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August 1, 2006

Castro says he's stable after surgery

By Vanessa Arrington, Associated Press Writer. August 1, 2006.

HAVANA - Fidel Castro said Tuesday that his health was stable after surgery, according to a statement read on state television, as the Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy on the island's first day in 47 years without Castro in charge.

Castro, who temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul on Monday night after undergoing intestinal surgery, indicated the surgery was serious when he said: "I can not make up positive news."

But he said his health was "stable," and "as for my spirits, I feel perfectly fine," according to the statement read by moderator Randy Alonso on a daily public affairs program.

Castro expressed his gratitude for the good wishes he received from leaders and supporters around the world, and called on Cubans to remain calm and maintain their daily routines.

"The country is prepared for its defense," he said in the statement. "Everyone needs to struggle, and work."

Castro's comments came after Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon dismissed suspicions among anti-Castro exiles that the Cuban leader was dead, said the president's "final moment is still very far away."

Raul Castro, the island's acting president, was nowhere to be seen as Cubans began to worry about what comes next and exiles in Miami celebrated a development they hoped signaled the death of a dictator. Cuban dissidents kept a low profile while watching for signs of Castro's condition.

"Everything's normal here - for the moment," said hospital worker Emilio Garcia, 41, waiting for a friend at a Havana hotel. "But we've never experienced this before - it's like a small test of how things could be without Fidel."

Alarcon rejected the notion that Castro's condition could be critical. He told the government's Prensa Latina news service that the Cuban leader is known for fighting to the very end, but said his "final moment is still very far away."

Alarcon also expressed disgust over celebrations taking place in Miami's Cuban exile community, "vomit-provoking acts" he said were being led by "mercenaries and terrorists."

He called on Cubans to unite and follow the example of Castro, who "watches over every detail and takes measures to confront any enemy aggression."

The main newscast on state-run TV gave no details of the 79-year-old leader's condition, but ran a string of man-on-the-street interviews with Cubans wishing him well and professing confidence in the revolution's staying power. The anchor said Castro had the people's "unconditional support."

It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering. Alarcon called the surgery a "delicate operation" but provided no details.

The Venezuelan government, Cuba's closest ally, said Cuban officials reported Castro was "advancing positively" and leftist Argentine lawmaker Miguel Bonasso said Castro aides told him the leader was resting peacefully.

Cubans were stunned when Castro's secretary read a letter on state television Monday night announcing their leader was temporarily turning over power to his younger brother, the island's defense minister and the president's designated successor.

In the letter, Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, said doctors operated to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding." Neither Castro brother was shown.

Alarcon said Castro made a point of delegating all responsibilities when his doctors told him to rest - a decision he said was made by a man "who was completely conscious and able to adopt these resolutions."

Castro had been seen frequently in recent days, delivering speeches in eastern Cuba during a revolutionary holiday and making waves at a trade summit in Argentina. Those back-to-back trips and the resulting stress "ruined" his health, according to his letter.

"It's so surprising, because in Argentina he gave off such a strong political image and looked quite vital," said Rafael Marti, a businessman from Spain visiting Cuba with his wife. He said he didn't expect rapid change on the island 90 miles south of Florida.

Cubans agreed nothing was likely to change overnight - especially not with Castro's fiercely loyal brother at the helm. Raul Castro, who turned 75 in June, has been his brother's constitutional successor for decades and has assumed a more public profile in recent weeks.

The calm delivery of the announcement appeared intended to signal that any transition of power would be orderly. Yet some feared resentment over class divisions could spark conflict if a political vacuum develops.

"It's better for things to move slowly, instead of abrupt change," Garcia said. "But people are a bit nervous - anything could happen."

Dissidents said they expected the government to be on the defensive, with a high security presence and a low tolerance for political acts.

"It's clear that this is the start of the transition," said activist Manuel Cuesta Morua. "This gives Cuba the opportunity to have a more rational leadership" because top leaders will be forced to work together rather than following one man.

Officials halted some interviews by journalists Tuesday, with one plainclothes officer ejecting an Associated Press reporter from a cafe for asking questions. People on the street were reluctant to talk to foreign journalists, and many declined to give full names.

"We've been asked to keep things normal here, and to make sure that the revolution continues," said Daniel, a young social worker.

Government work centers brought employees together for small rallies throughout Havana.

"For this man, we must give our life," a customs worker told a crowd waving Cuban flags and shouting "Long live Fidel!"

Elsewhere, it looked like a regular day in Havana, with people packed into buses and standing in line outside stores.

Across the Florida straits in Miami, where hundreds of thousands of fleeing Cubans have settled, boisterous celebrations Monday night gave way to speculation about what would happen in Cuba when Castro dies. Car horns still blared, but some cautioned the celebrations may have been premature.

Many Cubans on the island thought the Miami celebrations were in poor taste.

"We aren't going to celebrate someone's illness," said a waitress who wouldn't give her name.

In Washington, the State Department said it would support a democratic transition in Cuba. Spokesman Sean McCormack said the Cuban people are weary of communist rule and eager to choose a new form of government.

"We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy and that given the choice they would choose a democratic government," he said.

Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, has resisted repeated U.S. attempts to oust him as well as demands for multiparty elections and an open economy. He has survived communism's demise elsewhere and repeatedly insisted his socialist system would long outlive him.

Doctors in the United States said Castro's condition could be life-threatening but since the details of his symptoms were not released it was hard to say what caused the bleeding: severe ulcers, a colon condition called diverticulosis or - an outside possibility - cancer.

Castro seemed optimistic of recovery, asking in his letter that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The leaders of China, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico wished Castro well.

Castro has been in power since the Jan. 1, 1959, triumph of the armed revolution that drove out dictator Fulgencio Batista. He has been the world's longest-ruling head of government, and his ironclad rule has ensured Cuba's place among the world's five remaining communist countries, along with China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea.

Talk of Castro's mortality was taboo until June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly recovered, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would eventually die.

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report he had Parkinson's disease.

Associated Press Writers Anita Snow and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Adrian Sainz in Miami, George Gedda in Washington, Ian James in Caracas, Venezuela, and Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago contributed to this report.

Exiles distrust Cuba about Castro

By Adrian Sainz, Associated Press Writer. August 1, 2006

MIAMI - Joyous celebration in Miami over news that an ailing Fidel Castro had temporarily ceded power gave way Tuesday to rampant speculation among Cuban exiles: Is Castro already dead? What will happen in Cuba after he is gone? Is this just a trick?

"Basically, we are seeing what the Cuban government is saying, but we don't know if that is true," said Ninoska Perez of the Cuban Liberty Council, an anti-Castro exile group. "I think they are just gaining time. For all we know, Castro may already be dead or critically ill."

Talk radio stations devoted nearly all their airtime to the Castro story, and government leaders set up a hot line to keep rumors in check. But in a city where Castro has loomed large for more than a generation, many of Miami-Dade County's 800,000 Cuban-Americans have long dreamed of the day his communist rule would come to an end.

Most Cuban-Americans view Castro as a ruthless dictator who forced them, their parents or grandparents from their home after he seized power in a revolution in 1959.

"It's our homeland, our golden land, where one day we want to be able to come and go as we please, and live like we once did," said Luis Calles, a math teacher who came to the United States in 1994.

Castro issued a statement Tuesday night saying his condition was "stable" and that he felt "perfectly fine." The statement, read on Cuba's state-run television, provided no details about his intestinal illness.

Cuban-Americans in Miami said the statement sounded like government propaganda.

"They are just saying that. They are covering up the truth because they can't take an uproar of people within the island," said Cari Gonzalez, 26, whose parents came from Cuba in 1980.

A day earlier, reports that Castro had temporarily ceded power to his brother, Raul, because of a serious intestinal ailment led a pot-banging, cigar-smoking, flag-waving crowd to take to the streets of Miami's Little Havana.

The crowds were smaller Tuesday but no less fervent, with about 75 people gathered at midday outside the Versailles Cuban restaurant, waving Cuban flags and honking horns. Vendors sold small U.S. and Cuban flags to passing motorists for $7 each.

"The long-awaited day of a Cuba without Castro may be approaching," said U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. in 1962. "Our hope and purpose should now be for a true moment of change, not a transfer from one dictator to another."

Cuban-Americans elsewhere also celebrated. In Tampa's heavily Cuban-American Ybor City, Gladys Sequeira-Garcia said her family had been "in an uproar." They fled Cuba in 1960.

"I want my parents to see Cuba back to the way it was when they left - the beautiful beaches, the growing economy and the happy people," she said.

In Union City, N.J., immigrants at Felix Alfonso's Cuban restaurant rejoiced after learning of Castro's surgery. "It was definitely a topic of conversation as soon as we opened up," said Alfonso, whose eatery is filled with maps of Cuba and posters of Havana.

The festive atmosphere was tempered by the understanding among many Cuban-Americans that Raul Castro harbors the same views as his brother and has been in firm control of the island's military. Jorge Alonso, 78, said he expected true change to take 20 years or more.

"The change has to come from within Cuba. It's not going to come from the United States," Alonso said, playing dominos and drinking Cuban coffee at a Miami park. "There will be bloodshed in Cuba because there is a lot of hate there. It's been 47 years of suffering."

Miami-Dade County's Emergency Operations Center activated a rumor-control hot line that received more than 500 calls by midmorning, most inquiring about Castro's health or street congestion and closings.

U.S. and Florida officials have long had plans to avert an exodus from Cuba if the Havana government suddenly opened its borders. There is also concern that Cuban exiles might attempt to cross the Florida Straits in the opposite direction to return to their homeland or pick up family members.

Gov. Jeb Bush said the plan is to prevent a mass movement of people that could create "tremendous hardship and risk for people that can lose their lives."

The Coast Guard and other Homeland Security Department agencies reported no significant increase in activity Tuesday in the straits. Air charter companies that handle travel to Cuba said they did not notice any increase in passenger requests.

The governor, the president's brother, said he does not favor lifting the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba if Castro dies. That should only occur, he said, when Cuba starts permitting dissent, religious freedoms and labor unions.

"Those are the basic rules of freedom, and once that occurs, I think it would be more appropriate for the embargo to be lifted," Bush said.

