Castro gives up power in op crisis; Reign may end.Byline: By Jacqui Goddard AILING Cuban leader Fidel Castro Noun 1. Fidel Castro - Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927) Castro, Fidel Castro Ruz yesterday gave up his iron grip on the Communist island for the first time amid a major health crisis. He was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery on intestinal bleeding, leaving brother Raul in charge. And speculation was mounting last night that his 47-year reign as the world's longest-serving political leader is about to end. Castro, 79, has outlasted nine US presidents and always refuses to admit weakness. But in a statement read on national TV, he said: "Days and nights of continuous work, barely able to sleep, my health - which has withstood all trials - was subjected to extreme stress and broke down. "This provoked an acute intestinal crisis, with sustained bleeding, that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation." He claimed that the move was temporary and that his defence minister brother would take charge while he took "several weeks in repose, away from my responsibilities and duties". The news stunned stun tr.v. stunned, stun·ning, stuns 1. To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow. 2. To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise. 3. the Caribbean island. And Castro's 80th birthday celebrations, due on the 13th of this month, have been postponed. But in Miami, home to 650,000 Cuban-American exiles, there were scenes of wild jubilation as news of the dictator's illness spread. Thousands crammed the city's Little Havana district beating pots and pans and honking their car horns in celebration. Exiles dressed in lifejackets paddled a mock raft through the streets, in a reminder of the measures many took to escape Cuba. Noelia Samabria, 45, said: "This is nearly the happiest day of my life. "The happiest will be when he stops breathing." CUBAN LEADER'S LIFE AND TIMES Aug 13, 1926 - Fidel Castro Ruz Noun 1. Fidel Castro Ruz - Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927) Castro, Fidel Castro born. May, 1955 - Freed after failed uprising and leaves for Mexico. Dec 2, 1956 - Lands in Cuba with 81 revolutionaries, including Che Guevara Noun 1. Che Guevara - an Argentine revolutionary leader who was Fidel Castro's chief lieutenant in the Cuban revolution; active in other Latin American countries; was captured and executed by the Bolivian army (1928-1967) Ernesto Guevara, Guevara . Jan1, 1959 - Takespower. April 19, 1961 - US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961, an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government. On Apr. 17, 1961, an armed force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the south coast of Cuba. fails. October 1962 - Missile crisis. Stand-off between US and Soviet Union until nukes withdrawn. 1980 - Exodus of 125,000 Cubans to US. 1990 - Crisis after Soviet Union's collapse. March 2003 - Dissident crackdown. July 31, 2006 - Hands over power temporarily. CAPTION(S): SUCCESSOR: Fidel Castro with his brother Raul |
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