Castro stands down, brother take over

HAVANA, Aug 1: Cuban President Fidel Castro, the world's third longest serving head of state, stepped down temporarily 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 that 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 yesterday 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.

''This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation,'' he said in the ''proclamation'' read out by his personal aide Carlos Valenciaga.

''The operation obliges me to remain for several weeks resting, away from my responsibilities and duties,'' it said.

Castro gave the reins of the ruling Communist Party, the post of commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state to Raul Castro, 75, his younger brother and constitutional successor.

It was the first time that Castro has handed over all power to his brother, his right-hand man as Cuba's defense minister in control of a 50,000-strong army and the police force.

The younger Castro, who lacks his brothers charisma and oratorical flair, indicated in June he would govern Cuba through the Communist Party, which is being strengthened in preparation for a succession.

Castro is the world's third longest-serving head of state after Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and he has defied Washington and a US economic embargo for more than four decades.

FIREWORKS IN MIAMI Fireworks and dancing erupted in Miami, a hotbed of opposition to Castro, where the news of his delegation of power was greeted as a signal of his imminent demise. ''The Cuban people might accept, for a short time, the imposition of Raul Castro as the government leader,'' Ernesto Diaz Rodriguez, leader of Alpha 66, a Miami-based Cuban American paramilitary group long involved in efforts to overthrow the Cuban leader, told Reuters.

The streets of Havana, a city of 2 million, were calm and there were no signs of stepped up police patrols. Youths sipped rum and listened to guitar music on the Malecon sea-wall.

''It will all work out OK,'' said a parking attendant.

But residents of central Havana, an overcrowded district of dilapidated buildings, were worried and wanted to know more about Castro's condition, as they faced the hot summer night playing dominoes in the street.

''I ask God to save him. We love Fidel. He is the only salvation we have,'' said housewife Xiomara Llanes.

Castro's health has been an issue since he fainted during a speech in 2001. His pace has slowed notably since he stumbled after a speech in October 2004, fracturing a knee and an arm.

Castro said he was delegating power to his brother because Cuba was ''under threat from the US government.'' President George W. Bush, seeking to undermine a succession to Raul Castro and foster a transition to multi-party democracy and a free-market economy, has tightened enforcement of sanctions on Cuba and increased funding of Cuba's small and repressed dissident movement.

Administration officials declined to speculate on Castro's health. ''We are monitoring the situation. We continue to work for the day when Cuba is free,'' White House spokesman Peter Watkins said.

One US official described Castro's carefully scripted announcement as exceptional and suggested Cuban officials were trying to control expectations about the government's future.

Castro asked the country to postpone celebrations of his 80th birthday until December 2, the 50th anniversary of his landing in eastern Cuba with a small boatload of men to launch a guerrilla movement.

''I don't have the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will fight until the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that may be necessary, to safeguard this historic process,'' Castro's statement said.

''Imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba,'' it said.

REUTERS