Castro cedes power
Cuban President Fidel Castro, hospitalized for intestinal surgery, has provisionally handed over power in the Communist island nation to his younger brother Raul, according to Cuban television.
Fidel Castro has temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul due to intestinal surgery, Cuban television reported, the first time the communist leader has ceded control of the island nation in 47 years.
Castro, who has led Cuba since the 1959 revolution, turns 80 on August 13.
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 area'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.
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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