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Fidel Castro hands power to brother....

PresidentClinton07

By PresidentClinton07
in The Tailgate

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swaroopm

swaroopm

Posted
Posted
Lol, I see where you stay.

I put the news on and my first thought was that some Cuban team won a championship :laugh:

:laugh:

For those of us far from Miami, can you guys tell us more about the scene down there?

This is only supposed to be a temporary transfer of power, right? Either way, I guess the Castro era can't last forever.

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PresidentClinton07

PresidentClinton07

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:laugh:

For those of us far from Miami, can you guys tell us more about the scene down there?

This is only supposed to be a temporary transfer of power, right? Either way, I guess the Castro era can't last forever.

Its pretty crazy down here. The mayor said that its a celebration and that the police is in no way trying to stop the people from celebrating. Their just trying to keep the people off the streets and hoping that the celebration doesnt affect the people making their way to work in the morning.

Everythings peaceful so hopefully it stays that way.

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JMS

JMS

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Heard NPR this morning. Said a lot of people think Fidel is already dead because he turned over power to his brother in a statement and there have been no public apperances by him or his brother. Fidel is almost 80 isn't he?

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WeownU

WeownU

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When I heard his brother was a hard line communist, I thought "Damn, here we go again", 30 more years of that crap down there.

Someone needs only to take those two out and then ask for assistance from the US to help them turn thier govt around. I think we would be all too happy to help them change thier govt to a democracy.

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Sarge

Sarge

Posted
Posted
Heard NPR this morning. Said a lot of people think Fidel is already dead because he turned over power to his brother in a statement and there have been no public apperances by him or his brother. Fidel is almost 80 isn't he?

NPR is probably in mourning

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gchwood

gchwood

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I don't think his Brother can keep that Gov't up in Castro dies. I think there will be another revolution, and things will change, for the better. Who knows? In a decade, we could be vacationing in Cuba.

the NPR comment was ignorant.

I agree that I don't think that Raul can do what Fidal does in keeping support. But I don't think that there will be a coup or anything anytime in the relative near future

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Sarge

Sarge

Posted
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the NPR comment was ignorant.

Thank you

I'm sure they'll kick in some pre-recorded programming so they can watch it when the Cresant News Network takes a break from dissiminating Hezzbo propaganda and begins their retrospective on "One of the worlds great leaders" :rolleyes:

I can see it already, "Death of a Revolutionary"

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Sarge

Sarge

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What makes it so hard for you to stay on topic?

Oh, I don't know, when someone calls something in one of my posts "ignorant" maybe?

Or it could be the AADD.

Or it could be my abilty to predict the future. I keep having these visions of Anderson Cooper, fresh from Hezbo Headquarters, standing outside the hospital in Havana with all the other well wishers that have been rounded up at gunpoint.............er, I mean, all the other well wishers that have gathered to wish ol' Fidel a speedy recovery

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Sarge

Sarge

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A dubious source, but bad news if true

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro's recuperation "is advancing positively," Venezuela's government said Tuesday, citing Cuban authorities a day after the communist leader temporarily handed power to his brother due to intestinal surgery.

Cuban television reported the handover Monday night, the first time Castro has ceded control of the island nation in 47 years. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a close ally of Castro's.

The Cuban leader's secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, read a letter Monday night that he said was from the president announcing the news. In it, the Cuban leader said that stress had forced him into surgery and that he would be in bed for several weeks after the operation.

Castro, who has led Cuba since the 1959 revolution, turns 80 on August 13.

Castro's brother Raul Castro, 75, is the first vice president of the country and designated successor to his brother. He also assumes control over the armed forces and leadership of the Communist Party, according to the statement.

The news sparked celebration across the Straits of Florida in Miami, home to Cuban-American exiles for more than four decades since Fidel Castro's rise to power. (Watch the cheering reaction of anti-Castro Cuban exiles -- 2:46)

The fact that Castro didn't make the handover announcement himself raised suspicions among many Cuban-Americans, including Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida.

