Cuban President Fidel Castro, left, and his younger brother, Minister of Defense Raul Castro

Castro relinquishes power

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 underwent surgery after suffering 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 had been affected in the recent past with occasional health problems. The calm delivery of the announcement appeared to signal that there would be an orderly succession to Raul should Fidel become permanently incapacitated.

The announcement drew cheering crowds 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. Many of them fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did.

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.

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.

Streets in Havana, including the coastal Malecon highway where young people often congregate, were typically quiet late Monday. 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. "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."

A leading Cuban government opponent in Havana said she believed Castro must be gravely ill to have stepped aside temporarily.

"It's almost the same as death," Martha Beatriz Roque said in a telephone interview. "No one knows if he'll even be alive Dec. 2 when he's supposed to celebrate his birthday."

In Washington, 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."

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.

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. 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.

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.

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."

- AP

Ovious typo there. Fidel Castro is at best third longest head of state in the world, and Queen Elizabeth is probably the second. Enough said about that.

An American friend of mine, Jeffrey (Ph.D. professor, liberal) met Castro twice, in Cuba. Jeffery married one of Castro's employees, and said Fidel was a nice guy (real tall, too). But Jeffrey then went to Nicaragua and shacked up with a Sandinista ballerina. Not exactly conservatives.

Raul is a full four years younger. Now that I'm almost 64, 75 seems not as old as it used to appear.

Fidel is a devout Cuban Communist, and I doubt Cuba will revolt when he dies. When Fidel rose to power in the 1950's, next door to Florida, he was rejecting the right-wing dictator supported by Eisenhower and the Mafia. In those days, world politics only allowed one alternative. Similar to Ho Chi Minh, another bad guy.

That's just my opinion in Bedlam.

In his youth, his curveball was much more difficult to hit than Queen Elizabeth's.

Ovious typo there. Fidel Castro is at best third longest head of state in the world, and Queen Elizabeth is probably the second. Enough said about that.

Well if our friends at Wikipedia are to be believed I think poor old Fidel would fall even further down the list as he became the real Head of State only in 1976.

From Wikipedia

Note: Fidel Castro of Cuba is often considered to be one of the longest-serving as well, as his government has been in power since 1959. However, technically Castro has only been full head of state since 1976, when he was appointed President of the Republic. Previously he had only been Prime Minister, under a figurehead president.

Of course the article may be comparing apples and oranges as it call ol’ Fidel the worlds’ longest ruling head of government, and then Queen Lizzy the head of state.

Head of government does not equal head of state.

Castro was a blessing when he came to power. He ousted Batista who whose mains support came from the mafia and the american gov't....Batista only benefited the rich and did nothing for the poor except to kill them or let them die in abject poverty.....Castro was a blessing. During the days when his status as a Communist head of state gave him such a bar reputation in the US he was busy providing universal health care to everyone for free and free education all the way through universisty to everyone.....it was a truly revolutionary transformation for Cuba to go from Batista to the Communist regime of Fidel Castro....it was a blessing for everyone except the Mafia connected american businesses etc.

However, Castro has fallen behind the curve in later years and the loss of the Soviet block countries as allies was a serious blow to the Cuban economy from which it has never recovered.

I visited Cuba about 10 years ago (oops, maybe it was 15 years ago...how time flies) and it was a truly amazing experience....the roads are filled with old american autos that have been kept running inspite of a lack of regular supply of spare parts. There are private cars run by private people who act as buses...you flag them down and tell them where you're going and then negotiate a price....also there are huge transport trucks that have been converted into buses called "camels".....there are also modern, expensive, taxi's like you see everywhere. People line up to get bread when the bakery has some to sell which is regularly..but the supply is limited. Gov't run cafes and restaurants are very expensive and the food is terribly atrocious...but there are semi legal private restaurants in some people's homes where the food and service is excellent and reasonably priced. Food stores are alway out of many things....but everyone seems to eat well. There are three kinds of currency used (one is the us dollar) and they are all supposed to be used in certain situations but mostly people will always take the US dollar (isn't it the same everywhere). I could go on and on.......it was a very very strange place 10 (or 15)years ago.

Makes you wonder. The US is still enforcing an embargo against Cuba. How long ago was the Bay of Pigs fiasco (where the US tried to organize a coup against Castro and blew it) ?

Since that event and the "Cuban Missile crisis" some 40 years ago:

the US has fought (and lost) in Vietnam, (but has "normalized" relations with that country),

the Cold War has ended, the "Wall" came down and half the former Soviet Union are now NATO members,

the US has normalized relations with China (and given them "favoured trading partner status or something),

The US still passes laws designed to enforce their embargo of Cuba, and has even gone to the point of arresting foreign citizens working for companies that do business in/with Cuba !

Just what is it that keeps the US so pissed at Cuba ?

Was it getting their butts kicked during the Bay of Pigs ? (has happened many times since then)

Was it the threat of Russian Missiles being based in Cuba ? (kinda stupid in the age of subs)

Did Castro have a hand in the Kennedy assassinations ? (Then why didn't the US use that as an excuse to invade ? They invaded other countries with less provocation).

Or is it just the fear of the US politicians, that any attempt to normalize relations will result in lost votes in Florida ? (yes, they can be that shallow when it comes to getting/keeping power).

Imagine how much better off Cuba and it's people could have been, without the US embargo over the last 40 years ?

I'm so glad I got to go to Fidel's Cuba. Didn't see him, but saw his car brigade as it drove by.

Has this thread finally died of boredom?

Has this thread finally died of boredom?

Not yet.

Watching the news. People in Florida are still celebrating. People who've never set foot in Cuba are chanting about how bad Castro was (as though he was dead).

Funny thing mentioned on the news though. They are hearing from various sources that Castro's surgery went well and he is recovering, but no one has seen or heard from Raul during this time.