Most experts and political figures agreed that immediate radical change is unlikely and predicted that Cuban-Americans would not rush to return there.

"It doesn't mean that everyone's going to be home next month, moving back into their old houses and so forth," said Wayne Smith, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. "It may bring a more complicated situation than they already have. With Castro, you knew where you stood."

Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, said it will be difficult for Raul Castro to maintain his grip on power, which could lead to a bloody struggle for control.

"I would caution that rather than celebrate, we should consider how we can be of help to the people of the island, how we can do what we can to prevent bloodshed," Calzon said.

Associated Press writers Laura Wides-Munoz, Curt Anderson, Jessica Gresko, Jennifer Kay and Matt Sedensky in Miami, Phil Davis in Tampa, Travis Reed in Orlando, David Royse in Tallahassee and Janet Frankston in Union City, N.J., contributed to this report.

Officials: Castro's final moment is "very far away"

(Havana-AP, August 1, 2006) - The Cuban government is offering an upbeat assessment of Fidel Castro's health, saying the Cuban leader's final moment is still "very far away."

The statement from the government news service comes a day after the announcement that Castro has turned power over to his brother, Raul, as he recovers from intestinal surgery.

The surprise announcement that Castro had been operated on to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding" stunned Cubans on the island and in exile, and marked the first time that Castro, two weeks away from 80th birthday, had relinquished power in 47 years of rule.

On this island 90 miles south of Florida, people went about their business as normal on the streets of Havana early Tuesday, standing in line for buses to school and work, and jogging along the city's famous Malecon seawall.

Some government work centers called workers to participate in outdoor political gatherings later Tuesday to express their support for Fidel Castro. Dozens of workers at one gathering waved small Cuban flags and shouted: "Long live Fidel!" "There is no one else like him," said Osmar Fernandez, 27, drinking rum at a cafe. "I want Fidel to live for 80 more years."

Government opponents said the move gave them hope for eventual openings in the island's political and economic systems.

"It's clear that this is the start of the transition," activist Manuel Cuesta Morua said. "This gives Cuba the opportunity to have a more rational leadership because ... the top leaders will be obligated to consult each other (rather than be ruled by one man)."

The news came Monday night in a statement read on state television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga. The message said Castro's condition was apparently due to stress from a heavy work schedule during recent trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba. He did not appear on the broadcast.

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

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

Fidel Castro last appeared in public Wednesday as he marked the 53rd anniversary of his July 26 barracks assault that launched the revolution. The Cuban leader seemed thinner than usual and somewhat weary during a pair of long speeches in eastern Cuba.

"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," 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 U.S. 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." On Monday, before Castro's illness was announced, President Bush was in Miami and spoke of the island's future. "If Fidel Castro were to move on because of natural causes, we've got a plan in place to help the people of Cuba understand there's a better way than the system in which they've been living under," he told WAQI-AM Radio Mambi, a Spanish-language radio station. "No one knows when Fidel Castro will move on. In my judgment, that's the work of the Almighty."

Fidel Castro improving: Venezuela

CARACAS, 1 aug (AFP) - Fidel Castro is recovering well, Venezuela's foreign ministry said, citing Cuban authorities.

Venezuela, under President Hugo Chavez, is Castro's closest ally in the region.

Cuba had not given any official update on Castro's health since the elderly but still-fiery leader, due to turn 80 on August 13, said late Monday in a statement read on Cuban television that he had temporarily ceded power to his 75-year-old brother Raul -- an operational first, though he had already named Raul Castro his designated successor.

Castro has been Latin America's only communist leader for almost 48 years.

Venezuela "is pleased to learn news from Cuban authorities which indicates that President Fidel Castro's recovery process is progressing positively," the ministry said.

Details about Castro's health long have been closely guarded.

As of Tuesday, Cubans' latest and only word on his health had come almost a day earlier in Castro's statement, with no immediate appearance of Fidel Castro or Raul Castro in official state media.

US: No reason to think Castro is dead

Olivier Knox.

WASHINGTON, 1 aug (AFP) - The United States reacted warily to Fidel Castro's handing power to his brother, saying there was "no reason" to think Cuba's leader was dead, while restating its policy of isolating Havana.

"The fact that you have an autocrat handing power off to his brother does not mark an end to autocracy," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, who looked ahead to a day when Cubans "no longer live under the boot of tyranny."

Snow also discouraged Cubans from fleeing to the United States, saying: "We encourage people not to get into the water."

Castro, who has been in power since 1959 and turns 80 on August 13, announced Monday that his brother Raul Castro, the defense minister, would take over his duties temporarily.

The communist leader, in a statement read by his personal secretary on Cuban media, said he underwent surgery to correct intestinal bleeding, which he blamed on taxing trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba.

But "we don't know what the condition of Fidel Castro is. We don't know the exact facts of this because Cuba is a closed society," Snow told reporters, adding that there was "no reason to believe that" he was dead.

Snow also indicated that Washington's 44-year policy of trying to isolate Havana was unchanged, saying that the United States had no plans to reach out to brother Raul Castro and still hoped that Cuba would become a democracy.

"The one thing that this president has talked about from the very beginning is his hope for the Cuban people, finally, to enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy," said the spokesman.