"I think it is possible he may be very ill or dead," said Martinez, who was born in Cuba before the revolution. "I don't think there would be an announcement such as this unless it were very clear that he was incapacitated beyond recovery in the short term."

Martinez said the United States has a plan to prevent any mass migration "in either direction" across the Florida Straits. In 2003, President Bush appointed him co-chairman of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba.

Martinez added that it would be important to keep any outside forces from interfering with Cuban affairs, including Venezuela and the United States.

"This is a matter for the Cuban people to resolve," he said. "But I think it is also important for us that we be available to listen to voices within Cuba that may speak a different tune."

Hope, disbelief among exiles

South Florida's Cuban-American community of about 650,000 is the largest part of Florida's fast-growing Hispanic population, with its influence felt across the state, according to the AP. (Full story)

"My first reaction was disbelief. My second reaction was hope," the AP quoted Armando Tellez as he watched hundreds of cars clogging the streets of Hialeah, a Miami suburb. "This is a singular event in Cuba's history because there has never been anything that has given the people so much hope."

Among the cheering crowds waving Cuban flags late Monday and early Tuesday was a group dressed as migrants with life jackets, pretending to paddle a cardboard boat down Little Havana's Calle Ocho -- recalling the desperate journey many exiles have taken over the sea, the AP reported.

As the revelry pushed into the early hours, Miami's roads were gridlocked with honking cars, prompting fears of headaches for the morning rush-hour commute.

"It is a cause for celebration," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, while asking residents to show some restraint and keep traffic flowing throughout the city. "We certainly don't want to hinder in any way, shape or form ... the enthusiasm we all feel."

Last week, Castro joked that he had no plans to still hold power when he turns 100, Reuters reported. (Full story)

Hours ahead of the announcement of Castro's illness, Bush called the Cuban's government a "tyrannical regime" in an interview with a Miami TV station.

"Our objective is to free the Cuban people," the president told WPLG. "That's our objective."

The administration took a more measured approach to Havana's announcement.

"The White House is monitoring the situation. We cannot speculate on Fidel Castro's health," spokesman Peter Watkins said. "We continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom."

The transfer of power in Cuba has not triggered a response from the U.S. Coast Guard, which monitors the Straits of Florida for refugees fleeing the island.

"We have no indications that there is any need to implement plans for mass migration," said Cmdr. Jeff Carter.

The Coast Guard has a long-standing plan to deal with a mass exodus, which includes moving additional cutters and aircraft to the area to deter migrants and also perform search-and-rescue missions.

Increasing U.S.-Cuba tensions

Castro's surgery came weeks after a U.S. government report called for the United States to have assistance in Cuba within weeks of the communist leader's death to support a transitional government and help move the country toward democracy. (Full story)

The United States and Cuba, which have no formal diplomatic relations, are constantly at odds, but tensions between the two countries have increased in the past year.

The Bush administration already has tightened the four-decades-old U.S. embargo of the island, increased Radio Marti news broadcasts into Cuba, curtailed visits home by Cuban-Americans and limited the amount of money they can send to relatives.

Rise to power

Castro led an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1953, after which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison alongside his brother Raul.

They were released less than two years later as part of an amnesty for political prisoners, and both went into exile in Mexico and the United States.

In Mexico, they met the Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara and organized a group of Cuban exiles into a new guerilla group.

After a near disastrous landing in Cuba, the remnants of the group -- including the Castros and Guevara -- fled to the Sierra Maestra Mountains, from which they waged a guerrilla war against the Batista government.

Castro's forces succeeded in overthrowing the regime on January 1, 1959. The next day, Manuel Urrutia was named president and Jose Miro Cardona was appointed vice president. Six weeks later, Fidel Castro took over as prime minister.

Urrutia resigned in July 1959, and Castro completed his rise to power in Cuba, which became the first communist country in the Western Hemisphere.

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Predicto

Predicto

Posted
Posted

It's just a matter of time. Communism is an utter failure, and in most cases rests entirely on a "cult of personality" based on an individual dictator or family. Fidel may not die today, but he will die soon, and within 10 years or so after that, the whole thing will fall apart.

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