Cuba’s Castro delegates power to brother
Cuba’s Castro delegates power to brother
By Marc Frank in Havana
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 1 2006 03:51 | Last updated: August 1 2006 08:18
Fidel Castro, the Cuban president, on Monday ceded power provisionally to his younger brother and the country’s minister of defence, Raul, after undergoing surgery for intestinal bleeding.
In a statement read by Mr Castro’s top aide Carlos Valenciega over television and radio, the president said he would not be able to work for a number of weeks. Mr Castro also said that given the country was “threatened” by the US, he was provisionally appointing Raul to his three positions of commander of the armed forces, president of the Council of State and first secretary of the Communist Party.
Mr Castro, who swept to power in a 1959 revolution, is among the world’s longest-ruling heads of government. Only Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth have been heads of state for longer than that.
Mr Castro said in the statement he underwent surgery after suffering gastrointestinal bleeding due to a heavy work schedule: “The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest.”
“[Extreme stress] had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure.”
Mr Castro, who turns 80 on August 13, made an eight-hour trip to Argentina last month to attend the Mercosur presidential summit, where he delivered a fiery three-hour speech outdoors.
He then returned to Cuba and a few days later traveled to the eastern part of the country where he delivered two speeches on July 26, a national holiday, which apparently provoked the health crisis.
It was not clear when Mr Castro was operated on or where he was recovering and Raul Castro did not make a public appearance at the time of the announcement.
While Cuban-Americans celebrated the news in Miami, the island was completely calm, judging by phone interviews with people living in various cities. There was no evidence of unrest or increased security in Havana.
“People are shocked, worried, but most of all waiting for more information,” Eduardo Machin, a Havana retiree, said.
The statement said plans to celebrate Mr Castro’s birthday would be postponed until December 2, the 50th anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
A non-aligned movement summit scheduled for mid-September in Havana was not postponed.
“We are monitoring the situation. We don’t want to speculate on his health,” a White House spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
By Marc Frank in Havana
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 1 2006 03:51 | Last updated: August 1 2006 08:18
Fidel Castro, the Cuban president, on Monday ceded power provisionally to his younger brother and the country’s minister of defence, Raul, after undergoing surgery for intestinal bleeding.
In a statement read by Mr Castro’s top aide Carlos Valenciega over television and radio, the president said he would not be able to work for a number of weeks. Mr Castro also said that given the country was “threatened” by the US, he was provisionally appointing Raul to his three positions of commander of the armed forces, president of the Council of State and first secretary of the Communist Party.
Mr Castro, who swept to power in a 1959 revolution, is among the world’s longest-ruling heads of government. Only Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth have been heads of state for longer than that.
Mr Castro said in the statement he underwent surgery after suffering gastrointestinal bleeding due to a heavy work schedule: “The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest.”
“[Extreme stress] had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure.”
Mr Castro, who turns 80 on August 13, made an eight-hour trip to Argentina last month to attend the Mercosur presidential summit, where he delivered a fiery three-hour speech outdoors.
He then returned to Cuba and a few days later traveled to the eastern part of the country where he delivered two speeches on July 26, a national holiday, which apparently provoked the health crisis.
It was not clear when Mr Castro was operated on or where he was recovering and Raul Castro did not make a public appearance at the time of the announcement.
While Cuban-Americans celebrated the news in Miami, the island was completely calm, judging by phone interviews with people living in various cities. There was no evidence of unrest or increased security in Havana.
“People are shocked, worried, but most of all waiting for more information,” Eduardo Machin, a Havana retiree, said.
The statement said plans to celebrate Mr Castro’s birthday would be postponed until December 2, the 50th anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
A non-aligned movement summit scheduled for mid-September in Havana was not postponed.
“We are monitoring the situation. We don’t want to speculate on his health,” a White House spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
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