CUBA: Havana quiet as Castro undergoes surgery and hands over power provisionally to his brother; in Miami, thousands celebrate the news

Cuban President Fidel Castro, one of the world's most enduring leaders, handed over power provisionally to his brother and underwent surgery, he said in a statement read out on state television on Monday (July 31). Castro, who has led Cuba since his unkempt guerrillas swept down from the Sierra Maestra hills to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, said he overexerted himself this month on a trip to a summit of South American leaders and celebrations of his 1953 assault on a military garrison. He delegated his posts as first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state to Raul Castro, 75, his younger brother and designated successor. "This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding," said the statement signed by Castro and read out by aide Carlos Valenciaga. The streets of Havana, a city of 2 million, were quiet and there were no signs of stepped up police patrols. Youths sipped rum and listened to guitar music on the Malecon sea-wall. "Here we will always the same, with Fidel as president or no, we will always defend (the Revolution)," said Havana resident Gissel. Somber-looking television newscasters, some wearing black, had announced that Castro would have an important announcement to make to the country after the news. In the statement read on his behalf Castro said the operation has forced him to rest for several weeks. Castro's health has been an issue since he fainted during a speech in 2001, raising uncertainty over the future of Cuba, the Western Hemisphere's sole communist country. His pace has slowed since he stumbled after a speech in October 2004, fracturing a knee and an arm. Castro said he was delegating power to his brother because Cuba was "under threat from the U.S. government." But in the streets of Miami, Florida, thousands of Cuban Americans lined the streets of Miam's 'Little Havana', celebrating the news. Shouts of "Cuba Libre" and honking horns filled the air and residents waved flags and gave the victory sign. The administration of President George W. Bush, seeking to undermine a succession to Raul Castro and foster a transition to multi-party democracy and a free-market economy, has tightened enforcement of sanctions on Cuba and increased funding of Cuba's small and repressed dissident movement. Raul Castro said in June that the Communist Party will govern Cuba and maintain the island's socialist society when Fidel Castro is no longer around. Castro asked the country to postpone celebrations of his 80th birthday, on Aug. 13, until Dec. 2 of this year. The December date marks the 50th anniversary of when he landed a small boatload of rebels in Cuba in 1956 to launch a rebellion that eventually won power in 1959.

ITN Source | August 1, 2006

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