"And for the dictator, Fidel Castro, to hand off power to his brother, who's been the prison-keeper, is not a change in that status. So Raul Castro's attempt to impose himself on the Cuban people is much the same as what his brother did. So, no, there are no plans to reach out," said Snow.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who was born in Havana in 1953 and came to the United States in 1960, sought to reassure Cubans about US intentions and promised US help if they cast off communist rule and go about setting up a democracy.

"Let me be very clear: The United States and our citizens pose no threat to the security or the homes of the Cuban people," Gutierrez said in remarks prepared for delivery at the conservative Cato Institute think-tank.

US President George W. Bush "recognizes that Cuba belongs to the Cuban people, and that the future of Cuba is in the hands of Cubans," Gutierrez said in the speech.

"We continue to be concerned about the importance of the Cuban people observing safe, orderly and legal plans for migration," said Gutierrez, who was born in Havana in 1953 and came to the United States in 1960.

"At a time of great uncertainty, we want to let the people of Cuba know that we affirm our commitment -- when a transition government committed to democracy is in place, we will provide aid in areas such as food and medicine, economic recovery, and free and fair elections," he said.

While US leaders were somewhat cautious in their prognoses for the island's future, exiled Cubans in the United States were not.

They joyously banged pots and beeped horns in the streets of Florida, home to large Cuban-American communities hoping this spelled the beginning of the end of Castro's 47-year lock on power.

US lawmaker Mario Diaz-Balart, once a nephew of Castro by marriage, urged Americans to help "the oppressed Cuban people make an active transition from communist tyranny to freedom and democracy.

"I've always said that Cuba will be free, and that day is rapidly approaching," he glowed.

A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the shift in Cuba appeared to be a "test drive" for Castro's plans for succession.

"This kind of news in a system like that has the potential to be dynamite. They want to make sure if there is an explosion, it is a controlled explosion," said the official.

White House ready to help Cuba

By George Gedda, Associated Press. August 1, 2006.

WASHINGTON - With Cuban President Fidel Castro ailing, the Bush administration said the United States is prepared to support a democratic transition on the island.

Castro, who underwent surgery for an intestinal problem, surrendered power temporarily to his brother, Raul, No. 2 in the chain of command.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said there are no plans to reach out to Raul Castro.

"Raul Castro's attempt to impose himself on the Cuban people is much the same as what his brother did," Snow said. "The one thing that this president has talked about from the very beginning is his hope for the Cuban people, finally, to enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy."

Snow added: "The one thing we want to do to is to continue to assure the people of Cuba that we stand ready to help."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States has no doubt that the Cuban people are weary of communist rule after 47 years and are eager to choose their leaders rather than having them imposed on the country.

"We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy and that given the choice they would choose a democratic government," McCormack said.

The White House said it is monitoring the health crisis of the Cuban leader, after learning of Castro's health problems Monday evening, but had no reason to think he had died.

"We don't know what the condition of Fidel Castro is. We don't know the exact facts of this because Cuba is a closed society," Snow said.

Three weeks before the official announcement in Havana of Castro's deteriorating health, a U.S. presidential commission called for an $80 million program to bolster nongovernmental groups in Cuba to hasten an end to the country's communist system.

The report also proposed "assistance in preparing the Cuban military forces to adjust to an appropriate role in a democracy." It provided no details on this point.

Cuba's National Information Agency called the report a "new plan of aggression" that violated the island's national sovereignty.

The official announcement in Havana said Castro, who will be 80 in two weeks, underwent intestinal surgery.

On Monday, before Castro's illness was announced, President Bush was in Miami and spoke of the island's future.

"If Fidel Castro were to move on because of natural causes, we've got a plan in place to help the people of Cuba understand there's a better way than the system in which they've been living under," he told WAQI-AM Radio Mambi, a Spanish-language radio station. "No one knows when Fidel Castro will move on. In my judgment, that's the work of the Almighty."

When the 95-page commission report was released, Bush said, "We are actively working for change in Cuba, not simply waiting for change."

The U.S. and Cuba have been unbending adversaries since Castro entered into an alliance with the Soviet Union and converted his country into a Marxist-Leninist state in the early 1960s.

Hostilities reached a peak during that period, marked by the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis.

There have been no high-level political contacts between the two countries since 1982. The collapse of European communism almost two decades ago was a severe blow to Castro, both politically and economically.

Lately, his fortunes have improved somewhat with the emergence of left-of-center and leftist governments in Latin America, most notably in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has used his oil wealth to back policies long espoused by Castro.

For years, successive U.S. administrations have tailored their Cuba policies with an eye toward winning support from the vote-rich Cuban-American community in South Florida, which is predominantly anti-Castro. The U.S. trade embargo has been the centerpiece of American policy toward Cuba for more than 40 years.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., a member of the House International Relations Committee who has long opposed Castro, said even a temporary relinquishment of power by Castro is "a great day for the Cuban people and for their brothers and sisters in exile."

"Fidel Castro has only brought ruin and misery to Cuba, so if he is incapacitated, even for a short period of time, it is a marvelous moment for the millions of Cubans who live under his iron-fisted rule and oppressive state machinery," she said. "I hope this is the beginning of the end for his despised regime."

