Castro undergoes surgery, delegates power to brother

HAVANA, Aug 1 (Reuters) Cuban President Fidel Castro underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding and delegated power provisionally to his brother Raul, the Cuban leader said in a statement read out on state television by an aide.

Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13 and has led Cuba since a 1959 revolution, delegated his posts as first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state to Raul Castro, his younger brother and designated successor.

Castro said yesterday he had overexerted himself on a trip to a summit of South American presidents and celebrations last week of his 1953 assault on a military garrison.

''This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding,'' said the statement signed by Castro and read out by aide Carlos Valenciaga.

Castro said the operation has forced him to rest for several weeks and delegate his government functions to Raul, who is 75.

Somber-looking television newscasters, some wearing black, announced that Castro would have an important announcement to make to the country after the news.

Castro's health has been an issue since he fainted during a speech in 2001, raising uncertainty over the future of Cuba.

His pace has slowed 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.'' The US State Department had no immediate comment on the news of Castro's surgery.

The Bush administration, 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.

Raul Castro said in June that the Communist Party will govern Cuba and maintain the island's socialist society when Fidel Castro is no longer around.

''I have no doubt that our people will fight to the last drop of blood to defend ... this historic process,'' Fidel Castro said in his televised statement.

REUTERS MQA BD0911