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Castro gives up power, for now

The Cuban ruler has surgery, and puts his brother in charge. His illness sparks celebrations - and speculation that his death is imminent.

By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published August 1, 2006

Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night and told Cubans that he had undergone surgery, prompting Tampa's Cuban-Americans to ponder the Communist leader's future while residents of Miami's Little Havana crammed the streets in celebration.

Castro suffered intestinal bleeding, likely due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, according to the statement read on television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga.

Castro said stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."

The 79-year-old president said he was temporarily relinquishing his authority to his brother Raul, the defense minister. He said the move was of "a provisional character."

Castro's statement did not say when his surgery took place, but it most likely occurred between late Wednesday evening, when he was last seen in public, and Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 were postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Castro said he also would temporarily relinquish his duties as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Raul, who turned 75 in June and has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

In Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, thousands of Cuban exiles honked their horns, danced in the street and called out "Cuba libre!" Radio Marti reported that Castro's condition was very bad.

Andres Lopez, 69, came to Florida in the 1980 Mariel boatlift. If Castro dies, Lopez vowed to return to Cuba and help democracy take root.

"This is the first step to democracy and freedom in Cuba," Lopez said in Spanish. "I can't be happy until his brother dies, though."

Serio Boza, 45, was waving a Cuban flag near the Versailles restaurant in Little Havana. He called Castro another Hitler.

And if Castro dies?

"I'm going to get drunk," he said.

Shortly after 11 p.m., a couple of men in Little Havana - not far from the home where Elian Gonzalez was seized - climbed palm trees and hung a giant Cuban flag.

Women danced in the back of pickups, others hung off sun roofs. Some banged spoons on pots and pans and danced. Many men had the smell of coffee and cigar on their breath. Many were shirtless.

Julio Ramos was part of the jubilee. He said he talked to a friend from Havana on the telephone who said the military filled the streets.

In Westchester, in the Cuban community in Miami, Yessenia Cardenas heard cars honking on the street as she watched the television news in her home.

"Eighth street is going crazy," she said in an instant message to a St. Petersburg Times reporter. "Everyone is celebrating the beginning of the end. We should celebrate because Castro is gone but also pray for those that are still there and will now be under Raul's power. He's supposed to be several times worse than Fidel."

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said the celebration could go on for days. The city would try its best to make it safe and easy, he said.

"This is something very exciting for me personally," Diaz said. "I was hoping and praying this would happen during my eight years as mayor."

The news spread rapidly from Miami to Tampa, where the Cuban-American population is about 15,000. Some said they were skeptical of the news that Castro was so ill.

"He has so many things up his sleeve, you never know," said Jorge Diaz, past president and current member of the Cuban Club in Tampa. "I don't wish anyone to die for any reason, and that goes for Fidel. But I'm sure the devil is waiting for him."

Told of the news, Tampa Cuban artist Juan Carlos Santana reacted from the gut.

"Por dios," he said. "My God."

But like with Diaz, skepticism seeped in: "They've had that circus before on the news. They've killed him off so many times."

"He's spent 50 years doing whatever he wants," he said. "If that's true, it's going to spread like wild fire around the world."

Others believed just the opposite: That Castro was worse off than what was reported.

Ralph Fernandez, a Tampa lawyer who has represented former political prisoners, said he was cautiously optimistic Castro is dead.

"I don't buy any of this stuff," he said. "He's got to be in horrible shape to do this."

Both Fernandez and Diaz said they did not envision a dramatic change for Cuba if a transfer of power to Raul becomes permanent. However, Fernandez urged Cuban exiles to show restraint should Castro die.

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro is the world's longest ruling head of government. Only Britain's Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer.

Castro has defied America for nearly half a century, resisting U.S. attempts to topple him while wielding almost absolute control over the communist state.

Through 10 U.S. administrations beginning with that of Dwight Eisenhower, he has survived assassination attempts, an invasion by a CIA-trained exile army at the Bay of Pigs, and a standoff with Washington over Soviet missiles that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.

His iron clad 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.

Cuban-Americans David Sanchez, 45, and his son Brian, 18, were sitting in La Teresita Cafeteria on Columbus Drive when they heard the news.

"It's not going to make any difference until the leadership changes," David Sanchez said.

Brian Sanchez called his mother, who came to the United States with her parents as a young child. His mother passed the news along to his grandmother, 67-year-old Ana Estevez, whose response was this:

"She hopes that he dies a slow and painful death and the second his brother gets in power that he's struck by lightning," Brian Sanchez said.

[Last modified August 1, 2006, 01:59:25]