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who like Ros-Lehtinen was born in Cuba, joined with her in saying they expect U.S. action for now will be limited to transmitting radio messages of hope to the Cuban people and preventing an influx of illegal immigrants from the island.

Martinez said he is confident the Navy and Coast Guard have the resources to prevent refugees from trying to flood U.S. borders. Snow urged people "not to get into the water."

"What the president wants to reiterate is the importance of developing an orderly procedure for moving people from Cuba to the United States," he said.

Martinez also said he would not support lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba until reform was under way. Instead, the United States should lend its ear to political dissidents and pressure outside forces, such as Venezuela, to limit support of the communist regime, the senator said.

Business as usual as Canadian companies in Cuba keep eye on Castro's recovery

By Colin Perkel.

TORONTO, 1 aug (CP) - From mining to pizzas, it was business as usual Tuesday for Canadian companies in Cuba as an aging President Fidel Castro recovers from major abdominal surgery.

Most are keeping an eye on the political situation but say they don't expect any big changes in the business climate - at least not in the near term.

"We're very comfortable with the Cuban government and we think they are capable and competent at running the country," said Michael Minnes, spokesman for Toronto-based Sherritt International (TSX:S).

"We're comfortable they will do what is necessary to manage the situation."

Sherritt, which defied the American trade embargo to set up shop in Cuba almost a dozen years ago, has operations in metals, oil and gas and power.

The company, one of about 85 Canadian companies active there, raked in more than $100 million in the first quarter of the year - part of the almost $1 billion in two-way trade between Canada and Cuba.

Minnes said the company has worked with many of Cuba's ranking officials in the past and will continue to do so.

"Our operations folks are focused on activities in the field," he said.

In a letter read on state television Monday, Castro, who has led the country for 47 years and turns 80 this month, attributed his "ruined" health to the "enormous effort" involved in his recent visit to Argentina.

His brother, Defence Minister Raul Castro, 75, would take over while he recovered, the president said.

Sam Primucci, president of family-owned Pizza Nova, which has six outlets in Cuba, also said he had no immediate concerns about the political situation.

The Havana government will likely stay its current course, said Primucci, whose Toronto-based franchising operation has been in Cuba for a decade.

"There will be a continuity to whatever is there now," Primucci said.

In Havana, an embassy official refused to discuss the business climate, but said the situation appeared completely normal.

"The streets of Havana are calm," he said, asking not to be identified.

"Everybody is going to work."

In Montreal, Voyage Culture Cuba Inc., an agency that specializes in Cuba travel said there had been no fallout so far from Castro's illness.

"All our group or tours are still going - there's no impact so far," said Nathalie Roy, a leisure trip agent with Voyage.

"We don't know for the moment how it's going to be later."

Primucci said someone with "his own agenda" might eventually take over the presidency.

"If things change that we don't agree with, we just won't continue," Primucci said.

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there."

Cuban workers rally for ailing Castro

By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer. August 1, 2006.

HAVANA - Cuba's Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy Tuesday, its first day in 47 years without Fidel Castro in charge. Businesses remained open and workers rallied in support of their ailing leader, who temporarily handed over power to his brother after intestinal surgery.

Raul Castro, the island's acting president, was nowhere to be seen as Cubans began to worry about what comes next and exiles in Miami celebrated a development they hoped signaled the death of a dictator. Cuban dissidents were subdued, keeping a low profile while watching for signs of Castro's condition.

The main newscast on state-run television gave no details of Castro's condition but ran a string of man-on-the-street interviews with Cubans wishing Castro well and professing confidence in the revolution's staying power. The anchor said Castro had the people's "unconditional support."

It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering. But the Venezuelan government, Cuba's closest ally, said Cuban officials reported Castro was "advancing positively." Leftist Argentine lawmaker Miguel Bonasso said Castro aides told him the leader was resting peacefully.

Cubans were stunned when Castro's secretary read a letter on state television Monday night announcing that their leader was temporarily handing over power to his younger brother, the island's defense minister and the president's designated successor.

In the letter, Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, said doctors operated to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding." Neither Castro brother was shown.

Castro had been seen frequently in recent days, delivering speeches in eastern Cuba during a key revolutionary holiday and making waves at a summit of the Mercosur trade bloc in Argentina. Those back-to-back trips and the resulting stress "ruined" his health, according to his letter.

"It's so surprising, because in Argentina he gave off such a strong political image and looked quite vital," said Rafael Marti, a 43-year-old businessman from Spain visiting Cuba with his wife. He said he didn't expect rapid change on the island 90 miles south of Florida.

The calm delivery of the announcement appeared intended to signal that any transition of power would be orderly. Yet some feared that resentment over class divisions could spark conflict if a political vacuum develops.

"It's better for things to move slowly, instead of abrupt change," Garcia said. "But people are a bit nervous - anything could happen."

Dissidents kept a low profile, saying they were waiting to see how things develop. They expected the government to be on the defensive, with a high security presence and a low tolerance for political acts.

Officials quickly halted some interviews by journalists Tuesday, with one plainclothes officer ejecting an Associated Press reporter from a cafe for asking questions. People on the street were reluctant to talk to foreign journalists, and many declined to give full names.

