The longest serving leader in the 20th C. goes into surgery

[Modern-poli]

Fidel Castro has just passed the government, armforces, and the party over to his younger brother Raul. The Cuban leader is having an intestine sergery and because of his age fear that he may not recover.

'Cuban leader Fidel Castro has temporarily ceded his presidential power to brother Rául Castro due to illness, according to Cuban national television.

The unprecedented announcement came in a communique read over state television. It said that Fidel Castro would be undergoing surgery. The precise nature of that surgery was not immediately known.

It is the first time in 47 years that Castro ceded power to another person. Cuban law stipulates that his brother, the defense minister, will take over as president upon his death.

''There is no doubt the people and the revolution will struggle until the last drop of blood,'' a news presenter read.'

[surria]

Castro is old and tired. The Cuban revolution has come to an end, finally it took long enough.

[Qaarxiye]

finaly my cuban friends can return to cuba in peace.

[avowedly-agnostic]

Castro is a great leader whose radically transformed Cuban society in a way which'll benefit the average Cuban. Cuba does not have a free press or political parties. These deficiencies, however, do not detract from the revolution's accomplishments.

The revolution gave Cubans rights only dreamed of by other third world people. Not just education and health care, but the right to a job and pension. Now compare that with the US a first world country, where whether you receive health care depends on the size of your wallet.

Cuba has the highest ratio of doctors than any other country. Cuba has more doctors abroad than the entire World Health Organization. Cuban doctors are the first to volunteer to help earthquake and other disaster victims all over the world. Indeed, Pakistanis will remember the contribution Cubans made to their recent earthquake victims.

There's a popular Cuban joke which goes something like this: Castro is handed a tortoise pet that'll live for a hundred years, the Cuban leader says, "no I don't like to see animals die."