If Castro croaks, watch for a coup d'etat by the military. Martial law and an ouster of the old guard, followed by promises of free elections.

While some refugees attempt to flee, thousand and thousands of "Cuban-Americans" will be preparing an invasion of their own.

They will be seeking to rush into the country and take over everything they can, using the money they made in the USA. In some cases they will try to take back properties the government took from them.

In other cases, they will be trying to simply take over legitimate businesses, by hook, crook, or lawsuit.

Watch the exodus of "Cuban-Americans" from Little Havana and Florida in general. Some may have arrived in rickety rafts with the clothes on their back, but they'll be returning in luxury boats and 3 piece suits. They'll abandon America like yesterday's dirty underwear, until things don't work out.

Then they'll be crying for the US government to come save them.

Then again, maybe I'm just a pessimist, and cynical to boot !

Has this thread finally died of boredom?

Sadly, it appears it can't compete with the hundreds posting on the exhilarating and busy "Rock" series of threads...

Has this thread finally died of boredom?

Not yet.

Watching the news. People in Florida are still celebrating. People who've never set foot in Cuba are chanting about how bad Castro was (as though he was dead).

Funny thing mentioned on the news though. They are hearing from various sources that Castro's surgery went well and he is recovering, but no one has seen or heard from Raul during this time.

If Castro croaks, watch for a coup d'etat by the military. Martial law and an ouster of the old guard, followed by promises of free elections.

While some refugees attempt to flee, thousand and thousands of "Cuban-Americans" will be preparing an invasion of their own.

They will be seeking to rush into the country and take over everything they can, using the money they made in the USA. In some cases they will try to take back properties the government took from them.

In other cases, they will be trying to simply take over legitimate businesses, by hook, crook, or lawsuit.

Watch the exodus of "Cuban-Americans" from Little Havana and Florida in general. Some may have arrived in rickety rafts with the clothes on their back, but they'll be returning in luxury boats and 3 piece suits. They'll abandon America like yesterday's dirty underwear, until things don't work out.

Then they'll be crying for the US government to come save them.

Then again, maybe I'm just a pessimist, and cynical to boot !

See what I mean!

Has this thread finally died of boredom?

Sadly, it appears it can't compete with the hundreds posting on the exhilarating and busy "Rock" series of threads...

Yeah, the Rock threads really rock!!!

Not yet.

Watching the news. People in Florida are still celebrating. People who've never set foot in Cuba are chanting about how bad Castro was (as though he was dead).

Funny thing mentioned on the news though. They are hearing from various sources that Castro's surgery went well and he is recovering, but no one has seen or heard from Raul during this time.

If Castro croaks, watch for a coup d'etat by the military. Martial law and an ouster of the old guard, followed by promises of free elections.

While some refugees attempt to flee, thousand and thousands of "Cuban-Americans" will be preparing an invasion of their own.

They will be seeking to rush into the country and take over everything they can, using the money they made in the USA. In some cases they will try to take back properties the government took from them.

In other cases, they will be trying to simply take over legitimate businesses, by hook, crook, or lawsuit.

Watch the exodus of "Cuban-Americans" from Little Havana and Florida in general. Some may have arrived in rickety rafts with the clothes on their back, but they'll be returning in luxury boats and 3 piece suits. They'll abandon America like yesterday's dirty underwear, until things don't work out.Then they'll be crying for the US government to come save them.

Then again, maybe I'm just a pessimist, and cynical to boot !

You mean like all the Lebanese that suddenly remembered their other citizenship lately?

Hey that Castro bloke sure sounds like a swell guy, just ask Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox.

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional...rticleid=151056

Hey that Castro bloke sure sounds like a swell guy, just ask Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox.

There are a lot of nasty people in the world, and many of them are leaders. Some are, or were, quite respected (like Arafat, despite his long history as a terrorist).

Look at the leaders of China. America has no problems dealing with them (for the most part), yet they sponsor terrorism, have weapons of mass destruction, and have no concerns at all when it comes to cracking down on their own citizens.

Arguably a far worse regime that Castro's has been.

Look how friendly the US is with Saudi Arabia ! By some accounts, far more repressive and cruel than Cuba. Oh but wait. The Saudis have oil. Castro only has cigars.

Still not hearing any word on Fidel's condition, or the where-abouts of Raul. I'll bet the rumour mills in the intelligence agencies are spinning at full speed !

Still not hearing any word on Fidel's condition, or the where-abouts of Raul. I'll bet the rumour mills in the intelligence agencies are spinning at full speed !

Impossible!

They’re all too busy commanding and orchestrating the turmoil in Thailand’s Deep South.

At least according to this, they are:

thaivisa's CIA conspiracy theorist's input

Impossible!

They’re all too busy commanding and orchestrating the turmoil in Thailand’s Deep South.

At least according to this, they are:

thaivisa's CIA conspiracy theorist's input

Ah ha ! So that's who is behind all the violent outbreaks between the Muslims and, well, just about everyone else (Christians in the Phillippines; Chinese in far western areas of China; Hindus in the Kasmir; Hindus (again), Christians (yet again) and foreigners in Indonesia; Jews in the Middle East; Buddhists in Thailand; Christians (again, and again) in Somalia and the Sudan). Not to mention the infighting amongst the Shi-ites, Sunnis, Wahhabists and other Islamic sects.

The way things are going, the only safe place in the world appears to be Guatemala. Guess we should relocate to kayo's bar ! (At least until that other whack job decides to further his ambitions, but I don't think he'll be able to do much for quite awhile yet.)

Comments were made earlier about Cuba 10-15 yrs ago. I was there last year and it is still the same. The people seem to look forward to Castro's departure, although it is not wise to articulate that there.