Reply #191: ABC News: Castro steps down temporarily

[Judi Lynn]

astro steps down temporarily

Aug 1, 2006 — By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro, the world's third longest serving head of state, stepped down temporarily on Monday after intestinal surgery, handing over power for the first time to his brother Raul Castro, state television announced.

The news sparked street dancing in the Cuban exile district of Miami where Castro's foes, backed by the United States, yearn for the demise of the West's only Communist government and celebrated the clearest sign yet of his failing health.

In Cuba, where Castro has ruled since his guerrillas swept down from the Sierra Maestra hills to overthrow a dictator in 1959, word he had been operated on for intestinal bleeding brought uncertainty over the political future of the island nation of 11 million.

Castro, who will be 80 on August 13, 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.
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2259593

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By ANITA SNOW

HAVANA Aug 1, 2006 (AP)— 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.

Castro, less than two weeks away from his 80th birthday, did not appear on the live television broadcast in which his secretary read a letter from the Cuban leader. It was the first time in 47 years of absolute rule that Castro has given up power.

In the note read by secretary Carlos Valenciaga, Castro said he underwent surgery after suffering gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and eastern Cuba. It was not immediately clear when the surgery took place.

"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," the letter read. Extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."
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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2259632