"We've been asked to keep things normal here, and to make sure that the revolution continues," said Daniel, a young social worker.

Government work centers brought employees together for small rallies throughout Havana.

"For this man, we must give our life," a customs worker told a crowd waving Cuban flags and shouting "Long live Fidel!"

Elsewhere, it looked like a regular day in Havana, with people packed into buses and standing in line outside stores.

Across the Florida straits in Miami, where hundreds of thousands of fleeing Cubans have settled, boisterous celebrations Monday night gave way Tuesday to speculation about what would happen in Cuba when Castro dies. Car horns still blared, but some cautioned that the celebrations may have come too soon.

Many Cubans on the island thought the Miami celebrations were in poor taste - and premature.

"We aren't going to celebrate someone's illness," said a waitress who wouldn't give her name.

"We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy and that given the choice they would choose a democratic government," he said.

Castro seemed optimistic of recovery, asking in his letter that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The leaders of China, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico wished Castro well.

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report he had Parkinson's disease.

Castro causing rampant speculation

By Adrian Sainz, Associated Press. August 1, 2006.

Talk radio stations devoted nearly all their airtime to the Castro story, and government leaders set up a hot line to keep rumors in check. But in a city where Castro has loomed large for more than a generation, many of Miami's 800,000 Cuban-Americans have long dreamed of the day his communist rule would come to an end.

Most Cuban-Americans view Castro as a ruthless dictator who forced them, their parents or grandparents from their home after he seized power in a revolution in 1959.

"It's our homeland, our golden land, where one day we want to be able to come and go as we please, and live like we once did," said Luis Calles, a math teacher who came to the United States in 1994.

Reports that Castro had temporarily ceded power to his brother, Raul, because of a serious intestinal ailment led a pot-banging, cigar-smoking, flag-waving crowd to take to the streets of Miami's Little Havana on Monday night.

Cuban-Americans elsewhere also celebrated. In Tampa's heavily Cuban-American Ybor City, Gladys Sequeira-Garcia said her family had been "in an uproar." They fled Cuba in 1960.

"I want my parents to see Cuba back to the way it was when they left - the beautiful beaches, the growing economy and the happy people," she said.

Fueling the speculation was the lack of hard information from Cuba, where radio reports were limited to repeated readings of Monday's announcement about Castro's surgery.

U.S. and Florida officials have long had plans to avert an exodus from Cuba if the Havana government suddenly opened its borders. There is also concern that Cuban exiles might attempt try to cross the Florida Straits in the opposite direction to return to their homeland or pick up family members.

Gov. Jeb Bush said the plan is to prevent a mass movement of people that could create "tremendous hardship and risk for people that can lose their lives."

"Those are the basic rules of freedom, and once that occurs, I think it would be more appropriate for the embargo to be lifted," Bush said.

Most experts and political figures agreed that immediate radical change is unlikely and predicted that Cuban-Americans would not rush to return there.

Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, said it will be difficult for Raul Castro to maintain his grip on power, which could lead to a bloody struggle for control.

"I would caution that rather than celebrate, we should consider how we can be of help to the people of the island, how we can do what we can to prevent bloodshed," Calzon said.

US faces urgent task of revising Cuba policy after Castro

Stephanie Griffith, August 1, 2006.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States, over nearly half a century, has enacted a crazy quilt of restrictions and sanctions to weaken the regime of Fidel Castro -- laws which likely will have to be urgently rewritten after the Cuban leader's demise.

As officials in Washington took in the news Tuesday that Castro had relinquished power temporarily to undergo an operation to stem intestinal bleeding, some began to examine how the US-Cuba relationship would need to be reshaped in a post-Fidel world.

Some said the current anti-Castro laws leave Washington ill-prepared to be a relevant player if the communist leader, nearly 80, leaves the stage after 47 years in power.

"Whether Castro is sick or dead or just testing the reaction in Cuba, the United States is in no position to help," said Congressman Jeff Flake, a longtime critic of the current administration's Cuba policy.

"We are more distant now than we ever have been from the Cubans, who could pursue the kind of change that we would like to see," Flake said.

The Republican lawmaker said the most effective way to hasten democratic reforms in Cuba -- with or without Castro in power -- would be to ease US trade and travel restrictions.

"The best thing we can do right now, regardless of Castro's condition, is to let Americans travel to Cuba and begin laying the ground work for a positive transition," he said Tuesday.

US law states that Washington can provide support only to a transition government which does not include Fidel Castro or his brother Raul, Cuba's defense chief, who has provisionally taken power.

Any support must meet conditions including holding free elections and releasing political prisoners.

While there is a large and vocal contingent in Congress which supports these and other restrictions, there is also growing support for liberalizing ties as the best way to support democracy.

"There is a widespread misconception that, as soon as Castro is gone, the US will be able to aid and assist a transition," Flake said.

"But with Castro's brother in place and several unreasonable conditions in US law to be met, the US will be on the sidelines while the rest of the democratic world engages in reform efforts."

Supporters of reform say another law that will need almost immediate revision in Castro's wake is the US policy of granting immediate asylum to Cubans who reach American shores -- a law which has encouraged many Cubans to risk crossing the shark-infested waters of the Florida Straits in rickety boats and rafts.

