President Fidel Castro of Cuba has temporarily handed power, including command of the military forces, to his brother, Ra?l Castro.
Fidel Castro is undergoing intestinal surgery for gastrointestinal
bleeding, and is temporarily unable to govern. 75-year-old Raul Castro
has been the Vice-President of Cuba and number two in the Communist
Party of Cuba. Fidel Castro is 79 years old and has ruled since the
1959 revolution.
The power change was reported on Cuban television Monday night by
Carlos Balenciago
, Castro's secretary. According to the letter of
Castro's that he read, the reason for the operation was stress and the
President of Cuba will need to spend several weeks in bed.
Over 70% of Cuba's population was born after Castro's rise to power,
and since that time he has not once yielded power to anyone. It is
unknown how the population will react to such an unexpected change.
However, a recently signed White House bill has allocated $30 million
US dollars for the transition to a new Cuban regime in the case of just
such an event.
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