Castro surgery opens way for a new Cuba

Castro surgery opens way for a new Cuba

FIDEL Castro, one of the world's most enduring leaders, has temporarily
handed over power to his younger brother Raul on the eve of him entering
hospital for "a complicated surgical procedure".

There was speculation in Washington that the Cuban leader is so ill that
he will not return to power and that Raul, 75, will eventually declare
himself president.

Dr Castro, who turns 80 on August 13, has been in power since the Cuban
revolution in 1959 overthrew the US-backed Batista government. He is the
world's third longest-serving head of state after Queen Elizabeth and
Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Dr Castro said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, which he
blamed on stress caused by recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba.

"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," he said
in a letter read on Cuban television by his private secretary.

Dr Castro is reported to suffer from Parkinson's disease, which he has
never confirmed, and has looked frail in recent years during his rare
forays abroad.

The Government released no immediate report on the results of the
operation and said only that Dr Castro was expected to spend several
weeks recovering.

He asked that 80th birthday celebrations be postponed until December 2,
the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Raul Castro, 75, has long been Dr Castro's anointed successor. He is the
Defence Minister and has taken a hard line on dissidents and human
rights activists. He has been at his brother's side since the revolution
and is considered much more of a natural politician than his brother,
who was always thought to be aloof and distant.

The US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba almost immediately after
Dr Castro came to power. The US trade embargo has meant virtually no
contact between the two countries for 45 years. There have been numerous
attempts on his life, said to have been organised by the CIA and mafia.

He humiliated the US during the Kennedy administration when his forces
captured 1100 US-funded Cuban exiles who landed at Cuba's Bay of Pigs in
a bid to overthrow his government.

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled Cuba, mainly by boat, for the
US, and most have settled in Florida. In Miami the Cuban district is
known as Little Havana.

There, Cuban exiles reportedly took to the streets after Dr Castro's
announcement, waving Cuban flags and shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba". People
danced and hugged each other in hopeful anticipation of the end of Dr
Castro's authoritarian and often brutal rule.

Republican congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who represents Little
Havana, said his constituents hoped that democracy could be introduced
in Cuba at the end of Dr Castro's rule.

There was no immediate comment from the Bush Administration on Dr
Castro's announcement, but the State Department has for some time been
planning the US response to his eventual demise.

Some senior State Department officials believe that the US should offer
any post-Castro government, including one led by Raul, diplomatic and
economic ties in return for moves towards more democracy in Cuba.

Raul Castro is known to be more liberal on economic matters than his
brother.

Whatever the leadership outcome, it is unlikely that Cuba will remain
locked away as one of the few surviving communist societies.

With AGENCIES

Key dates

¦JANUARY 1, 1959 Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba and Fidel
Castro's rebels take power.

¦FEBRUARY 1960 Soviet deputy prime minister Anastas Mikoyan visits Cuba
and signs sugar and oil deals, first of many pacts in next 30 years.

¦JUNE 1960 Cuba nationalises US-owned oil refineries after they refuse
to process Soviet oil. Nearly all other US businesses taken over by October.

¦OCTOBER 1960 Washington bans exports to Cuba, other than food and medicine.

¦APRIL 17, 1961 Almost 1300 Cuban exiles, supported by CIA, invade at
Bay of Pigs; attack collapses in two days.

¦OCTOBER 1962 President John Kennedy blockades Cuba to force removal of
Soviet nuclear-armed missiles; Soviets agree within days and Kennedy
agrees privately not to invade Cuba.

¦APRIL 1980 Refugee crisis starts at Mariel port as Cuba says it will
let anyone leave; about 125,000 flee by end of September.

¦DECEMBER 1991 Collapse of Soviet Union ends extensive aid to, and trade
with, Cuba.

¦AUGUST 1994 Another 40,000 Cubans take to sea, heading for US, after
Castro says he will not stop them.

¦OCTOBER 1997 Communist Party of Cuba holds fifth party congress; Castro
reaffirms younger brother Raul as successor.

¦JANUARY 21-25, 1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba.

¦DECEMBER 16, 2001 Separate shipments of corn and frozen chicken arrive
in Havana, first direct American food sales to Cuba in nearly 40 years.

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