The United States sends home Cubans picked up at sea, but continues to grant asylum to any Cuban who touches US soil, the so-called "wet foot/dry foot" policy.

Yet another is the Treasury Department-administered trade embargo which prohibits the import of Cuban goods and enforces a ban preventing US tourists from traveling to Cuba.

Much of US policy toward Havana is governed by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which allows revocation or denial of US visas to foreign executives doing business in Cuba.

In January 2002, President George W. Bush affirmed the continued enforcement of travel restrictions while calling for increased outreach to the Cuban people.

Five months later, Bush announced his Initiative for a New Cuba, easing restrictions on humanitarian assistance by legitimate US religious and non-governmental groups but keeping other sanctions in place.

And just a few weeks ago, the Bush administration released a 95-page report issued by an advisory panel on US Cuba policy, which urged a tightening of the embargo on Cuba and the establishment of a fund to bankroll Castro opponents.

Congressman Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said Tuesday most of the focus still needs to be on how the people of Cuba themselves decide to go forward.

"One day soon, Cuba will live in freedom," said Lantos, a naturalized American who lived under the Nazi and Communist regimes in his native Hungary.

"Havana should ease restrictions on its people, free its political prisoners and show real respect for the rule of law," said Lantos, who also co-chairs the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

But other longtime Cuba observers, like Wayne Smith of the Center for International Policy, a liberal Washington think tank that promotes greater contact with Cuba, told AFP that the sudden interest in post-Castro Cuba was "absurd" and premature.

"Castro is just stepping aside briefly," Smith said.

"This is not the end, and the United States should best not plan on it being the end."

US not a threat to Cuban people: Gutierrez

WASHINGTON, 1 (AFP) - US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said that the United States poses "no threat" to the people of Cuba and will help them if they choose democracy over Fidel Castro's hold on power.

US President George W. Bush "recognizes that Cuba belongs to the Cuban people, and that the future of Cuba is in the hands of Cubans," Gutierrez said in the speech, which was provided by the US Commerce Department.

His comments were the most detailed reaction yet from Washington on Castro's decision to temporarily hand power to his brother due to surgery.

"The people of Cuba have a choice: Economic and political freedom and opportunity, or more political repression and economic suffering under the current regime," said Gutierrez.

"We pledge to help them attain political and economic liberty," said the US official.

Castro, who has been in power since 1959 and turns 80 on August 13, announced Monday that his brother Raul Castro, the defense minister, will take over his duties temporarily.

The Cuban leader, in a statement read by his personal secretary on Cuban media, said he underwent surgery to correct intestinal bleeding, which he blamed on taxing trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba.

"We pledge to extend a hand of friendship and support as they build a democratic government, a strong economy and a brighter tomorrow for their families and their country. And we pledge to discourage third parties from obstructing the will of the Cuban people," said Gutierrez.

US cautious, hopeful as Castro cedes power in Cuba

Antonio Rodriguez, August 1, 2006.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After 44 years of sanctions meant to push Fidel Castro out of power, the United States sounded cautious but hopeful, after the communist Cuban leader ceded power temporarily for the first time to his brother, following surgery.

"So far the public stance has been hopeful and cautious," said Nelson Cunningham, a former adviser to ex-US president Bill Clinton on Latin America, assessing the first US reactions to the news from the Caribbean's most populous island nation with more than 11 million people.

Hours earlier, after news of Castro's decision was announced, Peter Watkins, a White House spokesman, said "We are monitoring the situation. We don't want to speculate on his health.

"We will continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom," the US spokesman said, in a reaction echoed by the US State Department.

"Clearly Fidel Castro's incapacitation is a significant event for the Cuban people," spokesman Sean McCormack said, adding: "In the event that Cuba does start to make the transition to democracy, the United States and the American people will stand by the Cuban people in their aspirations for democracy."

Asked about Raul Castro's ascendancy, the US spokesman said: "Our policy is that we fully support a democratically prosperous Cuba in which the Cuban people have the opportunity to, through the ballot box, choose their leaders and not have their leaders imposed on them."

"Everyone in Washington, Democrats and Republicans, wants to see Fidel Castro leave power and a democratic government take rule in Cuba. Everybody agrees on that," said Cunningham, now with Kissinger McLarty Associates.

"The question is what's going to happen in Cuba -- what's going to happen with Fidel Castro, what's going to happen with Raul Castro," said Peter DeShazo, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former State Department official for the region.

"I'm sure the United States will carefully track the situation and make decisions on the basis of how this immediate episode plays out," he added.

Castro's stepping aside for now came less than a month after President George W. Bush stepped up funding for Cuban dissident groups and tightened control on the US sanctions regime in place since 1962, in an effort to push Castro out.

"The critical goal for the United States will be how to manage the transition from Fidel Castro to Raul Castro or to the others who have been named as possible successors," said Cunningham.

"How we manage that transition is going to be key. It's essential that the transition takes place without widespread violence, without big social unrest, and it should take place as peacefully as possible," he added.

