share their happiness over his reported illness, and their hopes for quick confirmation of his death.

 

D'Kendall tried to dispel unconfirmed information. Speaking in an even pace, she also tried to soothe the emotions of her audience.

 

"We have every right to celebrate. ... But we must be very careful not to commit any mistake," she said. "We are very impassioned, but we must set passion aside."

 

One caller said: "Never have I wished for the death of anyone. But I hope he suffers in a vegetative state."

 

D'Kendall, who left Cuba more than 40 years ago as a child, said she can understand their emotions.

 

"They believe he's dead because this is what they have been waiting for a long time," she said.