CUBA: Cubans react to news that Fidel Castro has passed provisional power to his brother

Cubans reacted with a mixture of emotions on Tuesday (August 01) to the news that Cuban President Fidel Castro stepped down temporarily after intestinal surgery and handed over power for the first time to his brother. "It hurts me very much. For me he is the best President there is in the entire world," said Cuban Amed Medrano. Others expressed confidence in Castro and in his brother Raul, now the provisional leader of the communist country. "It seems to me that when he [Fidel Castro] put him [Raul Castro] in the position is because he trusts him. He can give the same face that Fidel has given until now," said Barbara Rosales. It was the first time Castro, who will be 80 on Aug. 13, handed over the reins of power since he took office in 1959. Still other Cubans showed some signs of concern. "I am a little nervous because he has reached a certain age. You know that at a certain age, health deteriorates a lot. But well, we have confidence in the doctors of our country so that Fidel can be reestablished [in power] soon," said Celia Elvira. In Cuba, where Castro's guerrillas swept down from the Sierra Maestra hills to overthrow a dictator, word he had been operated on for intestinal bleeding brought uncertainty over the political future of the island nation of 11 million. Castro said in a statement read out on television that he overexerted himself this month on a trip to a summit of South American leaders in Argentina and celebrations of his 1953 assault on a military garrison. "This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation," he said in the "proclamation" read out on Monday night by his personal aide, Carlos Valenciaga. "The operation obliges me to remain for several weeks resting, away from my responsibilities and duties," it said. Castro gave the reins of the ruling Communist Party, the post of commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state to Raul Castro, 75, his brother and constitutional successor. Raul, only five years younger than his brother, lacks his charismatic oratory but firmly commands Cuba's 50,000-member armed forces, which in turn control the police. He is more of a pragmatist and open to economic reforms following China's model, analysts say. Castro is the world's third-longest serving head of state after Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and he has defied Washington and a U.S. economic embargo for more than four decades. Castro's health has been an issue since he fainted during a speech in 2001. His pace has slowed notably since he stumbled after a speech in October 2004, fracturing a knee and an arm. Castro's close anti-American ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said his concern was lessened after talking directly with Castro's office. "Doctors prescribed that an absolute rest for several weeks must be taken," said Chavez, who was on a visit to Vietnam. Castro said he was delegating power to his brother because Cuba was "under threat from the U.S. government." 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. Administration officials declined to speculate on Castro's health. "We are monitoring the situation. We continue to work for the day when Cuba is free," White House spokesman Peter Watkins said. One U.S. official described Castro's carefully scripted announcement as exceptional and suggested Cuban officials were trying to control expectations about the government's future. Castro asked the country to postpone celebrations of his 80th birthday until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of his landing in eastern Cuba with a small boatload of men to launch a guerrilla movement.

ITN Source | August 1, 2006

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