"There are elements within the Bush administration and within their supporters that will want to be much more aggressive and pushing Cuba towards a quick and dramatic change," said Cunningham. "In my own judgment, those forces risk causing more instability and frankly causing a backlash within Cuba."

If Washington sounded cautious, Cuban-Americans did not.

They were joyous, banging pots and beeping horns in Florida streets, hopeful that this spelled the beginning of Castro's end.

US Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, once a nephew of Castro by marriage, urged Americans to help "the oppressed Cuban people make an active transition from communist tyranny to freedom and democracy.

"I've always said that Cuba will be free, and that day is rapidly approaching," he glowed.

Cuban-American US Senator Mel Martinez said: "I think there's a possibility that he may be very, very ill or dead. I don't think there would be an announcement such as this unless it was pretty clear that he was incapacitated beyond recovery in the short term.

"If one were to have a scenario -- and I think the model of how Franco in Spain, if you can remember that far back, was, sort of, announced over a period of days, I think that this is a little bit of what may be occurring in Cuba's scenario," said Martinez, referring to dictator Francisco Franco, who died in 1975.

Castro remains out of sight after surgery

By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer. August 1, 2006.

HAVANA - Fidel Castro, who has wielded absolute power in Cuba for nearly half a century, remained out of sight Tuesday after undergoing intestinal surgery and temporarily turning over power to his brother Raul.

"There is no one else like him," said Osmar Fernandez, 27, drinking rum at a cafe. "I want Fidel to live for 80 more years."

Government opponents said the move gave them hope for eventual openings in the island's political and economic systems.

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 U.S. 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."

On Monday, before Castro's illness was announced, President Bush was in Miami and spoke of the island's future.

Three weeks ago, a U.S. presidential commission called for an $80 million program to bolster non-governmental groups in Cuba for the purpose of hastening an end to the country's communist system.

It is official U.S. policy to "undermine" Cuba's planned succession to Raul Castro. At the time the commission report was released, Bush said, "We are actively working for change in Cuba, not simply waiting for change."

Castro has resisted U.S. demands for multiparty elections and an open economy and has insisted his socialist system would long outlive him.

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

It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering.

A leftist Argentine lawmaker, Miguel Bonasso, said he called Castro aides Monday night and was told the surgery "was successful" and the leader was resting.

Ongoing intestinal bleeding can be serious and potentially life-threatening, said Dr. Stephen Hanauer, gastroenerology chief at the University of Chicago hospitals. He said it was difficult to deduce the cause of Castro's bleeding without knowing what part of the digestive tract was affected.

Ulcers are a common cause of bleeding in the stomach or upper intestine. Stress used to be blamed but is no longer believed to be a cause of ulcers, he said.

A condition called diverticulosis also can provoke bleeding in the lower intestine, especially in people over age 60, Hanauer said. The condition involves weakened spots in the intestinal lining that form pouches, which can become inflamed and provoke bleeding.

Fidel Castro seemed optimistic of recovery, asking that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

With Havana's streets calm, an electronic news ticker at the U.S. diplomatic mission provided the only clue that something dramatic had occurred inside Cuba's government: "All Cubans, including those under the dictatorship, can count on our help and support. We respect the wishes of all Cubans."

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.

"No one knows if he'll even be alive Dec. 2 when he's supposed to celebrate his birthday," she said.

She added that opposition members worried they could be targeted for repression during a government change - especially if authorities fear civil unrest.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Castro's strongest international ally, expressed distress during a visit to Vietnam. He said he called the Cuban leader's office after hearing the news.

"We wish President Fidel Castro will recover rapidly. Viva Fidel Castro!"

Chinese President Hu Jintao also sent a message of good wishes to Castro, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Across the Florida straits in Miami, exiles waved Cuban flags on Little Havana's Calle Ocho, shouting "Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!" as drivers honked their horns. Over nearly five decades, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled Castro's rule, many of them settling in Miami.

Castro has been in power since the Jan. 1, 1959, triumph of the armed revolution that drove out dictator Fulgencio Batista. He has been the world's longest-ruling head of government and his ironclad rule has ensured Cuba's place among the world's five remaining communist countries, along with China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea.

The son of a prosperous plantation owner, Castro's official birthday is Aug. 13, 1926, although some say he was born a year later.

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report he had Parkinson's disease.

But the Cuban president also said he would not insist on remaining in power if he ever became too sick to lead: "I'll call the (Communist) Party and tell them I don't feel I'm in condition ... that please, someone take over the command." Associated Press reporters Vanessa Arrington in Havana; Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami; Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam; and Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago contributed to this report.

Statement By Florida Speaker-Designate Marco Rubio Regarding Fidel Castro

MIAMI, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- "I am following the events regarding the health of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro with great interest. The demise of Castro and his regime is inevitable. We are hopeful that the events of the last 24 hours mark the beginning of freedom and democracy for the people of Cuba.

"I have been in contact with the office of the Governor as well as all the pertinent public safety agencies of the state of Florida. We are confident that the state of Florida, working in partnership with the local and federal government, is fully prepared for any political changes in Cuba.

"This is a time of great hope. I am confident that our community will continue to handle these events in a manner worthy of the enormous contributions Cuban exiles have made to our state and our country."

Source: Marco Rubio

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