Castro’s health scare a cause for uncertainty

FIDEL CASTRO, who has wielded absolute power over Cuba for 47 years, remained out of sight yesterday amid uncertainty surrounding his health following intestinal surgery.

The announcement that Mr Castro had been operated on to repair a “sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding” stunned Cubans on the island and in exile. A decision to temporarily turn over authority to his brother Raul marked the first time that Mr Castro, two weeks away from 80th birthday, had relinquished power.

Cuban exiles celebrated in the streets of Miami, but Havana’s streets were quiet overnight as Cubans awaited further word on Mr Castro’s condition.

The news came late on Monday in a statement read on state television by his secretary Carlos Valenciaga.

The message said Mr Castro’s condition was apparently due to stress from a heavy work schedule during recent trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba.

Mr Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, resisted repeated US attempts to oust him and survived communism’s demise elsewhere, said in the statement that he was temporarily handing over leadership of the Communist Party to his younger brother.

Raul Castro, the defence minister who turned 75 in June, also did not appear on television and made no statement on his own. The constitutional successor to his brother, Raul Castro has assumed a more public profile in recent weeks.

Fidel Castro last appeared in public last Wednesday as he marked the 53rd anniversary of his July 26 barracks assault that launched the revolution.

“The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest,” Mr Castro’s letter read. Extreme stress “had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure”.

The calm delivery of the announcement appeared to signal that there would be an orderly succession should Fidel Castro become permanently incapacitated.

White House spokesman Peter Watkins said US authorities were monitoring the situation: “We can’t speculate on Castro’s health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba’s freedom.”

It is official US policy to “undermine” Cuba’s planned succession to Raul Castro.

Waiters at a popular cafe in Old Havana were momentarily stunned by the news but quickly returned to work.

“He’ll get better, without a doubt,” said Agustin Lopez, 40. “There are really good doctors here, and he’s extremely strong.”

But Martha Beatriz Roque, a leading Cuban Government opponent in Havana, said she believed Castro must be gravely ill to have stepped aside — even temporarily.