Paxety Pages

The news is that fidel has turned over power temporarily to his brother, raul, while he has surgery. Here's how Forbes reports it:

An operation forced Fidel Castro to temporarily cede power to his brother for the first time in 47 years, abruptly ushering in a period of uncertainty in the communist island as the severity of his illness remained unknown.

Castro, less than two weeks away from his 80th birthday, did not appear on the live television broadcast Monday night in which his secretary read a letter from the Cuban leader. Castro's message said he underwent surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from a heavy travel and work schedule related to recent trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba.

The story raises all sorts of interesting questions. First, if fidel is really a president, as he claims, how can he just hand over power to his unelected brother? Seems like what a dictator would do, right?

Second, who operated on him, and where? Did he take advantage of the free healthcare offered other Cubans, as The Real Cuba has shown us?

Read the above linked Forbes article for good reaction from all spectrums. In short, no one really knows the state of the bearded bastard's health. May his death be painful and his afterlife even more so.

Update - More from Babalublog, Cuban American Pundits, and from CB at killcastroblog, stay tuned. Uncommon Sense has more, too. And always check The Real Cuba. Also, The 26th Parallel. Fausta comments here.

Update 2 - I'm sitting here trying to work, but all I can seem to do is hit the refresh button on Google news and jump over to babalu and killcastro to see if anyone's heard anything. I'm also feeling sorry for Satan and all his demons and devils. Think of all the extra work they are having to do getting ready for their new guest.

Update 3 - Ya No Mas has evidence that the signature on the document ceding power is forged. Could this mean fidel is already dead?

Update 4- CB at killcastroblog has news of rumors in Havana - and cautions wait to be sure they are true. Interestingly, his informants also think the signature is fake.

Update 5 - proving that anything can be made funny by a good humorist, here's Steve H.'s take.

And a photo of fidel's legacy - on a beach near St. Augustine, Florida in 1994.

Update 6 - The Real Cuba has news of the hospital where fidel had his surgery. Go there and scroll as needed. fidel seems to have an entire floor to himself.